Protests in Venezuela

{{Short description|none}} {{Other uses|Venezuelan protests (disambiguation){{!}}Venezuelan protests}} {{History of Venezuela}}Various protests occurred against governments in Venezuela in the twentieth century.

== History ==

=== Juan Vicente Gómez dictatorship === After the surrender of the German Empire, the Caracas population celebrated in the streets the end of World War I on 15 November 1918. University students, journalists and writers participated in the demonstrations, which passed in front of the headquarters of the legations of France, United Kingdom, Belgium, Italy and the United States and headed to Bolívar Square. Although the prefect of Caracas assured Vicente Gómez that the demonstrators consisted only of "boys, men of the people, drivers", among others, the demonstration was dissolved by the police and its leaders were arrested by order of Juan Vicente Gómez.<ref>{{cite web |access-date=2021-11-14 |publisher=Biblioteca de la Fundación Empresas Polar |title=1918 - Cronología de historia de Venezuela |url=https://bibliofep.fundacionempresaspolar.org/_custom/static/cronologia_hv/zoom/s20/1918-6.html |website=Diccionario de Historia de Venezuela}}</ref> The same month the student and dissident Gustavo Machado leads a demonstration in favor of Belgium that sought to condemn the pro-German attitude assumed by Juan Vicente Gómez.<ref>{{cite web |access-date=2021-11-14 |publisher=Biblioteca de la Fundación Empresas Polar |title=Machado, Gustavo |url=https://bibliofep.fundacionempresaspolar.org/dhv/entradas/m/machado-gustavo/ |website=Diccionario de Historia de Venezuela}}</ref>

During the dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez, a group of students later dubbed as the Generation of 1928 led protests in 1928 in the capital city of Caracas. Many politicians prominent in Venezuela's transition to democracy took part in the protests. They include Rómulo Betancourt, Jóvito Villalba, Juan Oropeza, {{ill|Joaquín Gabaldón Márquez|es}}, Raúl Leoni, Andrés Eloy Blanco, Miguel Otero Silva, Pedro Sotillo, Francisco Ignacio Romero, Isaac J Pardo, Juan Bautista Fuenmayor, Germán Suárez Flamerich, Iván Darío Maldonado Bello, Gustavo Machado, and Antonia Palacios.{{sfn|Miranda|2001|p=265}}

Several members of the Generation went into exile. Political organizations in exile included the founding of {{ill|Agrupación Revolucionaria de Izquierda|es}} (ARDI) in Colombia in 1931 by Rómulo Betancourt and others. This later became the Partido Democrático Nacional, a forerunner of Democratic Action. The Communist Party of Venezuela, also founded in 1931, was initially led by {{ill|Francisco José Delgado (Venezuela)|lt=Francisco José "Kotepa" Delgado|es}} and Juan Bautista Fuenmayor.{{sfn|Miranda|2001|p=265}}

=== Eleazar López Contreras administration === [[File:Francisco_Antonio_Risquez_000.jpg|left|thumb|Francisco Antonio Risquez, rector of the Central University of Venezuela and one of the leaders of the February 1936 march.]] After Juan Vicente Gómez's death on 17 December 1935, the Congress entrusted the interim presidency to the Minister of War and Navy, Eleazar López Contreras.<ref>{{cite web |access-date=2022-05-10 |title=1935 - Cronología de historia de Venezuela |url=https://bibliofep.fundacionempresaspolar.org/_custom/static/cronologia_hv/zoom/s20/1935-7.html |website=bibliofep.fundacionempresaspolar.org}}</ref> He was a moderate ''gomecista'', reason why he was received with sympathy upon his arrival in Caracas.<ref name=":24">{{Cite book|last=Mudarra|first=Miguel Angel|title=Manual de historia venezolana|year=1971|location=Caracas|page=287}}</ref> On 28 January 1936, the governor of the Federal District, Félix Galavís, created a Censorship Office in the governor's office. On 12 February, Governor Galavís issues a decree of censorship over the media, press and radio.<ref>{{citation |url=http://ve.scielo.org/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S1315-94962017000200008&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es|title=Del gendarme al prestigio moral necesario: La transición en el gobierno de Eleazar López Contreras|last=Padrón García|first=Rebeca Gerardina|date=December 2017 |publisher=Tiempo y Espacio|volume=27|issue=68|pages=129–149|access-date=2022-07-12|language=es|issn=1315-9496}}</ref>

Around 15,000 to 20,000 people marched from the Bolivar Square in Caracas on their way to the Miraflores Palace.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Pérez Jiménez y su tiempo: 1930-1948|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iOgpAQAAMAAJ&dq=Manifestaci%C3%B3n+del+14+de+febrero+de+1936&pg=PA424|publisher=Consorcio de Ediciones Capriles|date=1988|access-date=2022-12-02|isbn=978-980-6201-03-3|language=es|first=Carlos |last=Capriles Ayala}}</ref> Shortly after arriving at the square, the demonstration was broken up with a three-minute burst of gunfire. The shots left 6 dead and 150 wounded.

