Las Vegas group to join protests against Venezuelan government
Venezuelans living in the Las Vegas Valley plan to protest the government in their home country, days after the U.S. declared President Nicolas Maduro’s regime a threat to national security here.
The Venezuela Cultural Foundation’s demonstration — set for 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at Viva Las Arepas restaurant, 1616 Las Vegas Blvd. S. — is one of 17 planned protests throughout the United States. The Las Vegas event, which will include sign and flag-waving and speaking through megaphones, will be the third at the restaurant since February 2014.
“It’s a combination of everything Maduro is doing, from crushing civil rights to allowing the economy to inflate out of control,” Zoraida Caldera, director of the Venezuela Cultural Foundation, said Friday. “Everybody in the world must be against violating human rights, killing people left and right just because their ideologies are against the government.”
Dozens were killed in 2014 during protests against Maduro’s government, and thousands were jailed.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said this week that the Venezuelan government should not make dissent a crime. President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on seven Venezuelan officials.
Contact Chris Kudialis at ckudialis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283. Find him on Twitter: @kudialisrj.
