Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Trending
    • Soca Invasion Brings Caribbean Culture to Ghana in January
    • SVG days away from exporting first legal shipment of medicinal cannabis
    • Protect yourself and use condom properly- AIDS Secretariat
    • Bird flu spreads across Europe and Asia
    • 9-year-old dies after Astroworld festival crush, bringing death toll to 10
    • 89-year-old man earns Ph.D. in physics from Brown University
    • 105-year-old runner sets a new 100m world record – but is disappointed she wasn’t even faster
    • Pfizer Says Its COVID-19 Pill Reduces Death, Hospitalization Risk by 89%; Will Submit for FDA Approval
    Magic 103.7
    • HOME
    • NEWS
    • SPORTS
    • ENTERTAINMENT
    • MUSIC / VIDEOS
    • MOVIES / TV
    • TECH
    • POWER HOUSE
    • LIVE
    Magic 103.7
    Home»News»Venezuela Government Backers Attack Lawmakers in Congress

    Venezuela Government Backers Attack Lawmakers in Congress

    0
    By Magic 103.7 on July 6, 2017 News

    Pro- government activists stormed into the grounds of Venezuela’s state legislature yesterday and beat lawmakers, leaving at least five hurt and three with blood streaming from their heads, their colleagues said.

    It was the latest eruption of political violence in three months of chaos in the oil-rich, poverty-stricken South American country.

    The attackers were supporting President Nicolas Maduro against Opposition demands for elections to remove him from office.

    Military police guarding the site stood by as about 100 intruders brandishing sticks and pipes broke through the front gate of the National Assembly and into the interior gardens.

    The mob reached as far as the corridors of the congressional building, striking and injuring lawmakers.

    The attackers, one of them holding a gun, ordered journalists to leave the premises.

    The speaker of the assembly, Julio Borges, in a Twitter message named five lawmakers who were hurt in the violence. Some were taken away for medical treatment.

    “This does not hurt as much as seeing every day how we are losing our country,” one of them, Armando Armas, told reporters as he got into an ambulance with his head wrapped in bloody bandages.

    Deputies also said that two employees of the assembly were hurt.

    Tension is high in Venezuela after three months of anti-government protests that have seen 91 people killed in clashes with police.

    Protesters blame President Nicolas Maduro for a desperate economic crisis. He says the chaos is the result of a US-backed capitalist conspiracy by the Opposition.

    “The government always resorts to violence,” said opposition lawmaker Stalin Gonzalez after yesterday’s attack.

    Another deputy, Simon Calzadilla, vowed: “We will continue to face up to these savages.”

    The Opposition-controlled legislature was holding a special session to mark independence day when the government supporters burst in.

    Earlier Maduro’s vice-president Tareck El Aissami had made an impromptu appearance in the congress along with the head of the armed forces, Vladimir Padrino Lopez, and ministers.

    El Aissami made an address in which he called on supporters of Maduro to come to the legislature to show support for the president.

    A crowd of Maduro supporters held a rally outside the building for several hours before breaking into the grounds during a recess.

    Government and Opposition have accused each other of using armed groups to sow violence.

    The Opposition has accused plainclothes armed pro-government groups of attacking protesters.

    While the chaos erupted in the grounds of the assembly, Maduro was watching a military parade in another part of Caracas, with troops marching and armoured vehicles rumbling by.

    In a speech at the parade, he demanded that the military be “ever loyal, never traitors”.

    “Let no one become a Trojan horse,” he said. “Let no one become a servant of the oligarchy.”

    Maduro retains the public backing of the military high command — a key factor in keeping him in power, according to analysts.

    But the president last month said he was replacing four other senior commanders of the armed forces.

    Maduro has infuriated his opponents by launching a plan to form an assembly to rewrite the constitution.

    Opponents say he will pack the “constituent assembly” with allies to cling to power.

    Voting for members of the assembly is scheduled for July 30.

    “However, the political crisis is so fluid that the country could reach a tipping point before then,” wrote analysts from the Eurasia Group consultancy last week in a note.

    The Opposition on Monday said it would hold a popular vote on July 16 against the constitutional plan.

    Source: Jamaica Observer

    Share this:

    • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
    • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
    • Click to print (Opens in new window)

    Related

    Nicolas Maduro Venezuela
    Previous ArticleSpaceX Launches IntelSat Broadband Satellite Aimed at Boosting Caribbean Wireless Connectivity
    Next Article Instagram Now Lets you Reply to Stories with Photos and Videos

    Comments are closed.

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    Listen To Magic 103.7 Live

    Trending

    Soca Invasion Brings Caribbean Culture to Ghana in January

    December 9, 2021

    SVG days away from exporting first legal shipment of medicinal cannabis

    December 8, 2021

    Protect yourself and use condom properly- AIDS Secretariat

    December 5, 2021

    Bird flu spreads across Europe and Asia

    November 22, 2021

    9-year-old dies after Astroworld festival crush, bringing death toll to 10

    November 16, 2021
    Magic 103.7 - Today's Music Yesterday's Hits
    Today’s Music Yesterday’s Hits
    Follow Us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    Popular This Week

    Soca Invasion Brings Caribbean Culture to Ghana in January

    December 9, 2021

    SVG days away from exporting first legal shipment of medicinal cannabis

    December 8, 2021
    Copyright © Magic 103.7 | Designed by Delano Maloney Designs
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Subscribe

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.