Félix Galavís was attributed with the order to shoot, although he denied responsibility. Subsequently, looting was unleashed, mainly against known Gomecistas. One hundred houses and businesses were destroyed, and close relatives of Juan Vicente Gómez left Venezuela on a ship to Curaçao.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|last=Arraiz Lucca|first=Rafael|title=Historia Contemporánea de Venezuela|url= |access-date= |date= |publisher=Larense|isbn=9-789802-112661|editor= |pages=122–124|language=es|chapter=La Hegemonía Militar Tachirense (1899-1945)}}</ref>

The Student Federation of Venezuela organized a demonstration that left from the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) in the afternoon, headed by the rector of the university, Francisco Antonio Rísquez, opposition leaders and student and union leaders of Caracas. The demonstrators protested against censorship and demanded the departure of the Gomecistas from power and democratization. The march stopped in front of the Miraflores Palace and a commission met with President Eleazar López Contreras. After the meeting, López Contreras agreed to revoke the suspension of constitutional guarantees within 15 days and to punish those responsible for the deaths that occurred that morning.<ref name=":5" />

The newspaper La Esfera published an article stating that the march led by Rector Antonio Rísquez was "the most important civic demonstration ever held in our country".<ref>{{cite web |access-date=2022-05-13 |title=Manifestación del 14 de febrero de 1936 : Efemérides Venezolanas |url=http://efemeridesvenezolanas.com/sec/his/id/195/ |website=Efemérides Venezolanas}}</ref>

During his first year as president, López Contreras also faced a labor strike that paralyzed the oil industry in Zulia state, in western Venezuela, where the most productive fields were located. His representative there from the labor ministry, Carlos Ramírez MacGregor, made a report of the situation, which confirmed the workers’ grievances. The strike was declared illegal and government forces made the workers return to their jobs, although after that incident the oil companies started taking serious initiatives to improve conditions for Venezuelan workers.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

=== Marcos Pérez Jiménez dictatorship === One of the first public demonstrations against the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez occurred on 1952, after the assassination of opposition leader Leonardo Ruiz Pineda. During a commemorative ceremony in Nuevo Circo, Caracas, hundreds of people waved handkerchiefs during a minute of silence asked in his honor.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |title=Historias de la violencia venezolana: El asesinato de Ruiz Pineda |trans-title=Stories of Venezuelan Violence: The Murder of Ruiz Pineda |url=https://misrevistas.com/test/notas/105309/historias-de-la-violencia-venezolana-el-asesinato-de-ruiz-pineda |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220902090124/https://misrevistas.com/test/notas/105309/historias-de-la-violencia-venezolana-el-asesinato-de-ruiz-pineda |archive-date=2 September 2022 |access-date=2022-09-02 |website=Globovisión |language=es}}</ref>

On 27 March 1957, Aaron Copland had come to Caracas to conduct the first Venezuelan performance of his ''Lincoln Portrait''. A ''New York Times'' reviewer said it had a "magical effect" on the audience. As Copland recalled, "To everyone's surprise, the reigning dictator, who had rarely dared to be seen in public, arrived at the last possible moment." On that evening actress Juana Sujo performed the spoken-word parts of the piece. When she spoke the final words, "...that government of the people, by the people, for the people (''del pueblo, por el pueblo y para el pueblo'') shall not perish from the earth", the audience rose and began cheering and shouting so loudly that Copland could not hear the remainder of the music."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Holzer |first1=Harold |author-link1=Harold Holzer |title=Lincoln on Democracy |date=2004 |publisher=Fordham University Press |isbn=0823223450 |editor1-last=Cuomo |editor1-first=Mario |editor1-link=Mario M. Cuomo |location=New York |page=xliv |chapter=Introduction |editor2-last=Holzer |editor2-first=Harold |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8bWmmyJEMZoC&q=%22juana%20sujo%22%20%22lincoln%20portrait%22&pg=PR44}}</ref>

Following massive public demonstrations in support of democratic reforms, Pérez Jiménez was deposed in a coup perpetrated by disgruntled sectors within the Armed Forces of Venezuela on 23 January 1958. Pérez Jiménez left the country, paving the way for the establishment of democracy in Venezuela.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

