PBS高端访谈:伴随政治局势紧张 委内瑞拉动乱持续
时间：2017-07-24 02:15:48
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Thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets in protest again today. Two demonstrators were killed, as a political crisis in this failing state deepens.
Our chief foreign affairs correspondent, Margaret Warner, reports.
Organizers
dubbed1 it the Mother of All Marches. Hundreds of thousands of opponents to
socialist2 President Nicolas Maduro flooded Caracas.
Today, people are in the street demonstrating peacefully, seeking a democratic exit to a situation that is already
overflowing3.
Here, the president of the republic is playing with fire.
The peace was broken almost immediately, as protesters clashed with police and government supporters.
National Guard troops fired tear gas, and a teenage boy died after being shot in the head.
Demonstrators have tried repeatedly in recent days to reach the capital city's downtown.
Each time, they were turned back by riot police. At least five people were killed, and hundreds arrested.
Brian Ellsworth of Reuters, speaking to us by Skype from Caracas, said tensions have been building.
The
opposition7 called this big
demonstration5 and said, all over the country, we need to be protesting against the government.
These latest protests erupted last month, after the pro-government
Supreme8 Court took over the powers of the national legislature controlled by the opposition.
After an international outcry, the court reversed itself. But the criticism continued.
They haven't done anything. The Supreme Court has installed a
coup9 d'etat it cannot correct.
The oil-rich nation is also
mired10 in an economic crisis, with skyrocketing, triple-digit inflation,
rampant11 crime and food shortages.
The opposition wants Maduro's removed, new elections and the release of political prisoners, including opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who was jailed in early 2014.
In February, Lopez's wife went to the White House with Florida Senator Marco Rubio.
President
Trump12 tweeted a photo with her, saying: "Venezuela should allow Leopoldo Lopez, a political prisoner, out of prison immediately."
That same month, the U.S.
Treasury13 Department designated Venezuelan
Vice14 President Tareck El Aissami for sanctions on drug trafficking charges.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson today:
We are concerned that the government of Maduro is violating its own Constitution and is not allowing the opposition to have their voices heard.
Maduro has blamed the U.S. for trying to
foment15 a coup.
The time for combat has arrived, my fellow
patriots16. The hour has arrived to decide the future and the destiny of our country.
Maduro came to power four years ago, upon the death of his charismatic
predecessor17, Hugo Chavez. Maduro has struggled ever since.
Chavez himself survived a brief coup in 2002, and accused the United States of trying to
subvert18 him.
Riding on high world oil prices, Chavez had created
subsidies19 and price controls, raising living standards for the poor, but no longer.
Again, Brian Ellsworth: Once oil prices
collapsed20 in 2014, the country basically hadn't saved money during the oil boom.
Private enterprise has a really hard time producing goods and services, which means we basically don't have them.
The Maduro regime is also under pressure from its Latin American neighbors. Eleven countries called this week for a time frame to hold elections.
For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Margaret Warner. undefined
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