Tag Archives: Maduro

Venezuela chief prosecutor accuses government of harassment; violence flares

A protester holds a national flag as a bank branch, housed in the magistracy of the Supreme Court of Justice, burns during a rally against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

By Andreina Aponte and Corina Pons

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s chief prosecutor said on Monday her family had been threatened and followed by intelligence agents since she split with the government, and violence broke out in protests at the Supreme Court over a bid to change the constitution.

Luisa Ortega, a former ally of President Nicolas Maduro who has turned against him and the ruling Socialist Party, has questioned Maduro’s handling of opposition street protests in recent weeks and challenged his plan to rewrite a constitution brought in by late leader Hugo Chavez.

“Somebody is threatening my family,” she said in a radio interview. “They harass them. They follow them, patrol cars that look like SEBIN,” she said, referring to the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN).

State officials have launched a series of verbal attacks on Ortega, ranging from questioning her sanity to accusing her of promoting violence.

She said she would hold the government responsible if her family was harmed.

Fanned by anger at triple-digit inflation along with shortages of food and medicine, protests have grown smaller but more violent over the past two months, with at least 67 killed and thousands injured.

Ortega’s office said it was investigating the death on Monday of a man called Socrates Salgado, 49, in a coastal town near Caracas. Opposition politicians said he died during a protest.

“INEPT”

In April, Ortega successfully challenged a Supreme Court decision to assume the powers of the opposition-controlled legislature, making her the highest official in years to openly break with the ruling party.

She filed a Supreme Court challenge last week to Maduro’s plan to elect a legislative super-body known as a constituent assembly, that will have the power to rewrite the constitution and in some cases dissolve state institutions.

The Supreme Court rejected the challenge on Monday.

“The electoral chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice declares that the (challenge) filed by Luisa Ortega Diaz is inadmissible because it is an inept accumulation of pretensions,” the court said on Twitter.

In response, Ortega launched another legal challenge, this time claiming that 13 judges appointed to the court in 2015 were put there via an “irregular” process and that they should be replaced.

Protesters angry at the pro-government court’s ruling on Monday attacked a branch of the court with petrol bombs and damaged a bank in the same building, which was engulfed in smoke and flames. Several protesters were injured as security guards tried to repel them.

Police arrested 24 people for their involvement in the daylight attack on a busy office block, which was condemned by Maduro as a terrorist act. Opposition leader Henrique Capriles said it was the work of government agitators.

Outside the Supreme Court headquarters in downtown Caracas, protesters backing Ortega were confronted earlier by government supporters.

Maduro says Venezuela is the victim of an “economic war” that he says can only be addressed by a constituent assembly.

The elections council has set an election for the assembly for July 30. The opposition is refusing to participate in the vote, saying it is rigged in favor of the Socialist Party.

In a move seen as crimping opposition power, the Interior Ministry on Monday took direct control of the state police force in Miranda, a region that includes a wealthy part of Caracas. Capriles, a former presidential candidate, is its governor.

Citing the current constitution, Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said the six-month “intervention” was justified because there was evidence the police force was involved in rights abuses and organized crime.

Capriles said the plan was to use the police force to repress protests and said members of the force should not obey any order that violated human rights or the constitution.

(Writing by Frank Jack Daniel and Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Marguerita Choy, Cynthia Osterman and Paul Tait)

Venezuela inflation so far this year at 128 percent: congress

Riot security forces members catch fire during riots at a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela, June 7, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

CARACAS (Reuters) – Inflation in Venezuela’s crisis-hit economy was 127.8 percent in the first five months of 2017, the opposition-led congress said on Friday in the absence of official data.

Economic hardship in the country, where many are skipping food and there are severe shortages, is helping fuel opposition protests that have led to at least 67 deaths in the last two months.

Various factors underlay the five-month price rise, including excess money-printing by the central bank, restrictions on imports and a recent devaluation of the bolivar, opposition lawmaker and economist Angel Alvarado said.

May inflation was 18.26 percent, he added, presenting the latest opposition-calculated index.