=== Lusinchi presidency === Unprecedented protests against the government of Jaime Lusinchi occurred during a period of economic turmoil when the 1980s oil glut affected Venezuela's economy, resulting with increased poverty, inflation and shortages of basic goods.<ref name=":102">{{Cite journal |last=Ewell |first=Judith |date=March 1989 |title=Debt and Politics in Venezuela |journal=Current History |volume=88 |issue=536 |pages=121–124, 147–149}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Neuman |first=William |date=2014-05-24 |title=Jaime Lusinchi, Ex-Leader of Venezuela, Dies at 89 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/24/world/americas/jaime-lusinchi-ex-leader-of-venezuela-dies-at-89.html |access-date=2024-02-23 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Many citizens believed that the two-party system established in the Puntofijo Pact was no longer democratic and that the government grew less transparent as the nation's financial state grew worse.<ref name=":102" /> The economic decline saw increased student protests against the Lusinchi government and Democratic Action, which accused demonstrators of destabilization attempts and deployed troops to crackdown on dissent.<ref name=":102" /><ref name=":0" /> Protests grew more severe in response to the repression by authorities, with citizen marches, university strikes, the Confederación de Trabajadores de Venezuela and local leaders of the Catholic Church condemning the government.<ref name=":102" />

The Lusinchi government announced austerity measures on 27 February 1986, saying "I am convinced that the normalization of relations with our foreign creditors solves an important obstacle in the country's affairs and clears the way for economic recovery."<ref name=":102" /> Weeks later on 11 March 1986, about 4,000 protesters marched in Caracas, criticizing the government's promise of economic recovery.<ref name=":102" /> Following the detention of seventeen students protesting against increased bus prices in Cumaná in May 1986, nationwide protests were organized in support of the arrested students the following year.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=4 July 1987 |title=Sniper wounds 5 policemen in Venezuelan student protest |work=Vancouver Sun |pages=A5}}</ref>

Between 13 and 15 March 1987, students in Mérida began large scale protests after a student who recently graduated was killed by an attorney linked to the police shot the student for allegedly urinating near his home.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Collett |first=Merrill |date=22 March 1987 |title=Student Protests Pressure Venezuela;Economic, Political Problems Threaten Lusinchi Government |newspaper=The Washington Post |page=A28}}</ref> The March 1987 protests in Mérida resulted with $2 million in damages and the arrests of 180 people, who were transported to be imprisoned at the El Dorado prison.<ref name=":102" /><ref name=":3" /> Protests were then banned in Caracas by Lusinchi, which fueled further dissent at the Central University of Venezuela and led to protests on 19 March 1987; police fired tear gas at the demonstration, 20 were injured and one university security guard died of a heart attack.<ref name=":3" /> Central University students clashed with police again on 30 April 1987 and thirty individuals were reported injured; the government blamed the violence on left-wing groups, reporting that students stole over a dozen buses and used makeshift weapons to attack authorities following the rise of bus fares.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1 May 1987 |title=Venezuelan students fight police |work=Vancouver Sun |pages=A4}}</ref> On 2 July 1987, student protests began in the cities of Mérida, San Cristobal and Trujillo, resulting with one dead student in Trujillo, sixteen injured and over one hundred people arrested.<ref name=":1" /> In Mérida, looting occurred and government offices were set ablaze.<ref name=":1" /> The Lusinchi government deployed 300 troops to Mérida and Trujillo.<ref name=":1" /> The following day, over 1,000 students at the Central University of Venezuela began demonstrations in response to the death of the student in Trujillo, with the government reporting that five police officers were injured by gunfire from "professional agitators."<ref name=":1" /> On 5 July 1987, Lusinchi made an address on Independence Day, accusing protesters of being involved in a plot to destabilize the nation.<ref name=":102" /> By the end of July 1987, two protesters were dead and 73 were injured.<ref name=":102" />

A university strike began in January 1988 when faculty demanded wage increases to counter the 40% inflation rate of 1987.<ref name=":102" /> The Lusinchi government also began to attack press freedom after his controversial affair with his mistress Blanca Ibáñez began to be disseminated by the media, with journalists being forced into self-censorship and a popular radio host having their program shut down by the government.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Riding |first=Alan |last2= |first2= |date=1988-01-23 |title=Caracas Journal; A President, a Liaison and a Lot of Political Clout |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/23/world/caracas-journal-a-president-a-liaison-and-a-lot-of-political-clout.html |access-date=2024-02-23 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> On 21 January 1988, more than 2,000 press workers participated in a march in Caracas to protest against the censorship of the Lusinchi government.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bamrud |first=Joachim |date=October 1988 |title=Free elections, unfree press |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03064228808534548 |journal=Index on Censorship|volume=17 |issue=10 |pages=10–11 |doi=10.1080/03064228808534548 }}</ref>

