Page 11 - ARUBA TODAY

WORLD NEWS A11
Friday 3 June 2016

Venezuela police repel rare protest near presidential palaceÂ

A woman kicks the shield of a National Guard soldier as other demonstrators push during a pro- windows banging pots and Protesters said the incident
yelling insults at the police. began at a nearby super-
test demanding food, a few blocks from Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, The economically strug- market when it appeared
gling county has seen people affiliated with the
Thursday, June 2, 2016. Venezuela is seeing rising frustration with widespread food shortages and near-daily spontaneous government were taking
protests in recent weeks away the food those in line
triple-digit inflation. over shortages of food and had been waiting in the
medicine, rolling power oppressive heat to buy.
(AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) blackouts, and poor ac- “We have needs, too. We
cess to running water. all need to eat” said Jose
Venezuela’s political op- Lopez, 23, who joined doz-
position has staged several ens of the protesters who
large rallies against Presi- ran toward the presidential
dent Nicolas Maduro, but palace.
the government has de- Lopez and other protest-
ployed troops in the streets ers said they were neither
to keep them from their members of the opposition
goal of reaching the presi- nor supporters of the gov-
dential palace. ernment, just people trying
Those formal marches tend to feed themselves.
to draw middle class pro- The government has long
testers, but Thursday’s out- counted on the poor who
burst came largely from live downtown and in the
poor people who had slums above the capital to
been waiting for hours to support the administration,
buy food at subsidized or at least stay away from
prices. opposition marches. q

HANNAH DREIER Caracas chanting “No

Associated Press more talk. We want food.”

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) They got within about a

— A throng of protesters half dozen blocks of the

demanding food made palace before police in riot

a run for the Venezuelan gear headed them off and

presidential palace Thurs- began firing tear gas.

day in a rare, apparently Police pushed the crowd

spontaneous outburst of back as some demonstra-

anger at the socialist ad- tors kicked their plastic

ministration within the heart shields while more officers

of Caracas. ran to the scene and filled

More than 100 people in the streets between the

charged down the main protesters and the palace.

thoroughfare in central Onlookers leaned out of