Venezuela Rising: Dispatch One

Over the past six weeks in Venezuela, a coalition of political groups opposed to the President, Nicolas Maduro, and students angry over dramatic crime rates have taken to the streets in mass demonstrations.

Thirteen people have died since the protests began and the Chavista government are deeply critical of the wave of demonstrations, accusing them of being a right-wing grab for power organised by bourgeois students and supported by the same political figures who attempted a coup over Hugo Chavez in 2002. Yesterday, Lilian Tinturi, the wife of recently jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, lead a march to the headquarters of the national guard.

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