=== Andrés Pérez presidency === Shortly after taking office in early 1989, President Carlos Andrés Pérez reversed from his position of strongly criticizing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and instead accepted the IMF's recommendations.<ref name=":47">{{Cite book |last=Velasco |first=Alejandro |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1525/9780520959187/html |title=Barrio Rising: Urban Popular Politics and the Making of Modern Venezuela |date=2015-07-24 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-95918-7 |pages=194 |language=en |chapter=7. Killing Democracy’s Promise: A Massacre of People and Expectations |doi=10.1525/9780520959187}}</ref><ref name=":54">{{Citation |last=Strønen |first=Iselin Åsedotter |title=Understanding the Bolivarian Revolution from Below |date=2017 |work=Grassroots Politics and Oil Culture in Venezuela |pages=57–83 |url= |access-date= |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi= |isbn=978-3-319-59506-1 |quote=the el Caracazo massacre in 1989}}</ref> He instituted neoliberal economic policies prescribed by the Washington Consensus, which included the adoption of austerity measures and implementing shock therapy on the economy.<ref name=":47"/><ref name=":54"/><ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last1=Lander |first1=Edgardo |last2=Fierro |first2=Luis A. |date=Jul 1996 |title=The Impact of Neoliberal Adjustment in Venezuela, 1989-1993 |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0094582X9602300304 |journal=Latin American Perspectives |language=en |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=50–73 |doi=10.1177/0094582X9602300304 |issn=0094-582X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The distance between the impoverished populace and the ruling elite, according to Strønen, led to dissent from citizens.<ref name=":54"/> Shortly after Pérez's unveiling of the economic measures, economist Héctor Silva Michelena said that a "grave social explosion" was imminent.<ref name=":47"/>

Anti-neoliberal protests occurred in mid-February 1989, denouncing Pérez's economic proposals.<ref name=":22">{{cite journal |last1=López Maya |first1=Margarita |date=February 2003 |title=The Venezuelan "Caracazo" of 1989: Popular Protest and Institutional Weakness |journal=Journal of Latin American Studies |language=en |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=117–137 |doi=10.1017/S0022216X02006673 |s2cid=145292996 |quote=In this regard, the Caracazo was not such a spontaneous outburst as is commonly believed. We have found that anti-neoliberal student protest had been building in the previous days in Merida as well as other cities.}}</ref> Larger protests and rioting began on the morning of 27 February 1989 in Guarenas, a town in Miranda State about {{convert|30|km}} east of Caracas, due to the increase in public transportation prices.<ref name=":47"/><ref name="IACtHR3">[http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/iachr/C/58-ing.html El Caracazo Case, Judgment of 11 November 1999], Inter-American Court of Human Rights, accessed 1 May 2007</ref> Protests then spread to Caracas and nationwide. Rioters destroyed properties indiscriminately, with no motives related to initial protests, and many had to line up at government food distribution centers since markets were destroyed by rioters.<ref name="GAZ52">{{cite news |date=5 March 1989 |title=Riots leave Venezuela short of coffins; Up to 700 reported dead while hospitals say most of the injured were shot: B1 |work=The Gazette}}</ref> Pérez dismissed the first protests and warnings from multiple ministers throughout the day, choosing to fly to Barquisimeto for a meeting of the Venezuelan Executives Association and describing news footage of looting occurring as outdated.<ref name=":47"/> While meeting with the business executives, Pérez told his audience, "There is nothing to be alarmed about, ... We are going to take advantage of the crisis to generate well-being."<ref name=":47"/>

Venezuelan anthropologist Fernando Coronil described the Caracazo as "the largest and most violently repressed revolt against austerity measures in Latin American history."<ref name=":54"/> According to Amnesty International and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), tactics used by security forces included enforced disappearances, the use of torture, and extrajudicial killings.<ref name="amnesty.org">Amnesty International, March 1990, Reports of Arbitrary Killings and Torture:, February/March 1989, AI Index: AMR 53/02/90, https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr53/002/1991/en/</ref><ref name="IACtHR3"/> Members of the National Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services (DISIP) were reported to have beaten protesters with baseball bats and pipes while they performed interrogations.<ref name=":23">{{cite journal |last1=López Maya |first1=Margarita |date=February 2003 |title=The Venezuelan "Caracazo" of 1989: Popular Protest and Institutional Weakness |journal=Journal of Latin American Studies |language=en |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=117–137 |doi=10.1017/S0022216X02006673 |s2cid=145292996 |quote=In this regard, the Caracazo was not such a spontaneous outburst as is commonly believed. We have found that anti-neoliberal student protest had been building in the previous days in Merida as well as other cities.}}</ref> The IACHR said that a "disproportionate use of force" was especially used in impoverished areas.<ref name=":47"/> Poor areas faced increased violence during the riots, with authorities firing indiscriminately throughout neighborhoods and dragging some individuals out of their homes for summary executions.<ref name=":54"/><ref name=":22" /> By the time protesting ended on 5 March 1989, the initial official pronouncements stated that 276 people had died,<ref name="IACtHR3"/> though the Pérez administration attempted to block investigations.<ref name=":54"/> Of the deaths, two soldiers and one police officer were reported dead.<ref name=":47"/> After hundreds of unmarked graves were found in the following months,<ref name=":47" /> many estimates put the number at above 2,000<ref name="Crisp2">Crisp, Brian F. (1998), "[https://books.google.com/books?id=2k9iI91GVt4C&pg=PA150 Presidential Decree Authority in Venezuela]", in John M. Carey and Matthew Soberg Shugart (eds, 1998), ''Executive decree authority'', Cambridge University Press. p157</ref> and up to 5,000.Shortages of coffins were reported<ref name=":54" /><ref name="GAZ52"/> and morgues were so overfilled with dead that workers had to explain to family members searching for loved ones that bodies were simply discarded in trash bags.<ref name=":54" />