President Nicolas Maduro’s government has not published official data for more than a year.

Government opponents say Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, have wrecked a once-prosperous economy with 18 years of state-led socialist policies ranging from nationalizations to currency controls.

The government says it is victim of an “economic war” led by opposition-linked businessmen.

(Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Venezuela assembly plan threatens Chavez legacy: prosecutor

A woman reacts at the place where 17-year-old demonstrator Neomar Lander died during riots at a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela, June 8, 2017. The sign reads: "Neomar, entertainer for ever". REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado

By Eyanir Chinea

CARACAS (Reuters) – President Nicolas Maduro’s plan for a new popular congress to rewrite Venezuela’s constitution threatens to destroy the political legacy of former leader Hugo Chavez, the chief state prosecutor said on Thursday.

Maduro, 54, who calls himself the “son” of Chavez and guarantor of his late mentor’s socialist ideals, has cast the constituent assembly plan as the way to restore peace after two months of anti-government unrest that has killed 67 people.

Critics, including some traditional government supporters, have said there is no need to rewrite the constitution reformed by Chavez in 1999, and insist that a referendum should be held to determine if the country wants such an assembly.

“I think with this (assembly) we are destroying President Chavez’s legacy,” Luisa Ortega, the prosecutor who broke with Maduro several weeks ago, said outside the Supreme Court.

Chavez ruled Venezuela from 1999-2013, winning a plethora of elections due to his oil-fueled social welfare policies, charisma, and connection with the poor.

He is still revered by many, though critics argue that his populist policies are the base for the current economic meltdown.

Opposition leaders are calling for a general election to settle Venezuela’s crisis. They have said that the assembly plan is a sham with skewed rules to ensure the socialists remain in power.

“A constituent (assembly) behind the backs of the people cannot be,” Ortega added, also denouncing the “ferocious repression” of anti-Maduro protests.

“Those opposed to the assembly are called traitors, fascists, terrorists – we cannot live in a country like that,” Ortega said.

The pro-government Supreme Court has already shot down one appeal against the constituent process lodged by Ortega, the highest-profile dissenter from within government since the protests started in April.

On Thursday, she asked the court to block the constituent process put in place by Maduro and the national election board.

Opposition protesters have been on the streets near-daily for more than two months demanding elections, foreign humanitarian aid, freedom for hundreds of jailed activists, and autonomy for the opposition-controlled National Assembly.

They call Maduro a dictator who has wrecked the OPEC nation’s economy. The 54-year-old president says they are right-wing “fascists” seeking a coup.

The latest fatality from the unrest was 17-year-old protester Neomar Lander, who died during clashes with security forces in Caracas on Wednesday.

(Additional reporting by Diego Ore, Corina Pons and Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Toni Reinhold)

Fourteen Venezuelan army officers jailed in first week of protests – documents

A demonstrator waves a Venezuela's flag while clashing with riot security forces during a rally against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela June 5, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

By Girish Gupta and Andrew Cawthorne

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s security forces arrested at least 14 army officers on suspicion of “rebellion” and “treason” in the first week of protests against President Nicolas Maduro’s government in early April, according to military documents obtained by Reuters.

The soldiers, who include colonels and captains, are being held in Ramo Verde prison in the hills outside Caracas, according to lists being circulated within the military.

The documents said their cases were being “processed”, and it was not clear if they had been formally charged.

The lists emerged after allegations by Venezuelan opposition leaders that a purge is underway within the military to quash dissent over the handling of massive demonstrations against the socialist government since early April.

The documents seen by Reuters only went up to April 8, after which opposition leaders and rights activists say many more soldiers have been rounded up.

The military’s National Guard unit has been at the forefront of policing the protests, using tear gas, water cannons, and rubber bullets against masked youths who hurl stones, Molotov cocktails and excrement against security lines.

At least 65 people have died, with victims including government and opposition supporters, bystanders and members of the security forces. Hundreds more have been injured.

Opposition leaders say there is increasing disquiet within the military over the use of force against protesters who are demanding general elections, foreign humanitarian aid and freedom for jailed activists.

