The anti-government protests and the official demonstrations in favor of President Nicolás Maduro's government once more filled the streets of Venezuela's main cities on Thursday, showing a divided Venezuela, wrapped in a wave of violence that has killed six people and left dozens injured.
In a TV message, Maduro confirmed the death of Alexis Martínez, a government sympathizer and brother of Deputy of the official party, who was shot during a confrontation between protesters and government sympathizers in the northwestern city of Barquisimeto on Thursday, claiming that the "fascist" opposition was responsible. A witness quoted by Reuters confirmed that Martínez was shot in the chest as an opposition contingent marched by.
The protesters, most of them students, intensified their mobilization in the western states of Andes de Táchira and Mérida, a region described by some residents as a "war zone", complete with improvised barricades of tree trunks, tubes and lit tires, which has forced businesses to shut down and caused the arrival of military forces to the capital of Táchira, San Cristóbal.
Leopoldo López Sends a Message to the Opposition from Prison: "Don't Give Up"
Tensions in the streets of Venezuela intensified after the opposition leader, Leopoldo López, was detained and jailed in the Ramo Verde prison in Caracas, accused of terrorism and murder. From jail, López sent a message to his followers telling them not to surrender to Maduro's military pressure.
Through a letter delivered to his wife, López called the opposition to maintain the intensity of the protests, but to avoid violence.
"I'm fine, I ask you not to give up, I won't," the letter reads, and added "To the youth, to those who protest, I ask you to commit to non-violence, organization and discipline (...) strength, Venezuela. And remember, whoever gets tired, loses," reported Reuters.
On his part, the Governor of Miranda and former opposition Presidential candidate, Henrique Capriles, accused Maduro's government of promoting violence on Venezuelan streets, and asked the protestors not to fall for the provocations, saying that change won't come to Venezuela with violence.
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