=== Caldera presidency === Through the 1990s, Chávez's MBR-200 participated in anti-austerity protests.<ref name=":13">{{cite book |last1=Almeida |first1=Paul |title=Collective Resistance to Neoliberalism |last2=Pérez Martín |first2=Amalia |date=2022 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781108981873 |quote=Caracazo anti-neoliberal uprising}}</ref> Pérez's successor, Rafael Caldera, pardoned Chávez for his actions in 1994.<ref name="HELLINGER">{{Cite book |last=Hellinger |first=Daniel |title=Comparative Politics of Latin America: Democracy at Last? |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 |isbn=9781134070077}}</ref>{{page needed|date=February 2021}} MBR-200, Radical Cause and Movement Towards Socialism consolidated their political objectives into the Fifth Republic Movement,<ref name=":13"/> with Chávez winning the 1998 Venezuelan presidential election.

=== Nicolás Maduro administration === {{Main|Protests against Nicolás Maduro}} In 2014, a series of protests, political demonstrations, and civil insurrection began in Venezuela due to the country's high levels of urban violence, inflation, and chronic shortages of basic goods and services.<ref>{{cite news |date=30 December 2013 |title=Venezuela's Maduro says 2013 annual inflation was 56.2 pct |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/venezuela-inflation-annual-idUSL2N0K90V020131230 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116190842/http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/30/venezuela-inflation-annual-idUSL2N0K90V020131230 |archive-date=16 January 2014 |access-date=19 January 2014 |newspaper=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=7 November 2013 |title=Venezuela Inflation Hits 16-Year High as Shortages Rise |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-07/venezuela-inflation-hits-16-year-high-as-shortages-rise.html |access-date=16 February 2014 |newspaper=Bloomberg}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Toro |first=Moisés Naím, Francisco |date=2016-05-12 |title=Venezuela Is Falling Apart |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/05/venezuela-is-falling-apart/481755/ |access-date=2019-03-03 |website=The Atlantic |language=en-US}}</ref> Explanations for these worsening conditions vary,<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 July 2018 |title=How Biased Western Reportage Has Harmed Venezuela |url=https://www.truthdig.com/articles/why-venezuela-reporting-is-so-bad/ |access-date=2019-03-03 |website=Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists}}</ref> with analysis blaming strict price controls,<ref>{{cite web |title=Inflation rate (consumer prices) |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2092rank.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200517135518/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2092rank.html |archive-date=17 May 2020 |access-date=26 February 2014 |work=CIA World Factbook}}</ref><ref name="economist.com">{{cite news |title=Venezuela's economy: Medieval policies |url=https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2011/08/20/medieval-policies |access-date=23 February 2014 |newspaper=The Economist}}</ref> alongside long-term, widespread political corruption resulting in the under-funding of basic government services. While protests first occurred in January, after the murder of actress and former Miss Venezuela Mónica Spear,<ref name="MostDangerous">{{cite web |date=8 January 2014 |title=Venezuela: the most dangerous place on earth? |url=http://www.channel4.com/news/venezuela-most-dangerous-place-earth-murder-monica-spear-colombia-drugs |access-date=21 February 2014 |publisher=Channel 4}}</ref><ref name="WhatTheHeck">{{cite web |date=18 February 2014 |title=What the Heck Is Going on in Venezuela? (Could the Maduro Regime Fall?) |url=http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-18/what-the-heck-is-going-on-in-venezuela-could-the-maduro-regime-fall |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219200335/http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-18/what-the-heck-is-going-on-in-venezuela-could-the-maduro-regime-fall |archive-date=19 February 2014 |access-date=21 February 2014 |publisher=Business week}}</ref> the 2014 protests against Nicolás Maduro began in earnest that February following the attempted rape of a student<ref>{{Cite web |title=These countries have the fastest-shrinking populations in the world |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/these-countries-have-the-fastest-shrinking-populations-in-the-world/ss-AAHQgjP?li=BBnbcA1#image=21 |access-date=2019-10-02 |website=www.msn.com}}</ref> on a university campus in San Cristóbal. Subsequent arrests and killings of student protesters spurred their expansion to neighboring cities and the involvement of opposition leaders.<ref name="AttemptedRape">{{cite news |author=Sequera, Vivia |date=22 February 2014 |title=Did attempted rape ignite Venezuela's national protests? |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2014/0222/Did-attempted-rape-ignite-Venezuela-s-national-protests |access-date=24 February 2014 |newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor |agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=7 March 2014 |title=San Cristobal: The birthplace of Venezuela's protests |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-26477526 |access-date=7 March 2016 |work=BBC News}}</ref> The year's early months were characterized by large demonstrations and violent clashes between protesters and government forces that resulted in nearly 4,000 arrests and 43 deaths, including both supporters and opponents of the government.<ref>"A total of 42 people, both supporters and opponents of the government, have died in the protest-related violence which followed." [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-27715622 "Venezuela: Leopoldo Lopez must stand trial, judge rules"] by BBC News.</ref> Toward the end of 2014, and into 2015, continued shortages and low oil prices caused renewed protesting.<ref name="SVCOprotest2">{{cite news |date=19 January 2015 |title=En 2014 se registraron 9.286 protestas, cifra inédita en Venezuela |url=http://www.lapatilla.com/site/2015/01/19/en-2014-se-registraron-9-286-protestas-cifra-inedita-en-venezuela/ |access-date=25 January 2015 |agency=La Patilla}}</ref>

