Venezuelan Women March Against Right-Wing Violence

Venezuelan women rallied against right-wing violence on Tuesday following the beating of a young police officer by attendees of an opposition protest.

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Women from around the country marched to institutions in Caracas that have been targeted by the right-wing opposition, which also called for protests that at times turned violent demanding that the referendum process to recall President Nicolas Maduro be sped up.

Venezuelan authorities arrested congressional president Henry Ramos' head of security on Friday on allegations of masterminding the beating of police officers, including the 22-year-old Dubraska Alvarez, during a protest march last week.

Videos showed a half-dozen youths attacking three officers with their fists and sticks on a road during chaotic scenes at Wednesday's opposition rally.

"We want to express our solidarity to all Venezuelan women, especially those in the Bolivarian National Police, the firefighters and the National Bolivarian Armed Forces,” said Diosdado Cabello, first deputy chairman of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), echoing his “solidarity and absolute rejection of any form of violence against Venezuelan women," with the Ministry for Women and Gender Equality, which organized the march.

Maduro received some of the women at the Miraflores Palace on Tuesday, reiterating that, "The right wants to impose a state of violence and disrespect against women."

Alvarez and Genesis Mambie, another officer facing violence by the right, attended the event, which also honored socialist writer and journalist Olga Luzardo.