Venezuela opposition marks 100 days of protests

  • 7 years ago
Venezuelan opposition supporters have marked 100 days of anti-government protests with yet another march.
Thousands gathered in the capital Caracas to listen to leaders including the wife of Leopoldo Lopez – the hardline politician who was freed from jail on Friday.

While Lopez was at home under house arrest with his two young children, his wife Lilian Tintori, who has campaigned for him around the world including meeting US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, addressed the crowd at a public square denouncing torture and the keeping of political prisoners.

“We complained against torture. In his final days in prison he lost six kilos his vision is not good. Leopoldo was locked in a cell for 32 days without anything. He was denied food, they made him eat prison food and he fell ill,” Lilian Tintori told reporters at the march in Caracas.

The government has denied mistreating Lopez who was released early from a 14 year jail term after being convicted of inciting violence.

Meanwhile masked youths and security forces clashed again on Sunday. National Guard troops fired tear gas at protesters who threw bottles and rocks and took up position behind makeshift shields. Latest reports say around 90 people have died and hundreds arrested since the unrest against President Maduro began at the start of April.

Recommended