By 2016, protests occurred following the controversy surrounding the 2015 parliamentary elections as well as the incidents surrounding the 2016 recall referendum. On 1 September 2016, one of the largest demonstration of the protests occurred, gathered to demand a recall election against President Maduro. Following the suspension of the recall referendum by the government-leaning National Electoral Council (CNE) on 21 October 2016, the opposition organized another protest which was held on 26 October 2016, with hundreds of thousands participating while the opposition said 1.2 million participated.<ref>{{cite news |date=26 October 2016 |title=Nationwide protests against Maduro in Venezuela – DW – 10/26/2016 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/venezuelan-protesters-rally-against-president-maduro/a-36164729 |access-date=4 November 2023 |work=Deutsche Welle |language=en}}</ref> After some of the largest protests occurred in a late-2016, Vatican-mediated dialogue between the opposition and government was attempted and ultimately failed in January 2017.<ref>{{cite news |date=7 December 2016 |title=Venezuela's opposition walks away from Vatican-backed talks |url=http://www.dw.com/en/venezuelas-opposition-walks-away-from-vatican-backed-talks/a-36672319 |access-date=9 December 2016 |newspaper=Deutsche Welle}}</ref><ref name="LAHT19jan2017">{{cite news |date=19 January 2017 |title=Latin American Herald Tribune - After Venezuela Government Fails to Honor Commitments, Vatican Pulls Out of Dialogue It Sponsored |url=http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2429464&CategoryId=10717 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225211616/http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2429464&CategoryId=10717 |archive-date=25 February 2021 |access-date=20 January 2017 |work=Latin American Herald Tribune}}</ref> Concentration on protests subsided in the first months of 2017 until the 2017 constitutional crisis occurred when the pro-government Supreme Tribunal of Justice of Venezuela attempted to assume the powers of the opposition-led National Assembly and removed their immunity. Though the move was partially reversed days later, demonstrations grew "into the most combative since a wave of unrest in 2014".<ref>{{cite news |date=31 March 2017 |title=Venezuela accused of 'self-coup' after Supreme Court shuts down National Assembly |url=http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/225180/venezuela-accused-of-%E2%80%98selfcoup%E2%80%99-after-supreme-court-shuts-down-national-assembly |access-date=1 April 2017 |work=Buenos Aires Herald}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=31 March 2017 |title=Venezuela's Descent Into Dictatorship |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/31/opinion/venezuelas-descent-into-dictatorship.html?_r=0 |access-date=1 April 2017 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=1 April 2017 |title=Venezuela clashes 'self-inflicted coup': OAS |url=http://www.skynews.com.au/news/world/sthamerica/2017/04/01/venezuela-clashes--self-inflicted-coup---oas.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225042527/https://www.skynews.com.au/news/world/sthamerica/2017/04/01/venezuela-clashes--self-inflicted-coup---oas.html |archive-date=25 February 2021 |access-date=1 April 2017 |publisher=Sky News Australia}}</ref><ref name="ABC17grown">{{cite news |last1=Goodman |first1=Joshua |date=9 April 2017 |title=Venezuela's Maduro blasts foe for chemical attack comments |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/venezuelas-maduro-blasts-foe-chemical-attack-comments-46695565 |access-date=10 April 2017 |work=ABC News |language=en |agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