In public, top military officers have backed Maduro’s accusation that an “armed insurrection” is being mounted by violent conspirators seeking a coup with U.S. backing.

But privately some National Guard members have complained of exhaustion and disillusionment.

ASYLUM REQUESTS

A few soldiers have gone public with their discontent.

Three lieutenants fled to Colombia and requested asylum last month, prompting the Venezuelan government to demand their extradition to face charges of coup plotting.

Opposition media last week published a video purporting to be a Venezuelan naval sergeant expressing his dissent and urging colleagues to disobey “abusive” and “corrupt” superiors.

“I reject Mr. Nicolas Maduro Moros as an illegitimate president and refuse to recognize his regime and dictatorial government,” Giomar Flores said in a seven-minute video, wearing a white naval uniform and black beret next to a Venezuelan flag.

Reuters could not confirm his case or whereabouts.

Neither the Information Ministry nor the Armed Forces responded to requests for information.

Late leader Hugo Chavez turned the military into a bastion of “Chavismo” after a short-lived coup against him in 2002.

Though Maduro, 54, does not hail from the army as Chavez did, he has kept ties strong, placing current or former soldiers in a third of ministerial posts, and giving them control over key sectors like food distribution.

Opposition leaders have been openly calling for the armed forces to disobey Maduro and side with their demands, but the top brass have repeatedly pledged loyalty.

(Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Brian Ellsworth and Jonathan Oatis)

Venezuela’s Maduro vows referendum, death toll from unrest hits 62

Demonstrators look on as motorcycles belonging to riot security forces are set on fire during a rally against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

By Diego Oré and Andrew Cawthorne

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro pledged on Thursday to hold a referendum on a new constitution he has proposed to try and quell two months of anti-government unrest that has killed at least 62 people.

His comments came after criticism from opponents and some within his own government that his plan to create a new super-body, known as a constituent assembly, to rewrite the national charter was anti-democratic.

Chief state prosecutor Luisa Ortega had said creating the assembly without a plebiscite, as happened in 1999 when Maduro’s predecessor Hugo Chavez rewrote the constitution, threatened to “eliminate” democracy in Venezuela.

Maduro said on state television: “I shall propose it explicitly: the new constitution will go to a consultative referendum so it is the people who say whether they are in agreement or not with the new, strengthened constitution.”

There was no immediate reaction from Venezuela’s opposition, which now has majority support after years in the shadow of the ruling Socialist Party whose popularity has plunged during the OPEC nation’s brutal economic crisis.

Foes are likely to try and turn any referendum into a vote on Maduro himself. They have been calling for the next presidential election, slated for late 2018, to be brought forward.

The government has said elections for the new constituent assembly will be held in late July, although opposition leaders say the process is skewed to ensure a pro-Maduro majority.

There was no word on when the plebiscite would be held.

Earlier, authorities announced that gunmen had killed a judge involved in the sentencing of Venezuela’s best-known jailed political leader, Leopoldo Lopez.

The judge, 37-year-old Nelson Moncada, was shot and stripped of his belongings as he tried to get away from a street barricade on Wednesday night in Caracas’ El Paraiso district, the scene of regular clashes, the prosecutor’s office said.

This week has seen widespread violence around the Venezuelan capital, with security forces repeatedly breaking up marches by opposition supporters towards government offices downtown, and skirmishes continuing into the night.

“DEMOCRACY BEING ELIMINATED”

Protesters frequently block roads with trash and burning tires, sometimes asking passers-by for contributions towards a self-styled “Resistance” movement against Maduro.

El Paraiso has seen nightly clashes between demonstrators, pro-government gangs and National Guard soldiers.

The government said Moncada was one of the judges who ratified Lopez’s 14-year jail sentence, and suggested that might have been the motive for his killing.

“We cannot exclude the possibility this was done by hitmen hired by right-wing terrorists to keep creating and spreading terror,” Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said, referring to Venezuela’s opposition.

Victims from two months of unrest have included supporters on both sides, bystanders and members of the security forces.

