Thousands march in Venezuela over economic crisis, shortages

Demonstrators against Venezuela’s economic crisis - facing sky-high inflation and shortages of food and consumer goods - took to the streets in their thousands Saturday, banging pots and demanding an end to President Nicolas Maduro’s term. Opposition leaders, fed up with shortages of milk, coffee, sugar, meat, toilet paper, diapers, deodorant and corn meal, and with Maduro’s refusal to overhaul the increasingly state-managed economy, say the elected socialist should go. Ex-lawmaker Maria Corina Machado - who was jailed after deadly riots last year for inciting violence - said Maduro “must step aside now, so the Venezuelan people can stand united again.”

The government needs to be changed urgently.

Ex-lawmaker Maria Corina Machado

Many Maduro foes argue that the government has co-opted so many sectors of society that they have no real chance at the polls against the political heir of longtime leader Hugo Chavez. Jesus Torrealba, leader of the activist coalition, said organizers want those who oppose the government to express themselves both at the polls and demonstrating on Venezuela’s streets. Venezuela was already mired in economic woes before oil prices began their recent slide, but the sharp downturn in crude prices has been especially punishing for a country that relies on oil for 96 per cent of its foreign currency.

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