Venezuelans Skipped Carnival to Protest

Despite being given an additional two days off work, many Venezuelans shunned the country’s beaches this weekend. Instead, they returned to the streets in droves for some of the largest protests since unrest began in the country last month.

Tens of thousands of opposition protesters turned out in Caracas on Sunday. At the end of the march, in what has become a daily ritual on the capital’s streets, police clashed with demonstrators in the opposition strongholds of Chacao and Altamira, and smaller groups protested once again on Monday.

At least 18 people have been killed during the month-long unrest, according to state officials, though the country’s president Nicolas Maduro has claimed that the death toll is at least double that. He blamed most of the deaths on the guarimbas — the barricades and road blocks set up by protesters — while the opposition blamed the country’s national guard and armed colectivos of pro-government supporters.

Maduro extended the Carnival national holiday by two days — in an attempt to get Venezuelans off the streets and away from the cities, critics said. In the days leading up to the holiday, local TV was filled with ads showing carefree Venezuelans enjoying the country’s beaches and tourist destinations.

But the protesters had vowed to boycott the holiday. “We want to make sure that people don’t go to Carnival, that they stay in the streets,” Eduardo Barreto, a student from Valencia, told VICE News. Students there planned to lie down along the city’s highway in their bikinis, “to tan,” Barreto said. “That’s the way we’re gonna celebrate Carnival this year,” he said.

Protesters in the beach town of Puerto la Cruz unfurl a banner saying “No to Carnival.”

Government officials dismissed the boycott, claiming that hotels were expected to reach an 85 percent occupancy rate during the holidays, an increase on last year. Protesters and government supporters took to social media during the weekend to post photos of deserted or packed beaches — depending on their allegiances.

Other protesters turned beaches into symbolic cemeteries filled with crosses in memoriam to the victims of the clashes.

Mas de 600 cruces en playa lido — Wladimir San ? (@wladimirramire1)March 3, 2014

From prison, opposition member Leopoldo Lopez, who emerged as an early leader of the protests and was jailed on February 18 for instigating the unrest, urged his supporters to keep protesting.

"We must continue the peaceful struggle. There is no reason to give up our fight,” Lopez said via a manifesto read by another wanted opposition member in a video posted from an undisclosed location. “They will never defeat those who refuse to give up."

While the protests show no sign of dying out, pro-government supporters have also taken to the streets with increasing frequency, and there is no sign that Maduro’s government is being shaken by the unrest.

Foreign Minister Elías Jaua, who met with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday, dismissed the protests as vandalism.

"Venezuela's people have been subjected to a continuous attack over the last month that seeks to make the state look like a human rights violator," Jaua said in a speech. "They are trying to paint a picture of generalized chaos and indiscriminate repression to justify a foreign intervention in our internal affairs.”

The government did not call for its supporters to demonstrate during the weekend – inviting them instead to enjoy the holiday.

But as opposition protesters filled the streets of the capital, state officials attempted to instill residents with some holiday spirit. In the video below, Caracas district official Jacqueline Faria invites residents to celebrate Carnival in the Paseo Los Próceres, a city landmark, where city officials set up activities for kids.

“This is a happy Carnival,” she said.

On Venezuelan TV, Caracas district official Jacqueline Faria invited citizens to enjoy Carnival in the capital.

Meanwhile, protesters – who have widely complained the international community has not paid enough attention to their struggle – got a publicity boost on Sunday night when Oscar winner Jared Leto gave them a shout out in the first acceptance speech of the evening.

“To all the dreamers out there around the world watching this tonight, in places like Ukraine and Venezuela, I want to say we are here,” Leto said. “And as you struggle to make your dreams happen, to live the impossible, we’re thinking of you tonight.”

Photo via Cristobal Alvarado Minic