Venezuela president ready to escalate state of emergency

[Zorro]

Source: AFP

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Wednesday he was prepared to escalate a state of emergency imposed this week after opposition-led protests in the capital and other cities.

Maduro told supporters he would give the order -- which implies suspending laws and rights to maintain public order -- if "violent" anti-government acts occurred.

In that event, "I will not hesitate if necessary to make such a decree to fight for the peace and security of this country," he said.

The declaration came after an anti-Maduro demonstration of around 1,000 people in the center of Caracas that was prevented from marching on to an electoral headquarters by riot police firing tear gas.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/venezuela-president-ready-escalate-state-emergency-222234138.html

[hrmjustin]

1. Anything to stay in power.

[dlwickham]

2. Time for the tanks to start rolling

[Reter]

3. Coup! Coup! Coup!

[Archae]

4. But each and every one of those anti-Maduro protestors are paid by the CIA, donchu know?

[nikto]

5. Maduro isn't the politician and leader Chavez was

And the Neoloberals lie in wait to take back the country for foreign financial interest$.

[On the Road]

7. It's Pathetic That it Has Come to This

but this is not necessarily a precursor to an authoritarian state. There is a tradition in Venezuela of brief suspensions laws which have always been reversed. Chavez invoked these provisions as well some of his predecessors. While there were always cries of totalitarianism, things were brought back to normal relatively quickly.

Having said that, there is nothing normal about Venezuela this time. The oil price increase can't come soon enough.

[moondust]

8. State of emergency declared "constitutional"

by Venezuelan Supreme Court.

Breaking on France24.

[Zorro]

9. But of course.

Bolivarian democracy in action.