Overview
The hashtag #12FVenezuelaPaLaCalle (or only #12F) refers to the recent manifestations against the socialist government of Venezuela led by president Nicolás Maduro. They began on February 12, 2014 and were organized by María Corina Machado and Leopoldo López, leaders of the Venezuelan opposition, along with students movements. Reasons for the protests are: alleged violation of civil rights, chronic scarcity of basic goods, and high levels of criminal violence. The inflation rate for 2013 was 56.2, the scarcity index had been near 20% throughout 2013.%
Background
On April 14, 2013, Nicholas Maduro won the presidential election by a margin of 1.5% of the vote separating him from the second candidate, Capriles Radonski. This election was seeded with accusations of fraud and intimidation of voters. Opposition leader Capriles refused to accept the results of the election, claiming election irregularities, despite the electoral council’s post-election audit of a random selection of 54% of votes, comparing the electronic records with the paper ballots, which showed no problems. Capriles initially called for an audit of the remaining 46% of votes, asserting that this would show that he had won the election, but later he changes his mind, adding demands for a full audit of the electoral registry. The National Electoral Council (CNE) had found no discrepancy with the initial results and confirmed Maduro’s electoral victory.
On February 2, 2014, opposition leaders, Leopoldo López, María Corina Machado, and Antonio Ledezma called out students to a march for February 12, the National Youth Day of Venezuela.
Bassil Da Costa´s assassination
During the protests, an students identified as Bassil Da Costa, was shot in the head, allegedly by a policeman. Roberto Redman, the man who helps Dacosta, died three hours later, in the Chacao’s municipality.
Someone uploaded a video showing the moment of his death:
Media
The media in Venezuela had a hard time covering the protests since many news reporters have had their equipment stolen, or destroyed by government forces and feel threatened. The Colombian channel NTN24 was taken off air at the public cable service, according to the Venezuelan government this was because they want to repeat the coup of 2002.
Many social networks expressed their anger against the regime and support for students.
Leopoldo Lopez´s arrest
The opposition leader, Leopoldo Lopez, submitted a video where he says he is going to deliver him to the authorities during a protest, on Tuesday 18th.
Notable Examples
Google Trends