The latest death came in Lara state, where 46-year-old Maria Rodriguez was shot during a demonstration on Thursday, the state prosecutor’s office said, without giving more details.

Maduro, 54, calls his opponents coup-mongers seeking his violent overthrow with U.S. support akin to the short-lived ouster of his predecessor Hugo Chavez in 2002.

Ortega, the chief prosecutor, launched a blistering attack on Maduro from the steps of the pro-government Supreme Court, criticizing its ruling this week endorsing the assembly plan.

“It seems that participative and protagonistic democracy, which cost Venezuelans so much (to get), is being eliminated,” said Ortega, who broke with Maduro a few weeks ago.

“This sentence is a backward step for human rights,” she added, before reading extracts from a past Chavez speech.

In further political drama, the Supreme Court ordered opposition leader Henrique Capriles on Thursday to avoid roadblocks in the Miranda state that he governs, or face jail.

Miranda includes part of the capital, Caracas, and the volatile towns of San Antonio de Los Altos and Los Teques, where anti-government street barricades have been common.

Capriles, a 44-year-old lawyer, narrowly lost a 2013 vote to Maduro after Chavez’s death from cancer and has been at the forefront of this year’s protests, calling for civil disobedience.

Authorities have already barred Capriles from running for new political posts for 15 years, over allegations of “administrative irregularities” that he denies, potentially hobbling another bid to run in 2018.

(Additional reporting by Andreina Aponte, Eyanir Chinea and Alexandra Ulmer; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Andrew Hay, Toni Reinhold and Paul Tait)

Venezuela opposition leaders wounded in anti-government march

Riot security forces release jets of water from their water cannon on demonstrators during riots at a march to the state Ombudsman's office in Caracas, Venezuela May 29, 2017. The banner reads "The favorite Ron". REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

CARACAS (Reuters) – Two Venezuelan opposition leaders were wounded on Monday by security forces dispersing protests in the capital Caracas against President Nicolas Maduro, according to one of the leaders and an opposition legislator.

Maduro’s adversaries have for two months been blocking highways and setting up barricades in protests demanding he call early elections and address an increasingly severe economic crisis that has left millions struggling to get enough to eat.

Fifty-nine people have died in the often violent street melees, which Maduro calls an effort to overthrow his government.

“We were ambushed,” said two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, who accompanied protesters in an effort to march to the headquarter of the government ombudsman’s office but was blocked by security forces.

“This government is capable of killing or burning anything,” Capriles said in a press conference.

He said 16 others were injured in the march, adding that he would file a complaint about the issue with state prosecutors.

Legislator Jose Olivares, who is a doctor, tweeted a picture of a bruise on Capriles’ face that he said was the result of a soldier hitting him with a helmet during the clashes.

During the same march, opposition deputy Carlos Paparoni was knocked to the ground by a water cannon sprayed from a truck, requiring that he receive stitches in his head, Olivares said.

The Information Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Corina Pons, writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Andrew Hay)

Venezuela military defends protests role, backs Maduro congress

A firefighter walks past burned debris at the Ombudsman office in Maracaibo, Venezuela May 25, 2017. REUTERS/Isaac Urrutia

By Andrew Cawthorne

CARACAS (Reuters) – Decried by protesters as “murderers” defending a dictator, Venezuela’s military insisted on Thursday it was not taking sides in the national political turmoil, though it did back socialist President Nicolas Maduro’s controversial plan for a new congress.

The armed forces’ National Guard unit has played a pivotal role in two months of unrest rocking Venezuela, often blocking marches and using teargas and water cannons to fight youths hurling stones and Molotov cocktails.

At least 57 people have been killed, including one National Guard member and two policemen.

The military defended its record during the protests, in which Maduro opponents have staged daily demonstrations demanding elections, humanitarian aid to offset a brutal economic crisis, and freedom for jailed activists.

“The Bolivarian National Armed Forces have made a superlative effort to keep the peace, protect life as a fundamental right, and keep institutional stability,” it said in a statement.

