Politics

Carnavales: Chavista Celebration Turns Violent when People Protest

The government had called for a big Mardi Gras party in Los Próceres. Then people started shouting anti-government slogans and all hell broke loose.

Anabella Abadi M.

Paseo Los Próceres was the designated site for a Carnival float parade and concert organized by the Mayor of Caracas. The official photos show a festive and cheerful atmosphere. However, they gloss over the…erm… “irregular situation” that went down during the celebration.

According to National Assembly member Dinorah Figuera, some people shouted a well known opposition slogan “y va a caer, este gobierno va caer”, bothering the crew of TVES and leading to repression and five dozen detainees.

According to La Iguana TV, the whole situation erupted because “violent protesters tried to sabotage the celebration of the festividades carnestolendas”. El Cooperante even claims that the protesters started “throwing stones and other blunt objects”.

In this video you can see a whole range of armed forces detaining people, while some people ran and screamed and children stood around staring at the whole scene with bewilderment.

We’re still not sure what exactly triggered the represion.

Were the protests organized or spontaneous?

Were the protesters opposition followers or chavistas descontentos?

Did the protesters throw rocks or were the political slogans their only weapon?

Social tension is rising by the minute, so maybe represion is the go-to preemptive strategy to avoid having to answer such questions.

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