On Sunday, Venezuela’s opposition marked one hundred days since a series of daily protests against the socialist government, triggered by the Supreme Court’s aborted attempt to replace the National Assembly and install itself as the national legislative body.
During those hundred days, beginning in late March, over one hundred people have died and an untold number of others arrested for peacefully assembling against the government. According to the Venezuelan outlet Runrun.es, 108 people ranging in age from 14 to 54 have been killed since the latest wave of protests began, mostly students in their late teens and early 20s. The government has not prosecuted anyone over these deaths in nearly 90 percent of cases.
Protesters have largely remained peaceful as dictator Nicolás Maduro ordered the nation’s Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) to attack civilians with tear gas and rubber bullets and, in some cases, run civilians over with armored tanks. Opposition leaders in the National Assembly are demanding the liberation of all political prisoners, free and fair elections, and the full restoration of the democratic order. In response, Maduro has created a parallel legislature tasked with drafting a new constitution that would greatly expand his powers.
In what appeared to some an attempt to preempt hundred-day protests on Sunday, the government transferred the nation’s most prominent political prisoner, Leopoldo López, to house arrest on Saturday, citing health concerns. López, the head of the opposition party Popular Will, was sentenced to nearly 14 years in prison in 2015 for organizing peaceful protests; his wife, Lilian Tintori, says he was tortured shortly before his release and has lost some of his eyesight.
Tintori’s overnight vigils in front of Ramo Verde prison, where López was being held, became a regular feature of the protests against the government.
RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP/Getty Images
López’s release did not deter protesters on Sunday, including his wife, Tintori, and the heads of Popular Will. The Popular Will party released a statement attributing López’s release to both international pressure and the persistence of these daily protests. Thousands congregated in Caracas Sunday to observe the hundredth day of protest.
All photos FEDERICO PARRA/AFP/Getty Image
June 12, 2017– protesters burn parts of the Supreme Court building. FEDERICO PARRA/AFP/Getty Images.
Police pilot Oscar Pérez flies over the Supreme Court on June 28, 2017, holding a poster referring to Article 350 of the Venezuelan constitution, which allows resistance against anti-democratic governments. @DolarToday/Twitter.
Venezuelan opposition activists march during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro’s government, in Caracas on April 13, 2017. JUAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images
Student Hans Wuerich approaches the Venezuelan police in the nude, holding only a Bible, demanding an end to violence. April 20, 2017.
A Venezuelan opposition activist is backdropped by a burning barricade during a demonstration against President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, on April 24, 2017. Getty Images.
Governor Liborio Guarulla of Amazonas state invokes an ancient indigenous curse against the socialist government of Nicolás Maduro, May 17, 2017. Twitter/@valientesve
Caracas protest May 31, AFP/Getty.
Opposition demonstrators set an alleged thief on fire during a protest against the government of President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on May 20, 2017. CARLOS BECERRA/AFP/Getty Images
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