Venezuela Accuses Opposition of Plotting Coup, Seven Dead

Venezuelan President-elect Nicolas Maduro accused the opposition on Tuesday of planning a coup against him after seven government supporters were killed in violent clashes over his disputed election victory.

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles has demanded a full recount of votes from Sunday’s election after official results showed a narrow victory for Maduro, who is late socialist President Hugo Chavez’s hand-picked successor.

The deaths happened on Monday when protesters flooded parts of the capital Caracas and cities in the interior, blocking streets, burning tires and fighting with security forces.

They included two people shot by opposition sympathizers while celebrating Maduro’s victory in a middle-class area of the capital and one person killed in an attack on a government-run clinic, authorities said.

Officials also said 61 people were injured, including one woman whom protesters tried to burn alive.

Authorities have arrested 135 people.

“This is the responsibility of those who have called for violence, who have ignored the constitution and the institutions,” a furious Maduro said in a speech to the nation on Tuesday. “Their plan is a coup d’etat.”

The opposition did not respond to specific allegations relating to the deaths, but Capriles has repeatedly called for only peaceful demonstrations and said that the government was responsible for violence by denying its call for an recount.

Instability

The prospect of prolonged instability in the OPEC nation with the world’s largest oil reserves has unnerved markets.

Venezuela’s volatile and highly-traded debt has tumbled on the dispute and unrest, with the benchmark 2027 bond off more than 3.0 percent on Tuesday.

A continuation of violent protests, despite Capriles’ entreaties, could be damaging for the opposition.

Maduro has played up attacks by rock-throwing protesters on popular government programs such as clinics staffed by Cuban doctors and subsidized state-run supermarkets, saying they prove Capriles wants to scrap Chavez-era social welfare programs.

That accusation was a principal plank of Maduro’s campaign.

State media has played images of burning buildings and masked demonstrators, along with footage of a failed 2002 coup that briefly ousted Chavez but led many Venezuelans to question the opposition’s democratic credentials.

Chavez was toppled from power for 48 hours then, but bounced back quickly, purged critics inside the armed forces and stepped up the pace of his socialist policies.

Maduro said he will not allow a big opposition march planned for Wednesday in Caracas to demand a vote recount, which could lead to further clashes if the opposition goes ahead anyway.

“It’s time for a firm hand in the face of this fascism and intolerance,” he said.

The election was triggered by the death of Chavez last month after a two-year battle with cancer. He named Maduro as his successor before he died and his protégé won the election with 50.8 percent of the vote against Capriles’ 49.0 percent.

This article appeared in print on page D15 of the April 17th, 2013 edition of Hamodia.