April 2: Waiting

Maria Corina Machado was in Brazil today to “denounce the ‘grave’ situation that the country is living before members of the Foreign Relations Commission of the Senate and the lower house”. From the article:

Despite that decision [to have her removed from the National Assembly], Machado insisted that she was ‘more of a deputy than ever before’, and that the decision to remove her from her post is illegal, and demonstrates the authoritarian character of the Nicolas Maduro government, as well as the ‘non-existance of the separation of powers’ in Venezuela.

Voluntad Popular, Leopoldo Lopez’s party, has called for a demonstration this Friday to demand his release. The Supreme Court is supposed to rule on April 5 on whether or not to release Lopez. He could be discharged unconditionally, have the charges against him stayed, or if a trial against him is ordered to proceed, be remanded in custody until the proceedings begin.

A survey released today by the Instituto Venezolano de Analisis de Datos (IVAD) found that “six out of ten citizens disagreed that a hypothetcal decision to ban demonstrations would help to repair ties and achieve reconciliation”, and that ‘only four out of 10 Venezuelans believe that [the mass media] is reporting ‘everything that is happening in the country’.”

Yesterday, Filippo Sevillano, a student leader Nueva Esparta state, was shot in the head during a demonstration in Porlamar, Margarita. He survived, and is currently in hospital in “stable but delicate” condition.

Also yesterday, Nicolas Maduro wrote a piece for the New York Times, which you can see here.

Here is a video of confrontations in Barquisimeto last night. It shows a National Guard truck being hit with molotov cocktails and fireworks by a large group of demonstrators:

A bus PDVSA bus was torched by demonstrators in Maracaibo today:

The government arrested two “alleged terrorists” in Santa Fe, Caracas today. The men were apparently driving in a modified vehicle. The sub director of the National Bolivarian Police, Eduardo Contreras, said:

We detained two people aboard a Toyota Machito, which is equipped with various compartments, [including] one to deploy oil onto the road and another to store and deploy spike tacks.

Here are pictures of the truck, and of what the National Police allegedly found inside:

A demonstration in Valencia:

This banner was hung over the Francisco Fajardo highway somewhere in Caracas. It reads “In Venezuela, the only fridge that is full is the one in the morgue”:

And from Altamira earlier this evening:

And somewhere in Chacao:

 

Commentary

After what feels like an eternity of events, today felt like a “waiting” day. Maria Corina was in Brazil, and I’m waiting to see what the government response against her will be after yesterday’s events, during which she was denied access to the National Assembly. Leopoldo Lopez is still in Ramo Verde, and I’m waiting to see what happens on the fifth regarding his status. The Amnesty International report released yesterday  had some excellent analysis regarding Leopoldo’s current legal status. At this point, it’s a matter of waiting to see what the Supreme Court decides to do with him.