Clashes in Venezuela as opposition leader surrenders
Protesters have clashed with police in Venezuela, after an opposition leader handed himself in to authorities.
Leopoldo Lopez is accused by Socialist President Nicolas Maduro of leading a US-backed coup attempt.
The disturbances in Caracas came as a local beauty queen died of her wounds – becoming the fifth fatality in Venezuela’s political unrest.
Genesis Carmona, 22, was shot in the head at a protest on Tuesday in the central city of Valencia. She died later in a clinic.
President Maduro, like his late mentor and predecessor Hugo Chavez, sees the hand of Washington in a plot.
“What will the Venezuelan opposition do? Keep believing that with John Kerry and Obama’s support, you will seize political power violently? How long are you going to believe in your own lies, your own stories? How long will violence be present in your actions?” he said in a live broadcast on state TV.
Supporters of Lopez gathered at the court in Caracas where he was due to appear, accused of fermenting unrest.
The hearing was transferred to the jail where he is being held after handing himself in on Tuesday.
Lopez has encouraged supporters to continue fighting for the departure of Maduro’s government, amid anger over issues like inflation and corruption.
Leopoldo Lopez is accused by Socialist President Nicolas Maduro of leading a US-backed coup attempt.
The disturbances in Caracas came as a local beauty queen died of her wounds – becoming the fifth fatality in Venezuela’s political unrest.
Genesis Carmona, 22, was shot in the head at a protest on Tuesday in the central city of Valencia. She died later in a clinic.
President Maduro, like his late mentor and predecessor Hugo Chavez, sees the hand of Washington in a plot.
“What will the Venezuelan opposition do? Keep believing that with John Kerry and Obama’s support, you will seize political power violently? How long are you going to believe in your own lies, your own stories? How long will violence be present in your actions?” he said in a live broadcast on state TV.
Supporters of Lopez gathered at the court in Caracas where he was due to appear, accused of fermenting unrest.
The hearing was transferred to the jail where he is being held after handing himself in on Tuesday.
Lopez has encouraged supporters to continue fighting for the departure of Maduro’s government, amid anger over issues like inflation and corruption.
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