Venezuela in chaos as government is on the brink of collapse - ADANews - 4th September, 2024

[MSgt Falconer]

Venezuela in chaos as government is on the brink of collapse

 

Over the last month the government of Nicholas Maduro, president of Venezuela, has been failing to come to grips with an ever increasing crisis. The country's economic stagnation and rampant corruption has seen harvests fail, oil revenues disappear into private pockets and demonstrations being brutally put down. The heavy handed response from the government has failed to restore order and instead only given rise to new, more intense protests which in many cases have turned into riots in the previous weeks. The government has been responding with ever increasing crackdowns, deploying riot police with water cannons and tear gas to forcibly disperse crowds. Last week President Maduro took a furhter drastic step in an attempt to come to grips with the escalating unrest. The military was called in to a major protest at the presidential palace in the capital of Caracas. Local police were overwhelmed and the military opened fire on the crowd leaving 12 dead and over 50 wounded with many of the wounded being women and children. This turned the protests and riots into proper acts of insurrection. Citizens armed themselves and have been attacking government buildings in large numbers. Often targeting police stations in order to acquire firearms in larger numbers.

Venezuelan rebels outside Tucupido with captured firearms

The current week has been marked by sporadic skirmishes in virtually all major Venezuelan cities as citizens acquire more and more firearms for themselves and launch ever bolder attacks on both police and military posts across the country. Reports are also coming in about police and soldiers defecting to the protestors further increasing their capacity to fight back against government supression attempts. Already various groups are stating their goal to overthrow the Maduro regime and establish a new government. At this point the US has made no official comment on the matter but undisclosed sources are claiming increased activity at marine and naval bases on the East coast.

Simon Tam
ADANews