The communique was a response to Chief State Prosecutor Luisa Ortega, who on Wednesday accused security forces of excessive force against protesters. She said one student was killed by a tear gas cannister fired from close range by a National Guard.

The military statement said Ortega’s “pre-qualification” and “hypothesis” were damaging to soldiers’ morale, and fodder for “the negative public opinion right-wing groups” want to spread.

The death of Juan Pernalete, 20, has become a rallying cry for protesters. But senior officials have suggested the student was killed by someone within opposition ranks using a pistol as a way to discredit the government.

The armed forces statement said officers had absolutely respected rights, behaved with “stoicism” and “sacrifice”, and had shown restraint under verbal and physical aggression including seven attacks on military installations.

“In no way are partisan positions adopted,” it added, noting that any “excesses” or “irregularities” were punished.

According to the government, 17 National Guard officers and seven policemen have been arrested over deaths during the protests.

STREET STRESS

Thursday’s statement backed the president’s plan to create a super-body, known as a Constituent Assembly, with powers to re-write the constitution and supersede other institutions in the oil-producing country.

Maduro accuses foes of seeking a coup with U.S. help and says the assembly is needed to bring peace. But opponents argue it is a ploy to stay in power by setting up a congress filled with government supporters.

Polls show the ruling Socialists would lose any conventional election, and the opposition’s main demand is to bring forward the 2018 presidential vote.

“The National Constituent Assembly … represents a space to find solutions to our problems with understanding, harmony and brotherhood,” the military said.

A key power-broker in the past, including during a short-lived 2002 coup against former leader Hugo Chavez, the military’s role is seen as crucial. Opposition leaders hope it may withdraw support for Maduro as the unrest drags on.

On the street, soldiers often stand impassive behind riot shields as protesters harangue them, or as women sometimes offer flowers. When crowds try to pass their security cordons, fighting starts and can last hours, with stones, excrement, bottles and petrol bombs thrown at them.

In private, some low-ranking National Guard members have admitted they are exhausted, fed up with being the first line against protesters, and suffering the same economic problems as much of the population.

“I’m shattered, brother. Do you think I want to be here?” said one National Guard member at a recent protest, briefly sitting on a wall after he and colleagues sent scores of protesters fleeing with a volley of tear gas cannisters.

Security forces are also finding that low salaries and opposition to Maduro are hurting their recruiting and retention efforts, sources in or close to the armed forces and police have told Reuters.

Opposition leaders say dozens of dissenting military members have been arrested in recent weeks, though there is no confirmation of that, and in public the armed forces’ leaders are standing firm behind the unpopular Maduro.

(Additional reporting by Andreina Aponte; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Venezuela prosecutor chides government over military tribunals

Opposition supporters rally against President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela May 24, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

By Eyanir Chinea and Alexandra Ulmer

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s chief prosecutor on Wednesday accused security officers of excessive force and condemned the use of military tribunals to judge protesters, deepening her split with President Nicolas Maduro’s government.

After nearly two months of massive anti-government rallies demanding early presidential elections, fissures have appeared in the hitherto publicly homogenous socialist administration.

In a speech on Wednesday, prosecutor Luisa Ortega said 55 people had been killed in unrest, around 1,000 others injured, and 346 properties burned or looted as chaos flares across the oil-rich country that is reeling from an economic crisis.

In one particularly controversial case, Ortega said investigations showed that 20 year-old student Juan Pernalete was killed by a tear gas canister fired from close range by a National Guard, not by a pistol as officials had suggested.

“Firing tear gas directly on people is banned,” she said, holding up a canister at a press conference that she gave at an alternative venue after a power outage in her office.

More than half of the injuries have been caused by security forces, she said, condemning violence on both sides.

Soon after the speech, her office announced two more deaths in the unrest, including a 14-year-old, taking the total to 57.

Ortega said her office was also investigating seven cases of military courts trying people who should be in civil courts. “We’re worried about the situation of those detained in military courts,” Ortega said, demanding access to detainees.

