• Live
    • Audio Only
  • google plus
  • facebook
  • twitter
News > Latin America

Opposition Leader Says Radical Elements Would 'Burn' Down Venezuela if They Could

  • A demonstrator stands near fire during a protest against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas.

    A demonstrator stands near fire during a protest against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas. | Photo: Reuters

Published 30 April 2017
Opinion

Extremist right-wing elements of the opposition are a major roadblock obstructing the country from resolving its political impasse.

A prominent Venezuelan right-wing leader condemned the anarchy and vandalism being carried out by radical members of the opposition and said that there's a large sector within the opposition who actually support dialogue with the government of Nicolas Maduro. 

RELATED:
Pope Francis: Venezuela Opposition Divided, Refuses Dialogue

Diana D'Agostino, the wife of Accion Democratica party lawmaker, Henry Ramos Allup, who was the former head of the National Assembly, said she was worried about the recent violent events at protests in Caracas and surrounding cities.

"Not only that we have already fallen into anarchy, but we have already fallen into vandalism," said D'Agostino. "Hey, if they see a pole they bring it down, if they have to blow up windows of a store, they smash them."

D'Agostino criticized the division between parties of the right-wing coalition MUD, especially the groups denounced by the Venezuelan government for its extreme violence.

In an audio presented by state television VTV, she talks with her father, Franco, about the recent damages to schools and transportation systems in the country, promoted mainly by the far-right Voluntad Popular Party (VP).

"In VP you see that there is a side, which is the conservative side, which are totally in agreement with the regional election calendar," said D'Agostino. She said the wing led by Lilian Tintori, wife of jailed figure Leopoldo Lopez, is what she describes as "the radicals."

RELATED:
‘This Fight Is Ours’: Venezuela Women March Against Imperialism

"If they could burn Venezuela today, they would," said D'Agostino.

She said the far right wants to pressure for general elections, but some groups have said they would support the government's elections schedule. 

"We have always been of the thesis that first, we need to have regional elections," said D'Agostino. "Then those for mayors and later the presidential ones," she said, referring to the schedule indicated in the Venezuelan law.

She also referred to a division in another coalition party, Primero Justicia, where the leader and governor of Miranda, Henrique Capriles, represents the radical wing.

"Capriles has nothing to lose and he wants to burn down the streets, he has nothing to lose, that's why I'm telling you that all of that is divided," she said in reference to Capriles' ban from running for office for 15 years.

During the last four weeks, 29 people have died and more than 400 have been injured in protests in Caracas and in other parts of the country.

Comment
0
Comments
Post with no comments.