#SOSVenezuela: Non-violent National Student Movement versus Maduro, the Castros and their security apparatus
Students in Venezuela practicing the power of nonviolence defending truth and love of country confront a government that uses brute violence, lies and instigation to hatred to preserve their power.
On February 12, 2014 Venezuela’s National Youth Day millions of young students took to the streets to nonviolently protest “the social and economic crisis caused by the illegitimate government that Venezuela has today.” Young Venezuelans inside and outside of the country have mobilized in a coherent and sustained effort to expose the anti-democratic nature of the government. A full and brief explanation is offered by Andreina Nash in the video titled: What’s going on in Venezuela in a nutshell.
These students are facing a government that over the past fourteen years has been stripping Venezuela’s democracy of all its constitutional and institutional democratic safeguards in order to consolidate power into the United Socialist Party of Venezuela and in the presidency. At the same time the presence of both Cuban state security and military officials in the country who have presided over the building of a totalitarian apparatus is cause for great concern. They have used technological tools to censor images over twitter. Over the past 14 years independent television press outlets have been taken over or shutdown by the government. Only the social media remain and outside media sources. Both have been blocked by the Maduro government during these demonstrations.
