Venezuelans rally to protest socialist administration

[Bacchus4.0]

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelans are gathering across the country to voice their anger with the socialist administration and demand a firm date for this year's legislative elections.


Critics of President Nicolas Maduro donned white shirts and gathered in plazas Saturday, heeding the call of imprisoned opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez.

Lopez has been jailed for 15 months in connection with his leadership of a massive wave of protests in the spring of 2014 that left dozens dead. He called Saturday's marches in a video leaked from his prison cell.

Venezuela's opposition coalition did not endorse the march, but several high-profile leaders said they planned to attend.






http://news.yahoo.com/venezuelans-rally-protest-socialist-administration-153215358.html

[Bacchus4.0]

1. pics massive multicity protests

http://twitter.com/experienciajovn/status/604688571497357312/photo/1

San Cristobal



http://twitter.com/PorElTachiraVoy/status/604703303830618112/photo/1

Maracaibo

http://twitter.com/IrenePortillo9/status/604673334496870401/photo/1


Barquisimeto hugo's home town

http://twitter.com/Fuego1947/status/604672961086418946/photo/1

Valencia

:small

Merida

http://twitter.com/VVperiodistas/status/604679782933131264/photo/1

[COLGATE4]

2. Obviously all photoshopped

[Bacchus4.0]

16. Still haven't seen anything on the massive protest in Telesur or Venanalysis

such reliable, balanced, and complete coverage.

[Wilms]

10. Got a better source than twit?

Main stream US press, no friend of the Bolivarian revolution reports 3000 protesters. Did they under-count somehow. Those pics look like a lot more than the "thousands" reported.

That's why I wonder if you have a better source than twit...(think "Orange Revolution&quot .

Miami Herald has a pic similar to those I've seen before. a protester wearing a corporate logo shirt.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article22641609.html

"Aeropostale Athletics New York" I'm sure that in some circles, he doesn't look like a clown.

[Bacchus4.0]

11. your link is from the day before the protest. A t shirt is pretty irrelevant

Go to lapatilla.com for pics

[Wilms]

12. What people wear says plenty.

I do not speak Spanish. But I see pictures of a LOT MORE than "3000", or "thousands" as I've seen reported in the MSM. Why did they not state a larger number?

And why is the opposition in such disarray? Is that how they'd govern?

[Bacchus4.0]

13. yeah, I see mucho mas than 3000 so maybe you can post your source on that number

I am not very concerned about a shirt. The opposition party erred in not supporting the protest as a party. However, individual political figures did such as Capriles which proved to be the right move given the extent of the protest.

[Wilms]

15. Google news is where I noticed

https://www.google.com/search?q=venezula+protest&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=venezuela+protest&tbm=nws

But I'm also seeing WSJ noting, "tens of thousands".

[Bacchus4.0]

14. p.s. you don't need to speak Spanish to see the pics. nt

[Wilms]

3. "protest socialist administration"

I wonder if Yahoo (perfect name, btw) used the phrase before Sanders entered the race. Ooooh, socialists......baaaaahhhd....

[Bacchus4.0]

4. Maduro always touts the splendors of socialism for Venezuela

although the label of whatever you would call chavismo/madurismo is up for debate. Pretty shitty whatever it is.

Patria Socialism o Muerte. So far they have a lot of the last one.

[Wilms]

6. Piles of people were lifted out of poverty.

The literacy rate went through the roof. The opposition doesn't really care about those issues.

[Bacchus4.0]

7. Piles of people are impovershed, murder rate is through the roof

inflation is out of control, minimum wage is worthless, shortages of the most basic goods, extreme corruption. Chavistas don't care about those issues.

[Wilms]

8. I missed the press release asserting they don't care.

You, on the other hand, make it clear whom you carry water for; the VZ 1%.

[Bacchus4.0]

9. All those issues have exacerbated under this government

so how do they care?

[COLGATE4]

17. File under "None so blind as those

who will not see".

[Wilms]

18. Tell me a little more about the oppo's supporters.

[COLGATE4]

19. You asserted that anyone here on DU that doesn't

feverishly and unquestionally support the Maduro regime 1000% is 'carrying water for the VZ 1%". -Tell me about your knowledge basis for Venezuela - ever lived there? - ever been there? - can you read press reports in Spanish? I'm sure that with a blanket assertion like that you must have a great deal of factual information to offer in support.

