At least five protesters were injured today in Venezuela’s capital as opposition groups and government supporters marched for the fourth day.
Tear gas shot by national police around the Plaza Altamira in Caracas after student protesters blocked access to a highway left five people injured and more with breathing difficulties, Ramon Muchacho, mayor of Chacao municipality, said in a post on his Twitter account.
“Protesters have informed us that they plan to come to Altamira every day,” Muchacho said. “Take precautions.”
President Nicolas Maduro, who said he would not permit highways to be blocked, said today at a pro-government march in Caracas that he has no plans to step down. Since taking office in April, Maduro has struggled to boost growth and rein in the world’s fastest inflation in a country with the world’s biggest oil reserves.
Maduro banned street demonstrations, threatened media and ordered the arrest of opposition politicians after three people died Feb. 12 in clashes between protesters and government supporters. He has accused opposition factions of trying to incite a coup.
“I’m not going to step down,” Maduro said today. “No one will remove me from the path of building the Bolivarian revolution.”
Maduro said he ordered the closing of three metro stations and suspended bus service in the eastern part of Caracas where students have been protesting.
Highways Blocked
Students blocked major avenues in Caracas yesterday on the way to the Eastern Cemetery to bury student Roberto Redman, one of the three killed in Feb. 12 clashes. Protests continued into the evening yesterday, with students closing streets and burning garbage in the affluent Chacao municipality.
The public prosecutor said today in an e-mailed statement that 13 of 99 people who were detained over violent events Feb. 12 and Feb. 13 will remain in prison after judges ruled that their actions were “severe.” Student protesters are demanding the release of all those detained.
Maduro has accused international news outlets of bias. He took Colombian station NTN24 off the air in Venezuela for covering the protests and in a national address Feb. 13 criticized Agence France-Presse for “manipulating information.”
Inflation more than doubled in Venezuela in the past year to 56.3 percent in January, according to the central bank. At the same time, the central bank’s scarcity index rose to a record 28 percent, meaning that more than one in four basic goods was out of stock at any given time.
To contact the reporters on this story: Corina Pons in Caracas at crpons@bloomberg.net; Eric Martin in Mexico City at emartin21@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andre Soliani at asoliani@bloomberg.net
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