Mano Dura against conspirators

Yesterday (September 16), during the inauguration of the National Bolivarian School Supreme Comandante Hugo Chávez Frías, President Nicolás Maduro warned that he will take hard measures against groups that are trying to destabilize the country and that there will be “zero tolerance” in the face of recent “confabulations”.

“We will not accept more conspiracies. I call on the people to stand by me in the measures I will take against the conspiracy, against the electricity war, and against those that create shortages in the country,” Maduro declared.

In a direct reference to opposition leader Capriles, who is visiting the Venezuelan exiled community in Miami, Maduro said: “Conspirators that travel to Miami, be prepared.” He also warned the local private media: “They continue to act as accomplices of the fascist band into which the Venezuelan opposition has become.”

The President hinted at what the measures might be: he asked for an investigation into the masterminds behind the post-election violence of April, those that “gave the order to murder the people,” he said.

The government has repeatedly argued that the “fascist opposition”, and especially Capriles Radonsky, were behind the violence that left several people death. This is how the official news agency AVN describes those events:

“After Maduro’s triumph last April 14, fascist groups attacked health centers, Socialist Party (Psuv) headquarters, and other emblematic spaces of the Revolution. The attacks left 11 victims.”