Venezuelan Riots, Anti-Maduro Mass Collapses Hugo Chavez's Giant Statue
JAKARTA - The riots in Venezuela brought down the giant statue of Hugo Chavez to express their anger over the alleged election fraud by the President and incumbent candidate Nicol lays Maduro.
In the seaside city of La Guaira, outside the capital Caracas, concrete iron and concrete chunks lay under the focus where a group of protesters knocked down one of the Chavez statues presented by Maduro in 2017.
The video, which was given to The Associated Press from one of the protesters, shows the moment when the statue of the leader known as the 3.5-meter-high El Comandante was demolished and accompanied by shouts this government will fall.
After 'donating', the statue was dragged on a motorbike across the square, doused with gasoline and burned.
"This is a strong symbol for them," said the protesters, who asked not to be named for fear of being arrested.
"Every time we overcome one of their symbols, we remove some of its strengths," he continued.
WATCH: Third Hugo Chavez statue knocked down by protesters in Venezuela.pic.twitter.com/tpVcSVyGFe
— AZ Intel (@AZ_Intel_) July 30, 2024
WATCH: Third Hugo Chavez stake knocked down by protesters in Venezuela.pic.twitter.com/tpVcSVyGFe
This is not the first time a monument to honor the creator of the Bolivarian Revolution has been attacked by an angry mob. The same phenomenon occurred in the wave of anti-government unrest in 2017 and 2019.
A dressed military intelligence officer 'preman' stopped journalists trying to take photos of the remains of a destroyed statue in La Guaira.
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The officer said his country was "warring" and any attempt to disrespect Chavez was an act that offended the millions of Venezuelan people who respected the former military paratrooper and the anti-imperialist icon.
Meanwhile, President Maduro said several people were arrested in the attack.
"What is in the heads of these people? Inside?" Maduro asked in a televised address on Monday, July 29 evening, where did he broadcast the pictures of the attacks.
"Just imagine if one day they get power here, what they can do," he said.