During the 2017 Venezuelan protests, the Mother of all Protests involved from 2.5 million to 6 million protesters.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}} The 2019 protests began in early January after the National Assembly declared the May 2018 presidential elections invalid and declared Juan Guaidó acting president, resulting in a presidential crisis. The majority of protests have been peaceful, consisting of demonstrations, sit-ins, and hunger strikes,<ref name="SVCOprotestINFO">{{cite news |date=17 July 2014 |title=Protestas aumentan 278% en primer semestre 2014 |url=http://www.lapatilla.com/site/2014/07/17/protestas-aumentan-278-en-primer-semestre-2014/ |access-date=17 July 2014 |agency=La Patilla}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=15 July 2014 |title=Universitarios del Táchira levantaron la huelga de hambre |url=http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/140715/universitarios-del-tachira-levantaron-la-huelga-de-hambre |access-date=16 July 2014 |agency=El Universal}}</ref> although small groups of protesters have been responsible for attacks on public property, such as government buildings and public transportation. Erecting improvised street barricades, dubbed ''guarimbas'', were a controversial form of protest in 2014.<ref name="BBCStreetblockades">{{cite news |date=27 February 2014 |title=Street blockades divide opinion in Venezuela |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-26366809 |access-date=8 April 2014 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref name="Cawthorne">{{cite news |last1=Cawthorne |first1=Andrew |last2=Ore |first2=Diego |title=Chilean is first foreign fatality in Venezuela unrest |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-protests-idUSBREA291IU20140311 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924194615/http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/11/us-venezuela-protests-idUSBREA291IU20140311 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |access-date=23 July 2014 |work=Reuters}}</ref><ref name="CEPR">{{cite web |last1=Johnston |first1=Jake |title=Venezuela: Who Are They and How Did They Die? |url=http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/venezuela-who-are-they-and-how-did-they-die-new |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150323152844/http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/venezuela-who-are-they-and-how-did-they-die-new |archive-date=23 March 2015 |access-date=23 July 2014 |publisher=Center for Economic and Policy Research}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Sanchez |first=Nora |title=Murió mujer en una barricada en Mérida |url=http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/protestas-en-venezuela/140310/murio-mujer-en-una-barricada-en-merida |access-date=6 April 2014 |newspaper=El Universal}}</ref> Although initially protests were mainly performed by the middle and upper classes,<ref name="Neuman1">{{cite news |last1=Neuman |first1=William |date=March 2014 |title=Slum Dwellers in Caracas Ask, What Protests? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/01/world/americas/slum-dwellers-in-caracas-ask-what-protests.html?_r=0 |access-date=6 June 2014 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> lower class Venezuelans became involved as the situation in Venezuela deteriorated.<ref name="GUARD16may2016">{{cite news |last1=Watts |first1=Jonathan |date=19 May 2016 |title=President says Venezuela won't be next to fall, but he may not have a choice |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/19/venezuela-unrest-nicolas-maduro-protests |access-date=26 May 2016 |work=the Guardian |agency=The Guardian}}</ref> Nicolas Maduro's government characterized the protests as an undemocratic coup d'etat attempt,<ref name="Kurmanaev">{{cite magazine |last1=Kurmanaev |first1=Anatoly |last2=Pons |first2=Corina |title=Venezuela Protests Drive Poor to Maduro as Death Toll Mounts |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-13/middle-class-protesting-venezuela-shortages-drive-poor-to-maduro.html |access-date=6 June 2014 |magazine=Bloomberg Businessweek}}</ref> which was orchestrated by "fascist" opposition leaders and the United States,<ref name="Milne">{{cite news |last=Milne |first=Seumas |title=Venezuela protests are sign that US wants our oil, says Nicolás Maduro |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/08/venezuela-protests-sign-us-wants-oil-says-nicolas-maduro |access-date=9 April 2014 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> blaming capitalism and speculation for causing high inflation rates and goods scarcities as part of an "economic war" being waged on his government.<ref name="NYTmaduro">Nicolas Maduro. 1 April 2014. [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/02/opinion/venezuela-a-call-for-peace.html?_r=0 Venezuela: A Call for Peace]. ''The New York Times.'' Retrieved: 3 April 2014.