09.03.16: Villa Rosa

In an unprecedented display of the overwhelming disapproval Maduro enjoys in Venezuela, the citizens of Villa Rosa, Nueva Esparta state booed, jeered and insulted Maduro as he drove through their city last night.

At around 7:00 PM local time, Maduro’s convoy drove through the neighbourhood of Villa Rosa, located just west of Porlamar on Margarita Island. When residents realized that Maduro was driving through, they ran out onto the streets and performed a cacerolazo, a type of protest that involves banging pots and pans loudly. At the same times, residents hurled insults at Maduro, who did his best to try to ignore the protesters.

In the video below, a man records Maduro’s convoy as it drives by. The crowd yells insults and jeers Maduro. The man mistakenly believes that Maduro is in the first convoy that drives by (0:35 – 1:15). However, Maduro is actually in a black vehicle that appears at 1:55. The crowd rushes to Maduro’s car,

Below, the video along with my translation:

Man Filming: This cacerolazo is for President Nicolas Maduro in the Villa Rosa neighbourhood. [Unintelligible], which is a clean barrio. Look at how things are here in the Villa Rosa neighbourhood, Venezuela!

Here comes the president! This is the biggest cacerolazo that Nueva Esparta state has ever seen! Take it all in! Here he comes! [Yelling to the cars he thinks Maduro is in, but he’s not] You miserable scum! Scum! Scum! This is the biggest cacerolazo in Margarita, ever! Take it in! There he goes, that son of a bitch! [Unintelligible yelling].

[Maduro’s car approaches, and Maduro gets out. The crowd rushes him]. There he is! I think he got out of the car! Look at him, there he is! [Maduro begins walking] There he is! You cocksucker! Damn you! You son of a bitch! Viva Venezuela!

The dude is shitting himself! I’m recording this so they can see it.

The video below shows Maduro as he continues to walk down the street. The hostile crowd still surrounds him. At around 0:18, a man – presumably one of Maduro’s bodyguard – picks up a pot and throws it away. At the end of the video, Maduro turns around, picks something off the ground, and appears to confront one of the protesters. The people Maduro confronts are apparently an elderly woman named Eudys Marcano. Maduro allegedly confronted and shoved Marcano in anger because she was banging a pot.

Woman Filming: What is this?

I’ve highlighted Maduro as he appears in the video below for the sake of clarity.

Maduro first appears at 0:22, highlighted in red below:

This is Maduro at 0:46, right after he’s picked up something off the ground and just as he’s about to confront (presumably) Eudys Marcano and her brother:

The video below shows Maduro walking through the city while the crowd chants, “Si va a caer! Si v a caer! Este gobierno va a caer!” [Yes, it will! Yes, it will! This government will fall!]:

This is not the first time that an angry crowd has harassed Maduro. In April of last year, Maduro was driving a bus through a crowd when someone threw a mango at his head. However, that crowd was mostly supportive of him, while that in Villa Rosa was overwhelmingly against him.

At Least 30 Arrested in Villa Rosa

El Nacional reports today that at least 30 people involved in last night’s cacerolazo against Maduro in Villa Rosa have been arrested. Alfredo Romero, a lawyer with the Foro Penal Venezolano [Venezuelan Penal Forum] broke the news through Twitter early in the overnight hours.

Andres Velasquez, one of the heads of the La Causa R party, suggested that the individuals arrested were detained simply for protesting publicly against Maduro, saying:

Attention, [People’s] Defender Tareck William Saab: People have been detained in Villa Rosa, Margarita for cacerolear against Maduro. What’s the crime? Venezuela will not stop its protest.

Velasquez also said that last night’s event in Villa Rosa is evidence that Maduro and the PSUV “are alone” and that the recall referendum must happen this year.

One of the people arrested was Braulio Jatar, the director of Reporte Confidencial, an independent news outlet. Jatar was allegedly arrested because he linked the videos of the events at Villa Rosa on his website.

VTV: Opposition Sent Protesters to Villa Rosa

Pedro Carvajalino is one of the hosts of Zurda Konducta, a show that airs on the state-owned VTV network.

On today’s show, Carvajalino said that last night’s events in Villa Rosa were staged by the opposition, which sent protesters to the town for the express purpose of demonstrating in public against Maduro. Carvajalino singled out Armando Armas, Henrique Capriles and Julio Borges as the perpetrators of the event.

Carvajalino explained:

[They] sent a group of people to an area of Margarita [Villa Rosa] to practically [attempt to overthrow Maduro], to show disrespect to the presidential majesty.

As evidence for his claim, Carvajalino pointed to the fact that the opposition leaders “immediately” shared the videos from Villa Rosa through social media.

Guarate Accused of Owning Weapons of War

Delson Guarate, the opposition mayor of the Mario Briceño Iragorry municipality in Aragua state who was arrested by SEBIN agents yesterday, is apparently being accused of having in his possession four grenades and two tear gas canisters. According to Guarae’s lawyers, the government also alleges that Guarate had in his possession a document that appears to suggest that he knew the location of 200 land mines.

None of the allegations have been proven. Guarate is currently at the SEBIN headquarters in Caracas.

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