CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan troops on Thursday
rounded up hundreds of youth activists and
dismantled camps set up to protest against
President Nicolas Maduro, and a policeman was
shot dead in the demonstrations and clashes that
ensued around Caracas.
Pre-dawn raids by National Guard troops broke up
four tent camps maintained by student activists in
the capital of the OPEC member nation during
three months of protests.
After the raids, hundreds of demonstrators and
residents poured onto the streets, setting up
barricades, a common tactic during three months
of unrest. The protests had waned in recent weeks
even as sporadic clashes continued.
Masked youths hurled stones and petrol bombs,
while police fired tear gas in upmarket east
Caracas.
One policeman died of bullet wounds, among five
people injured, authorities said. Witnesses said
shots were fired from buildings down into the
streets.
"A sniper killed the policeman while he was
cleaning debris left by these violent, murderous
protesters," a somber Maduro said during an
address to the nation. "He was vilely killed."
Troops cleared away the remnants of the camps,
where students from all over the country had lived
in tents, chanting and strumming guitars beneath
banners with anti-government slogans, such as
"Maduro, assassin."
"These arrests are irresponsible because this is a
peaceful protest and we are not trying to topple
the government," said Jose Manuel Perez, 22, a
student leader. "Mr. President, think about what
you're doing. We demand respect for the
students."
The government said soldiers arrested 243 people
in camps it said were bases for staging violent
protests. Officials displayed items taken including
mortars and Molotov cocktails.
The detainees included a pregnant woman and
"apparently" one foreigner, officials said.
RISING TOLL
The near-daily protests of February and March,
which saw clouds of tear gas and barricades of
burning trash and tires, had waned as opposition
sympathizers grew less hopeful that Maduro would
be pushed from office.
Official figures show 42 have been killed and
nearly 800 injured. About 3,000 people have been
arrested since February, with Thursday's round-up
leaving about 450 people still in detention.
Francia Cacique, 24, a leader of one of the camps,
called the raid illegal and denied the students had
been plotting subversive activities.
"They've come up with the excuse of drugs and
weapons, which is totally false," Cacique told
Reuters via cellphone instant message, saying the
detained protesters were being held at a Caracas
military base. She was not arrested.
"I call on the world to help us and to realize that
this is a dictatorship!"
Opposition demonstrators took to the streets in
February to demand Maduro's resignation,
complaining of soaring prices, chronic product
shortages and abuse by security forces.
Maduro has called the protests an effort to
overthrow him through public order disruptions
that have snarled traffic, preventing some people
from obtaining medical treatment.
The 51-year-old president, who replaced his late
mentor Hugo Chavez last year, appears secure in
power since the protests have not gone far beyond
middle-class opposition strongholds and armed
forces heads appear to remain firmly behind him.
But he has seen his approval rating fall to its
lowest level yet, 37 percent according to local
pollster Datanalis. He also faces a tricky job to
turn around Venezuela's ailing economy.
