Security forces aim their guns while patrolling the Cota 905 and El Valle neighborhoods of Caracas during clashes with gangs, July 8. Photo: Yuri Cortéz/AFP via Getty Images
Venezuela opposition figure Freddy Guevara was detained and U.S.-backed opposition leader Juan Guaidó was threatened at gunpoint this week, as President Nicolás Maduro tried tightening his grip on power.
Why it matters: The Chavista government has renewed roundups of the opposition despite scheduled negotiations between the two sides, set for August with Mexico as host and Norway as mediator.
- Guevara and Guaidó are accused of “terrorism” by the Maduro regime, which claims the opposition is working with gangs in the capital, Caracas, to destabilize and “foment a civil war.”
- The recent armed battles between those criminal groups and police closed needed soup kitchens and highways, which interrupted the delivery of goods to the rest of the country.
- Hyperinflation and the scarcity of food, gas and medicine are still part of everyday life in the country.