Protesters in Venezuela Pull Down Statue of Hugo Chavez Amid Deadly Turmoil

Protesters objecting to the left-wing government of Venezuela pulled down a statue of deceased strongman Hugo Chavez in the city of La Villa del Rosario on Friday.

Telemundo51 reporter Alberto Rodríguez posted footage of the demonstrators throwing the dismantled statue on Twitter.

ÚLTIMA HORA | Tumban estatua de Hugo Chávez en la Villa del Rosario, estado Zulia: Manifestantes la destruyen #5May #Venezuela pic.twitter.com/L64IwdnIUD

— Alberto Rodríguez (@AlbertoRT51) May 5, 2017

Rodríguez also spotlighted video posted earlier by another Twitter user of the same protesters removing the Chavez sculpture from its pedestal in a public park.

ÚLTIMA HORA | Tumban estatua de Hugo Chávez en la Villa del Rosario, estado Zulia #5May #Venezuela pic.twitter.com/IomQKSHbvb

— Alberto Rodríguez (@AlbertoRT51) May 5, 2017

And there’s additional footage here:

Segunda parte pic.twitter.com/lxlc2wODRj

— Mari Montes ⚾️ (@porlagoma) May 5, 2017

Anti-government demonstrators also severely damaged another Chavez sculpture in the city of Mariara on April 25, 2017 by setting it on fire.

Over the past five weeks, protests have spread across Venezuela. A Fox News report on Friday pointed out that “at least 38 deaths have been reported by various sources in five weeks of anti-government protests, though the public prosecutor puts the tally at 37.” Hundreds more have been injured.

In late March 2017, after the Venezuelan supreme court neutralized the country’s legislature, which is controlled by opposition parties. Days later, a reporter for Univision was attacked by government security forces while reporting outside the court’s building.

[image via screengrab]

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