Rights group Penal Forum has said that 338 people have faced proceedings in military tribunals in recent days, with 175 still detained. It has said that in total, over 2,700 people have been arrested since early April, with more than 1,100 still behind bars.

“SHAM” VOTES

There was continued unrest around the country on Wednesday, with people barricading streets in some places and the opposition holding more protest marches. The Supreme Court ordered Caracas mayors to ensure that streets were clear and to take action against those responsible.

The pro-government electoral council said on Tuesday that voting for a controversial “constituent assembly” would be held in July and delayed state elections in December.

Maduro foes countered that was a sham designed to confuse Venezuelans, and to prompt infighting among the opposition and allow the unpopular leftist government to dodge free and fair elections they would likely lose.

Opposition lawmakers have said that the assembly, whose 540 members would be elected on a municipal level and by community groups like workers, would be filled with people who would merely obey Maduro’s orders to rewrite the constitution.

“Once installed, this constituent assembly will eliminate governorships, mayors, and the National Assembly,” said opposition lawmaker Tomas Guanipa.

“There’s been a break in Venezuela’s constitutional order, and the streets are our way to rescue it,” he said.

Maduro has said that he is facing an “armed insurrection” and the constituent assembly, a super body that would supersede all other public powers, is the way to restore peace to Venezuela. The former bus driver and union leader, elected in 2013, calls the opposition coup-mongers seeking to stoke violence and overthrow his “21st century Socialism.”

RIOTS AND LOOTING

Looting, roadblocks and riots are now commonplace around Venezuela given hunger, hopelessness, easy access to weapons, and gangs taking advantage of chaos as protests spin out of control.

In many places, school classes are canceled, public transportation is halted, and streets are barricaded. Some neighborhoods look like war zones after nighttime pillaging of bakeries and warehouses.

At some intersections, hooded young men ask passersby for money to “collaborate with the resistance.”

Traffic was blocked in parts of the capital on Wednesday.

The trouble has been particularly bad this week in Barinas, the home state of Maduro’s mentor and predecessor Hugo Chavez that the socialists regard as the “cradle of the revolution.”

Seven people died in protests there in the last few days, according to the state prosecutor.

A man who had been set alight on Saturday by protesters in Caracas appeared on state television from his hospital bed and said that he had been attacked for being a government supporter, echoing Maduro’s version of the incident over the weekend.

“They said I had to die because I was a ‘Chavista’,” said Orlando Figuera, adding that he was not a supporter of the ruling ‘Chavismo’ movement named for the former president.

Witnesses to that incident, including a Reuters photographer, had said the crowd accused him of being a thief. But officials have said that the attack on Figuera was an example of the “fascist” violence they are facing.

A protesting violinist, who has been a regular fixture playing the National Anthem and other tunes despite tear gas, flying rocks and petrol bombs in Caracas, told reporters that security forces broke his instrument on Wednesday.

A video of him crying with his smashed instrument went viral on Venezuelan social media. Supporters bought him a replacement.

(Additional reporting by Diego Ore, Mircely Guanipa, Corina Pons, Andrew Cawthorne, Andreina Aponte, and Brian Ellsworth; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer and Girish Gupta; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Toni Reinhold)

As Venezuela unrest spreads, Maduro presses on with plans to rewrite charter

Demonstrators stand near a truck as they use it as a barricade while clashing with riot security forces during a rally called by healthcare workers and opposition activists against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

By Alexandra Ulmer and Corina Pons

CARACAS (Reuters) – Faced with mounting unrest, Venezuela’s unpopular leftist President Nicolas Maduro vowed on Tuesday to push ahead in July with the formation of a “constituent assembly” to rewrite the constitution before regional elections in December.

The South American OPEC member has been racked by strife, with 55 people killed during unrest in the past two months as public anger boiled over due to an economic meltdown that has left many Venezuelans scrabbling to afford three meals a day.

In an apparent bid to show the government was seeking a democratic solution, the head of the pro-government electoral council said voting for a controversial “constituent assembly” would be held in late July.

Regional gubernatorial elections, meant to have been held last year, would take place on Dec. 10, he said.