[Bacchus4.0]

20. no Spanish skills. Seems to be a common theme among DU chavistas nt

[Wilms]

21. I asserted no such thing, Colgate.

And that's pretty obvious.

[COLGATE4]

22. "You, on the other hand, make it clear whom you carry water for; the VZ 1%".

[Wilms]

23. Are you serious?

Where did I say "that anyone here on DU that doesn't feverishly and unquestionally (sic) support the Maduro regime 1000% is 'carrying water for the VZ 1%".

If your user name refers to an alma mater, you certainly have the intellectual acumen to avoid such a serious error.

[Bacchus4.0]

24. Since you said it to me specifically, why not explain how you believe I carry the water for the 1%

in Venezuela. The protestests and the 25% support for Maduro are quite indicative of Venezuelans discontent for the incompetent corrupt chavista government.

[Wilms]

25. That's reasonable for you to assert.

Sticking words in my mouth isn't.

Now, are you advocating that VZ return to pre-Chavez policies? Or not?

[Bacchus4.0]

26. these are your words: "You, on the other hand, make it clear whom you carry water for; the VZ 1%"

I would love Venezuela to return to time before chavez when violence was down, inflation was down, the shops were full of products, and Venezuelans enjoyed the highest standard of living in South America.


They will have to get rid of the chavista clowns before we see that happen again.

[Wilms]

27. So you didn't go to Colgate...which is OK.

Where did I say, "that anyone here on DU that doesn't feverishly and unquestionally support the Maduro regime 1000%.

Meanwhile, do you care to reflect on the reduction in extreme poverty and the improvement in the literacy rate?

Things are much better in the US since the Reagan revolution...that is, if you're in the top 15% or so.

[Bacchus4.0]

29. reflecting on poverty in Venezuela: Poverty rises in Venezuela, according to UN report

http://news.yahoo.com/poverty-rises-venezuela-according-un-report-001622014.html

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A new report says that poverty is on the rise in Venezuela and efforts across Latin America to boost incomes are stalling.

The report by the United Nations' regional economic office in Chile says that in Venezuela poverty rose from 25 percent in 2012, to 32 percent in 2013.

Paraguay, El Salvador and Colombia saw the biggest declines in poverty but overall the region showed little progress as economies slowed in the wake of the global financial crisis. The U.N. estimates that 28 percent of Latin Americans, or 167 million people, live in poverty.

As disappointing as the trend may seem, the outlook is worsening for Venezuela and other South America countries struggling to maintain social spending amid a sharp decline in commodity prices, including oil.
-----------------
You sure you want to keep talking about Venezuela and poverty?


Minimum-wage workers in Venezuela are the second-worst paid in the Americas, after Cuba, Capriles said.

Venezuela's minimum wage is 5,622 bolivars per month. That is $20 at the black market rate for greenbacks, $29 at the weakest bolivar rate of the state's three-tier currency controls, or $892 at the strongest rate.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/28/us-venezuela-inflation-idUSKBN0NJ2GC20150428

[Wilms]

30. So VZ should hire the 1% and make it even worse?

Because it was before Chavez. Pretty impressive gains under him despite the warts and all of his admin.

[Bacchus4.0]

31. the 1% are the ones in power right now and their Boligarch buddies

Venezuela has a higher poverty rate than Colombia and Peru, and increasing. i don't see you touting the wonders of those governments.

[Wilms]

32. Maduro represents the 1%?

Maybe that explains the recent difficulty.

[Bacchus4.0]

33. yes, hello? the Boligarchs are enriching themselves at the expense of ordinary

venezuelans. If you are "plugged in", as the leadership of the government is, you have access to dollars at 6.3Bs.

[Wilms]

34. Apparently, then, the purge is incomplete.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/17/world/americas/17venez.html

[Bacchus4.0]

35. oh, well that is an understatement. Look at the head of the National Assembly nt

[COLGATE4]

36. Still waiting to hear about all your expertise on

Venezuela.

[Wilms]

37. As opposed to yours?

We're of a different opinion. I support the poor of VZ. I think the Bolivarian Revolution is a good thing, in general. And I support the purging Chavez did and hope Maduro will do the same.

Is that wrong of me.

[Bacchus4.0]

38. How can you look at Venezuela now and say you support the Bolivarian Revolution?

Its the country in the region with the most problems and the one declining the the fastest. Your choice though.

