Respected lawyer saw ‘absolutely no evidence’ of state ‘brutality’ during protests in Venezuelan capital

Ethnic and class divisions
Significant opposition among the well off




I would say with confidence, tens of thousands of people out here today just as I saw probably tens of thousands of people at the pro-opposition rally. The people here are very peaceful. The atmosphere is rather festive.
“Absolutely no evidence” of government oppression
Lascaris said:
What is notable about this, of course, is that Western leaders have characterised Nicolás Maduro as a brutal dictator, and have accused the security forces under his command of having committed numerous atrocities against Venezuelan protesters and those who support the opposition.
But:
I’ve seen absolutely no evidence of that here.
What minimal police or military presence he reports having seen appears to be limited to guiding car and foot traffic.
Lascaris ‘contrasted’ the minimal police presence to the over-policing he had seen in Canadian and US protests.
‘Brutal dictator’?
Lascaris then takes it home, saying:
Read on...
the self-proclaimed president is openly asking the military to rebel against the elected president Nicolás Maduro, and is effectively fomenting a military coup. Despite that fact, and despite the fact that these protesters are here to show their support for that politician, who has never been elected as president of Venezuela, there’s absolutely no indication, at least at this protest, that the government seeks to suppress the right of those who are opposed to the Maduro regime to express their dissent, and even to call for the removal of the president.
This is not to say that protests in Venezuela have never turned violent. But Lascaris’s coverage is quite telling.
BBC fail?
On 3 February 2019, BBC journalist Orla Guerin said:
We could not attend the pro government rally, so we used the pictures broadcast by state TV. Had we attended it ourselves we would have relied on our own pictures. Some local sources raised questions about the authenticity of the crowd shots, hence the reference in our piece
— Orla Guerin (@OrlaGuerin) February 3, 2019
When asked why she couldn’t attend the rally, she replied:
Were it only that simple. Both events happened at the same time in different places. Crowds made it difficult to move at all. But if you think you can be in two places at once, you might let me know how that is done.
— Orla Guerin (@OrlaGuerin) February 3, 2019
Josef Davies-Coates, formerly of Media Reform UK, replied:
Um, go to one and then the other? Seemingly plenty of other people have managed that.
— Josef Davies-Coates (@jdaviescoates) February 4, 2019
Finally, Canary contributor Pablo Navarrete replied:
I lived in Venezuela for two years (2005-2007) and regularly attended both anti and pro-govt marches in the same day. Very easily. I have been back on numerous occasions and have been there when both sides hold protests and have attended both. Your explanation sounds unconvincing
— Pablo Navarrete (@pablonav1) February 3, 2019
If nothing else, Lascaris’s brief report from Venezuela confirms Navarrete and Davies-Coates’s points.
Featured image and all other images in article via YouTube – TRNN
Get involved
– Support independent journalism at The Canary if you appreciate our work, and please share our articles.
– Support independent journalism at The Real News Network if you appreciate their work.
– In UK: Read about UK Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn’s media reforms and if you agree with them Tell your MP you support Corbyn’s media reform proposals.
We need your help to keep speaking the truth
Every story that you have come to us with; each injustice you have asked us to investigate; every campaign we have fought; each of your unheard voices we amplified; we do this for you. We are making a difference on your behalf.
Our fight is your fight. You’ve supported our collective struggle every time you gave us a like; and every time you shared our work across social media. Now we need you to support us with a monthly donation.
We have published nearly 2,000 articles and over 50 films in 2021. And we want to do this and more in 2022 but we don’t have enough money to go on at this pace. So, if you value our work and want us to continue then please join us and be part of The Canary family.
In return, you get:
* Advert free reading experience
* Quarterly group video call with the Editor-in-Chief
* Behind the scenes monthly e-newsletter
* 20% discount in our shop
Almost all of our spending goes to the people who make The Canary’s content. So your contribution directly supports our writers and enables us to continue to do what we do: speaking truth, powered by you. We have weathered many attempts to shut us down and silence our vital opposition to an increasingly fascist government and right-wing mainstream media.
With your help we can continue:
* Holding political and state power to account
* Advocating for the people the system marginalises
* Being a media outlet that upholds the highest standards
* Campaigning on the issues others won’t
* Putting your lives central to everything we do
We are a drop of truth in an ocean of deceit. But we can’t do this without your support. So please, can you help us continue the fight?
-
Show Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to leave a comment.Join the conversationPlease read our comment moderation policy here.
“What is notable about this, of course, is that Western leaders have characterised Nicolás Maduro as a brutal dictator, and have accused the security forces under his command of having committed numerous atrocities against Venezuelan protesters and those who support the opposition.”
And with good reason. And it’s not just “Western leaders”, of course. Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International said this:
“What seemed to be isolated reactions by the Venezuelan authorities in the face of protests, in fact indicate a planned strategy by the government of President Maduro to use violence and illegitimate force against the Venezuelan population to neutralize any criticism.”
(https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/07/venezuela-violencia-letal-una-politica-de-estado-para-asfixiar-a-la-disidencia/)