In Venezuela, Conciliatory Talk but Combative Tactics
This
New York Times news article recounts the violence that took place on Wednesday
in Carcus, Venezuela and resulted in several students getting drenched in tear
gas, pepper spray and water cannons.
The
protest march, which included students and other government opponents, started
without trouble in an opposition enclave and then moved through the campus of
the Central University of Venezuela; when they proceeded to exit the campus and
continue their march to the office of the defender of the people, a national
ombudsman, they got stopped.
Police Officers and the National Guard were blocking the students exit
out of the campus. When student
leaders began to question the reason for them being blockaded they were told
that once the pro-government countermarch (marches that President Nicolás
Maduro himself put together to make the peaceful protest of these students seem
unnecessary and violent) passed, they would be allowed to proceed; after about
an hour and a half of patiently waiting the students began to try and march
through the police blockade. In
return the police and National guard officers resorted to extreme violence:
tear gas, pepper spray, and water cannons were set on the crowd of innocent
children and they were helpless because they had marched unarmed. That same day President Maduro held a peace
conference to make it seem as though the children protesters were the ones who
had initiated violence first, but international criticism, especially from the
United States, still remains.
Neuman,
William. "In Venezuela, Conciliatory Talk but Combative Tactics." New
York times. nytimes, March 14 2014. Web. March 15 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/15/world/americas/in-venezuela-conciliatory-talk-but-combative-tactics.html?hp>
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