[Wilms]

39. Let's just go back to pre-Chavez days.

[Bacchus4.0]

40. I am, thats why I have no idea why you like chavismo. Venezuela was at the top of latin america

in terms of standard of living. Now it is approaching the bottom.

[Wilms]

41. I realize that from your posts here.

The best I can describe it would be like being a VZ republican.

[Bacchus4.0]

42. why? because I recognize what a disaster chavismo has been?

Take a look at Peru. Their poverty reduction over the past decade has been extraordinary. Exceeds anything hugo or maduro have done and that is continuing. Peru has a smaller percentage of people in poverty than in Venezuela now which is amazing. Peru also has a leftist government but has few of the severe economic and social problems that Venezuela does.

So even if their president Humala does have maduro type approval numbers, their gains have been more impressive without the authoritarianism of chavismo. Chavismo isn't working. There is no place for a marxist authoritarian government in today's world.

[Wilms]

43. I think VZ was a disaster for a significant part of the population before Chavez.

And I'm listening. Share a few links about Peru, if you would.

[Marksman_91]

44. There's not gonna be any more "purging"

The ones that are currently in power are staying in power, especially since some of them won't even be allowed to leave Venezuela at the risk that they might run their mouth wildly about drug trafficking accusations against Diosdado Cabello, among others. And those who were let go in the last couple of years, especially under Maduro's administration, have become increasingly vocal against his tenure. You'd know this of course if you were able to read Venezuelan-based news sources. Just letting you know, VenezuelaAnalysis and Eva Golinger don't count, as they are paid-for shills by the Venezuelan government to spew propaganda

[Wilms]

45. Oh.

It's you.

[Marksman_91]

46. Yep, me, the only Venezuelan in this forum :)

And I surely know the situation better than any chavistas in this site. It's kind of a big advantage actually coming from the country of discussion and having lived there for most of life as well as knowing its culture and people, after all

[Wilms]

47. Well, I'm from the US.

As a result of my membership on DU, and the character of my posts, one can tell that I am a Democrat...and where on its spectrum I am.

But apart from that, knowing merely that I am from the US, how would you know if my views are more in line with Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, or John Bolton? You wouldn't.

As far as I know, you could be a member of the VZ equivalent of the republican party, or even Tea Party.

So with all due respect, that you are from VZ tells me little. That you seem to support the opposition in VZ...well that tells me a little more.

[Marksman_91]

48. Well, let me tell you my views then, since that's what we're talking about now

- I do not consider myself adherent to any political ideology. I despise the Republican party and their ultra-capitalist, conservative views, and hope that Bernie Sanders becomes the next US president (if he gets the Democratic nomination)
- I applaud Obama's efforts to restore ties with Cuba and end the embargo (that was LOOOONG overdue)
- I do not have any disdain for other supposedly leftist governments in LatAm like the ones in Peru, Bolivia, Chile, or Uruguay (as long as they're doing their jobs well, I don't care what ideology they associate themselves with)
- I'm middle-class, and I sure as hell know the difference between earning a living and exploiting the system to enrich oneself.
- I sure as hell do NOT support a coup against the Venezuelan government. All that would do is create instability and possibly an armed conflict that would set Venezuelans against each other and put in jeopardy my family and friends who still live there.
- I do not support the idea of the same old parties that were in power before Chavez to govern Venezuela again. Those guys are just as outdated as the pseudo-leftist Chavista ideology. New leadership with younger candidates is needed, as they are more understanding of the reality of the world today, and are not as ideologically blinded.
- I do not hate socialism at all. In fact, I recognize that, when used properly, such as it is in the Scandinavian social democracies, it's perhaps the most effective socioeconomic system we have right now. Chavismo, especially under Maduro, is not socialism, it is merely state corporatism led by a bunch of corrupt ex-military delinquents and radicals who are only using their political power to enrich themselves at the expense of the Venezuelan people's money, and merely call themselves "socialists" to influence the poorer populations.

[Wilms]

49. All well and good....

...but isn't the opposition more about those things that you listed that aren't good?

What is "outdated" about "Chavista ideology"? And is the needed updates that which would be promoted by the opposition? I view the oppo as hostile to those kinds of things.

[freshwest]

5. Hope it all stays peaceful there. Those streets are full of people. n/t

[kenfrequed]

28. Hmm

It is a complex situation. The US had been supporting a right wing government and has worked at supporting coups there for quite some time now. I worry that they may simply hand power back to the absolute plutocrats that ruled that country with an iron fist.