AFP
via Yahoo! News
4/5/2014
Caracas (AFP) – Protests erupted in Caracas late Friday after Venezuela’s attorney general charged jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez with responsibility for anti-government demonstrations that have shaken the country since February.
Riot police fired tear gas at crowds of rock-throwing demonstrators in the Chacao neighborhood in what has become an almost regular nightly ritual.
In an ominous sign of possible escalation, a masked man was photographed moving among the protesters armed with what appeared to be a rifle with a telescopic sight.
Leftist President Nicolas Maduro more than once has decried the existence of sharpshooters among the most radical protesters. The government claims the protests are part of a coup attempt orchestrated by the United States and right-wing Colombians.
The protesters, in turn, have long complained about harassment from gangs of armed, semi-official pro-government thugs.
Thirty-nine people have died and another 608 have been wounded since crowds took to the streets in early February to protest Venezuela’s soaring crime, high inflation and shortages of essential goods.
– Lopez in solitary confinement –
Lopez, a Harvard-educated economist who is leader of the Popular Will party, has been held in a military prison since he was arrested on February 18 in the midst of a massive opposition protest rally.
Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz told a press conference that Lopez was formally charged with inciting violence, arson, damage to property and conspiracy.
The government had until Saturday to press charges or release him…
The article continues at Yahoo! News.
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…“We who are fortunate enough to live in freedom must stand up to oppression and injustice”…