The opposition reacted with fury, convinced that these moves were Maduro’s way of clinging to power.

Maduro’s rivals fear that a new constituent assembly could rewrite rules or exclude opposition parties, making a sham of future elections that would likely vanquish the ruling socialists if the polls were free and fair.

“Today’s decision is nothing more than an evil announcement meant to divide, distract, and confuse Venezuelans further,” said Congress president Julio Borges, the opposition leader whose coalition is pushing for early elections, humanitarian aid to alleviate food and medicine shortages, and freedom for jailed activists.

“Today we’ve entered a new stage and that means more struggle and more street action,” Borges said in a video on Tuesday night.

Riots and looting have raised risks that protests could spin out of control, given the widespread hunger, anger at Maduro and easy access to weapons in one of the world’s most violent countries.

A Supreme Court magistrate decried the planned assembly, saying it was “not the solution to the crisis” and called on Maduro to “think carefully” to avoid more bloodshed.

Maduro was undaunted on Tuesday, presenting the proposed 540-member “constituent assembly” as a way to defuse anti-government protests, which he says are part of a U.S.-backed conspiracy to overthrow “21st Century socialism.”

“Votes or bullets, what do the people want?” Maduro asked a crowd of red-shirted supporters waving Venezuelan flags at the Miraflores presidential palace.

“Let’s go to elections now!” he said, before detailing how the new assembly will be partially elected by votes at a municipal level and partially by different groups, including workers, farmers, students, and indigenous people.

In a telling sign of internal dissent, Venezuela’s state prosecutor warned that Maduro’s plan for a grassroots congress risked deepening the crisis.

“Persistent and increasingly violent unrest will eventually prompt key stakeholders to abandon Maduro and negotiate a rapid transition that sets a timetable for new elections; the precise timing is impossible to predict, however,” the Eurasia Group political consultancy said in a note to clients on Tuesday.

“DESPERATE PEOPLE”

Enraged by the economic crisis and perceived lack of democratic solutions, some Venezuelans have taken out their ire by publicly shaming government officials or knocking down statues of Hugo Chavez, the late firebrand leftist leader who governed Venezuela from 1999 to 2013.

In the southeastern city of Puerto Ordaz, the president of a state-run company was “kidnapped,” beaten up, and stripped naked by protesters, the government said.

In the lower middle-class Caracas neighborhood of El Paraiso, masked men on Monday night shot up an apartment building and parked cars in what one resident, who asked not to be named out of fear of reprisals, said was retaliation for barricades set up nearby by opposition sympathizers.

Hundreds of people have been injured in the violence, around 2,700 arrested, with 1,000 still behind bars, and 335 tried in military tribunals, according to rights groups.

Looting has become more frequent, with many Venezuelans reduced to surviving on basics like yucca or corn flour.

In the usually calm peninsula of Paraguana, a food warehouse was looted on Sunday night. Some 17 people were arrested.

“The rumors started that they were going to sell something, so everyone came out and started to beat on the warehouse door, there were a lot of desperate people, kids and pregnant women,” said a local resident, asking to remain anonymous.

“The neighbors knocked the door down, they destroyed everything, and made off with bags of flour and pasta. Police and National Guard had to ask for reinforcements, they threw tear gas and we heard shots.”

(Additional reporting by Mircely Guanipa, Brian Ellsworth, Cristian Veron, Eyanir Chinea, Andreina Aponte, Diego Ore, Maria Ramirez, and Andrew Cawthorne; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Andrew Hay & Simon Cameron-Moore)

Venezuela prosecutor decries Maduro plan, unrest worsens

Demonstrators hold a banner that reads "MEDICINE RIGHT NOW" during a rally called by health care workers and opposition activists against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela May 22, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

By Alexandra Ulmer and Maria Ramirez

CARACAS/PUERTO ORDAZ, Venezuela (Reuters) – Venezuela’s state prosecutor has panned unpopular President Nicolas Maduro’s plan to create a grassroots congress, deepening a rare public split among the ruling Socialists as the death toll from two months of unrest hit 51.

