Skip to main content

General strike turns into violence as two protesters were killed!!!

For more than two years, Venezuela has struggled with a massive economic collapse that has triggered acute food shortages, a lack of medical care and rampant inflation. NPR's Planet Money calls the disaster, caused by government decisions and triggered by a drop in oil prices, an "economic horror story." A political crisis soon followed. Protesters called for the resignation of Maduro, who is now deeply unpopular. But instead of stepping down, Maduro accumulated more and more power.

Empty streets, makeshift barricades, burning tires, signs scrawled with "No to dictatorship": Protests continue on the streets of Venezuela as a 24-hour general strike takes hold, the latest development in an ongoing political and economic crisis. Some citizens are trying to go to work despite the shutdown of public transportation; others are taking to blockaded streets in protest. There is widespread fear of more bloodshed after months of conflict and dozens of deaths.

The head of the Organization of American States says the government is "violently repressing demonstrations" and warns that there's no sign of an end to the crisis. Venezuela's opposition called the strike to protest President Nicolas Maduro's plan to rewrite the constitution and strengthen his party's power.
In late March, the Venezuelan Supreme Court dissolved the Parliament and transferred all legislative powers to itself. The opposition claimed Maduro was creating a dictatorship. The decision was reversed three days later, but it triggered a series of bloody street protests that have lasted for months. Wednesday's strike is not the first of its kind in Venezuela. Last week, millions voted in a nonbinding referendum to reject Maduro's controversial plan but the government condemned the poll as illegal.

The decision was followed by a 24-hour strike that turned violent. A day in the life of Venezuelans: Anything but normal Now, both sides are rallying support for ahead of the July 30 vote.Hours before the strike began, opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez urged Venezuelans to keep up protests in a 15-minute video posted online. Lopez called Maduro and his supporters a "very clear threat," saying their goal is to undermine democracy and achieve the "absolute submission of the Venezuelan people."
Lopez, the former mayor of a Caracas district with ambitions for the presidency, was released from prison to house arrest earlier this month. He had been detained since early 2014 over accusations of inciting anti-government protests.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

DONE DEAL!!! Neymar complete heartfelt transfer to PSG

Neymar has become the most expensive player in soccer history after completing his blockbuster transfer to Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona on Thursday for $262 million. PSG triggered the release clause in the forward’s Barcelona contract, which was more than double the previous transfer record set a year ago when Manchester United paid $116 million for Paul Pogba. PSG said in a statement that the 25-year-old Neymar had signed a five-year contract, until June 2022. PSG said “his arrival into the Paris Saint-Germain family emphasizes more than ever the club’s aims to rise to the top of world football.” Barcelona did all it could to stop Neymar from leaving and had vowed to complain to the UEFA, European soccer’s ruling body, if his seemingly untouchable release clause was triggered. The payment of the clause directly to the club was the second attempt Neymar’s representatives had made on Thursday to break his bond with Barcelona. Earlier in the day, his lawyer, Juan...

AGRICULTURE......Agriculture the prominent mechanism for Africa Development.

 Approximately two-thirds of sub-Saharan Africa’s population is dependent on agriculture and the sector is responsible for generating one-third of the continent’s GDP. With its vast arable land, Africa has the potential to not only feed its citizens but to export food to other regions of the world. It is therefore astonishing that Africa must import food and rely on food aid to feed its people. The majority of poor subsistence farmers lack the income to buy seeds, fertilizers and tools and the resources to set up even the simplest irrigation system.  Development assistance for agriculture could help provide the resources and the technical expertise to move smallholder farmers out of poverty, but development assistance for agriculture has declined dramatically in the last two-decades. Land-use policies and climate change have exacerbated the dire situation, as have the recent global food and financial crises. ONE urges development partners to implement the fol...

New study: Depression in men can lead to reduced rate of pregnancy in women.

A recent study, published on Thursday in “Fertility and Sterility”, suggests that there is a connection between the fertility level and mental health of men and women both. The research has the data from 1.608 men and 1,650 women, who were selected from six sites in the US, via the NIH’s (National Institutes of Health) Reproductive Medicine Network. A lot of participants are the couples in real life, and were undergoing the fertility treatment, like artificial insemination or medication of ovarian stimulation, but not IVF. Depending on the data, around 2% of men and 6% of women from total participants were reported with major depression events. However, the cases of major depression are small in number, just 34 men; an analysis is done to found the difference in 34 men and the other male participants of the study. The men with major depression have 60% fewer chances to have a live birth compared to the other men (participants) of the study. To put it specifically, among the 3...