Maduro Calls for Neighborhood Movement for Peace

As violent right-wing protesters and opposition attacks continue to shake Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro has called for middle-class citizens in the country to help create a neighborhood movement to promote peace and prevent violence.

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“We've been talking to organize a large movement of people from the middle class for peace, against fascism, against the fascists, against the coup, a movement of plural, diverse national coexistence,” Maduro said while meeting with local in the Montalbán and La Vega neighborhoods of Caracas.

Along with first lady Cilia Flores, Vice President Tarek El Aissami and Minister of Education Elías Jaua, Maduro toured local neighborhoods to survey some of the damage that was caused by opposition supporters during days of large protests which have seen the destruction and vandalization of public and private property. 

Protests, looting, and violence have resulted in the deaths of at least a dozen people in Caracas.

On Thursday evening, armed groups hired by the opposition attacked a maternal and children's hospital in the El Valle neighborhood with 54 children inside, Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez said.

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The almost three-hour ordeal saw 28 newborn babies evacuated and transferred to another hospital. A separate attack on a nearby community bakery resulted in the death of at least a dozen people, who were reportedly electrocuted after breaking in.

More than a week of violent opposition protests has already caused more than 50 billion bolivars in damages, with a number of right-wing leaders calling for continued demonstrations which have also blocked off key parts of the capital with roadblocks.