</ref><ref name="Edition.cnn.com">{{cite web |date=20 November 2013 |title=Decree powers widen Venezuelan president's economic war |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/20/world/americas/venezuela-economy-decree-powers/ |access-date=21 February 2014 |work=CNN}}</ref> Although Maduro, a former trade union leader, has said he supported peaceful protesting,<ref name="comision">{{cite web |date=23 February 2014 |title=Maduro pedirá a la AN una "comisión de la verdad |url=http://www.el-nacional.com/politica/Maduro-pedira-AN-comision-verdad_0_361164009.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727081013/http://www.el-nacional.com/politica/Maduro-pedira-AN-comision-verdad_0_361164009.html |archive-date=27 July 2014 |access-date=17 July 2014 |website=El Nacional |df=dmy-all}}</ref> the Venezuelan government has been widely condemned for its handling of the protests. Venezuelan authorities have gone beyond the use of rubber pellets and tear gas to instances of live ammunition use and torture of arrested protesters according to organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch,<ref name="AIabuses">{{cite news |title=Amnesty Reports Dozens of Venezuela Torture Accounts |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-01/amnesty-reports-dozens-of-venezuela-torture-accounts.html |access-date=13 April 2014 |newspaper=Bloomberg}}</ref><ref name="HRWpfp">{{cite web |title=Punished for Protesting |url=https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/venezuela0514_reportcover_web.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140513223338/http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/venezuela0514_reportcover_web.pdf |archive-date=13 May 2014 |access-date=6 May 2014 |publisher=Human Rights Watch}}</ref> while the United Nations has accused the Venezuelan government of politically motivated arrests,<ref name="ENoct8">{{cite news |date=8 October 2014 |title=ONU insta a la inmediata liberación de Leopoldo López |url=http://www.el-nacional.com/politica/ONU-inmediata-liberacion-Leopoldo-Lopez_0_497350352.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009044857/http://www.el-nacional.com/politica/ONU-inmediata-liberacion-Leopoldo-Lopez_0_497350352.html |archive-date=9 October 2014 |access-date=9 October 2014 |agency=El Nacional}}</ref><ref name="ENoct12">{{cite news |date=12 October 2014 |title=ONU pide al gobierno liberación inmediata de Daniel Ceballos |url=http://www.el-nacional.com/politica/ONU-liberacion-inmediata-Daniel-Ceballos_0_499750159.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141013060728/http://www.el-nacional.com/politica/ONU-liberacion-inmediata-Daniel-Ceballos_0_499750159.html |archive-date=13 October 2014 |access-date=13 October 2014 |agency=El Nacional |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="UN22oct">{{cite web |date=20 October 2014 |title=Venezuela: UN rights chief calls for immediate release of opposition leader, politicians |url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=49120#.VEc4WZPF8Q5 |access-date=22 October 2014 |website=United Nations}}</ref> most notably former Chacao mayor and leader of Popular Will, Leopoldo López, who has used the controversial charges of murder and inciting violence against him to protest the government's "criminalization of dissent".<ref name="NYTlopez">{{cite news |last=Lopez |first=Leopoldo |date=25 March 2014 |title=Venezuela's Failing State |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/26/opinion/venezuelas-failing-state.html?hp&rref=opinion&_r=0 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref name="reuters_arrests">{{Cite news |date=20 March 2014 |title=Venezuela arrests one opposition mayor, jails another |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-protests-idUSBREA2J02Y20140320 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924195013/http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/20/us-venezuela-protests-idUSBREA2J02Y20140320 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |access-date=30 June 2017 |newspaper=Reuters}}</ref> Other controversies reported during the protests include media censorship and violence by pro-government militant groups known as ''colectivos''.

On 23 January 2019, ''El Tiempo'' revealed a protest count, showing over 50,000 registered protests in Venezuela since 2013.<ref>{{cite web |title=En Venezuela se han dado cerca de 50.000 protestas en la era Maduro |url=https://www.eltiempo.com/mundo/venezuela/50-000-protestas-en-la-era-maduro-en-venezuela-317896&usg=AOvVaw1q6rSYQQIMPIoQAv4aROma |access-date=23 January 2019 |website=El Tiempo |language=es}}</ref> In 2020, organized protests against Maduro had largely subsided, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Venezuela.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-09-20 |title=UN rights experts report a rise of efforts in Venezuela to curtail democracy ahead of 2024 election |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/un-rights-experts-report-a-rise-of-efforts-in-venezuela-to-curtail-democracy-ahead-of-2024-election |access-date=2023-11-20 |website=PBS NewsHour |language=en-us}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

Category:Riots and civil disorder in Venezuela Category:Protests in Venezuela Category:Political repression in Venezuela