Page 11 - ARUBA TODAY

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WORLD NEWS Wednesday 12 april 2017
University student killed in Venezuela opposition protest

restriction of the rights to Members of the opposition- dence leader Simon Boli-
peaceful assembly and controlled National As- var or “the bodyguards of
freedom of expression or sembly showed up at the Nicolas Maduro.”
the indiscriminate and dis- National Guard’s head- The National Assembly lat-
proportionate use of force quarters in Caracas early er held a special meeting
against demonstrators,” Tuesday to deliver a docu- with dozens of civil society
the Inter-American Com- ment denouncing the gov- members to establish an
mission on Human Rights ernment response to the agenda and create work-
said Tuesday. protests. ing groups with the goals
Queliz’s father told local Speaking directly to officers of holding elections, letting
media his son was at Mon- at the National Guard’s en- humanitarian aid enter the
day’s demonstration “like trance, National Assembly country, restoring demo-
any other youth,” when president Julio Borges said cratic institutions and free-
gunshots were fired and they could decide either ing those deemed political
people began running. to be the heirs of indepen- prisoners.q
Bolivarian National Guard of-
ficers advance towards dem-
onstrators during a protest in
Caracas, Venezuela.
(AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

FABIOLA SANCHEZ
Associated Press
CARACAS, Venezuela
(AP) — Venezuelan au-
thorities on Tuesday were
investigating the death of
a university student killed
by gunfire at a protest
against President Nico-
las Maduro, as opposition
leaders mapped out their
next steps to push for new
elections and government
officials held a gathering to
drum up state support.
Daniel Queliz, 20, was killed
late Monday after being
shot in the neck in Valen-
cia, a city east of Cara-
cas where students have
actively participated in
the protests that erupted
April 1 following a Supreme
Court decision to strip Con-
gress of its last remaining
powers — a decision later
reversed.
It was not immediately
clear where the bullet
came from, though oppo-
sition leaders quickly de-
cried the death as another
example of the Venezu-
elan government’s exces-
sive use of force in counter-
ing protests. Human rights
organizations and coun-
tries including the United
States are calling on Ven-
ezuela to allow protesters
to gather and refrain from
unnecessary use of force,
adding to mounting inter-
national pressure for the
Andean nation’s govern-
ment to hold elections and
respect democratic institu-
tions.
“The existence of isolated
acts of violence during pro-
tests cannot justify a blank