Chief State Prosecutor Luisa Ortega stunned the crisis-hit country in March when she lambasted the Supreme Court for annulling the powers of the opposition-led National Assembly.

Since then, she has been a wild card within the publicly homogenous Venezuelan government, whose foes accuse it of seeking to dodge elections by creating a parallel assembly with powers to rewrite the constitution.

Socialist Party official Elias Jaua, in charge of the “constituent assembly” project, confirmed on Monday that Ortega had written him to express her discontent in a letter that was previously leaked on social media.

“It is my imperative to explain the reasons for which I have decided not to participate in this activity,” Ortega’s two-page missive reads.

“Instead of bringing stability or generating a climate of peace, I think this will accelerate the crisis,” she said, mentioning it would heighten uncertainty and alter the “unbeatable” constitution launched under late leader Hugo Chavez.

Jaua acknowledged receipt of Ortega’s letter, but quickly said she was merely expressing a “political opinion,” without any power to change the situation.

“We consider that the only organ the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela’s constitution empowers to interpret the constitution is the Supreme Court’s constitutional chamber,” he said at a news conference, in reference to the pro-government top court.

Venezuelans are scrutinizing Maduro’s government and the armed forces for any cracks as protesters take to the streets daily to demand early elections, humanitarian aid to alleviate food and medicine shortages, and freedom for jailed activists.

While there are no outward signs of major fissures that would destabilize 18-years of ‘Chavista’ rule, demonstrators have been cheered by Ortega’s public dissent and by some public denunciations of officials by their relatives.

RISING DEATH TOLL

While anti-government protests have brought hundreds of thousands to the streets, Venezuelans are increasingly concerned about spates of nighttime looting and barricades popping up in many neighborhoods.

Masked youths man roadblocks, turning back traffic or asking motorists for a monetary “collaboration” to be allowed through.

The worst nighttime unrest has largely been concentrated outside the capital, however, with the jungle and savannah state of Bolivar hard-hit overnight.

Some 51 buses were burned after a group attacked a transport company in the city of Puerto Ordaz, the prosecutor’s office said on Monday. Barricades and clashes with the National Guard were also rippling through the city on Monday, according to a Reuters witness.

There also was trouble on Monday in Barinas, the rural state where Chavez was born and which is regarded by his supporters as the “cradle of the revolution.”

Mobs burned the headquarters of the Socialist Party in the state capital, and clashes and looting raged throughout the day, witnesses and authorities said.

Several opposition leaders have condemned the violence, but the episodes highlight the risks of protests spinning out of their control amid widespread anger at Maduro, hunger, and easy access to weapons in one of the world’s most violence countries.

Maduro accuses his opponents of an “armed insurrection,” backed by the United States, his ideological foe.

His government blames “fascist” protesters for looting and deaths in the unrest since early April.

The death toll increased to at least 51 people after a policeman, Jorge Escandon, died after being injured in Carabobo state and three people died in protests in Barinas, the prosecutor’s office said on Monday.

Hundreds of people also have been injured and more than 2,600 arrested, with about 1,000 still jailed, according to rights groups.

On Monday, opposition supporters and doctors in white robes tried to march to the Health Ministry in Caracas to demand access to proper treatment amid major shortages of medicines ranging from painkillers to chemotherapy drugs.

“Today, I’m not here as a lawmaker, I’m here marching for my sister who has a cerebral tumor, a tumor that is growing again and producing paralysis, a tumor for which Venezuela used to receive medicine and the injections for this not to happen,” said opposition lawmaker Miguel Pizarro.

“Today I walk for my brother, who is diabetic, and who, like my mom, can’t find medicine,” added Pizarro, part of a new generation of opposition leaders who have been at the forefront of protests and often been tear-gassed.

In a scene repeated over and over in recent weeks, security forces fired tear gas at demonstrators and clashes erupted with hooded youths who threw rocks.

(Additional reporting by Andreina Aponte, Eyanir Chinea, Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Toni Reinhold and Bill Trott)