The 2014 Venezuelan protests began in February 2014 when hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans protested due to high levels of criminal violence, inflation, and chronic scarcity of basic goods because of policies created the Venezuelan government. The protests have lasted for several months and events are listed below according to the month they had happened.
Background 6 January – Miss Venezuela 2004 Mónica Spear and her ex-husband Thomas Henry Berry are killed just outside Valencia, Carabobo. 8 January – Protests begin after the killing of Monica Spear in the capital city of Caracas. 9 January – Seven suspects are arrested in the death of Monica Spear. 23 January – Opposition leaders Leopoldo López and María Corina Machado launch a campaign to remove Maduro from office, named La Salida (The Exit), with an intent to have President Maduro resign through protests with Machado publicly stating "We must create chaos in the streets through responsible civic struggle".
1 February – Leopoldo López called upon students to protest peacefully against the scarcity, insecurity, and shortages. 2 February – Opposition leaders call for a march on 12 February for National Youth Day. 4 February – Protests at the University of the Andes occurred due to insecurity and an attempted sexual assault of a student. 5 February – Student protests at the Universidad Alejandro de Humboldt, where the principal avenues of Caracas were blocked alleging insecurity of the students during the night shift 6 February – Students at the Catholic University of Táchira protested and were accused of attacking a residence. 7 February – Medical students in Táchira continue to protest peacefully. 8 February – Students from the University of the Andes protested outside the headquarters of SEBIN where students were being held arrested. 9 February – Women dressed in black to protest against the arrests that happened in Tachira. 11 February – Students in Táchira, Zulia, Caracas and Coro protested for the release of fellow students.
Events
February 12 February – Major opposition protests began with student marches led by opposition leaders in 38 cities across Venezuela simultaneous with the national celebrations for the bicentennial year anniversary of Youth Day and the Battle of La Victoria. After the protests, smaller groups remained and threw stones at government forces. The protests turned more violent after government security forces and "colectivos" allegedly used excessive force on protesters and supposedly shot at groups of unarmed people. Bassil Da Costa was the first protester to die after getting a bullet to the head. Later that day, another protester, Robert Reddman, and a pro-government activist were also killed in Caracas. President Maduro blamed "fascist" groups for the deaths caused that day, including opposition leader Leopoldo López, during his closing address in the Youth Day parade that evening in La Victoria, Aragua state. The Colombian news channel NTN24 was taken off the air by CONATEL (the Venezuelan government agency appointed for the regulation, supervision and control over telecommunications) for "promoting violence and unacknowledging authorities". 13 February – Following the death of a colectivo member Juan "Juancho" Montoya, members of colectivos "went on television to call for calm and called for the arrest of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. Judge Ralenys Tovar Guillén accepts the Public Ministry's petition to detain Leopoldo López in connection with the unrest that resulted in the death of the colectivo leader and two students. President Maduro organized pro-government demonstrations to counter the opposition and announced that violent anti-government protests are prohibited. Seven universities in Venezuela cancelled Youth Day programs due to the large involvement of student protesters. The governor of the Aragua state, Tarek El Aissami, denounced that opposition groups attempted to burn the governorate, attacked the Girardot Municipality town hall, burned a vehicle and wounded ten police officers the previous day. Likewise, The Minister of Ground Transport, Haiman El Troudi, denounced that the ministry headquarters were attacked during the night of the protests. According to Vielma Mora, there was an attempt to take over the electric substation Santa Teresa and destroy a sport school, and the front and a bus of the Bolivarian University of Venezuela were attacked in Táchira. In Valencia, protesters were dispersed by the National Guard in El Trigál where four students (three men and one woman) were attacked inside of a car while trying to leave the perimeter; the three men were imprisoned and one of them was allegedly sodomized by one of the officers with a rifle. 14 February – Students protested outside the Organization of American States in Venezuela asking them for action against the violence. The National Guard of Venezuela dispersed protesters with tear gas in Altamira. The Democratic Unity Roundtable and the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference (CEV) asked for the disarmament of the pro-government colectivos and armed groups The Foro Penal Venezolano (Venezuelan Penal Forum) denounced that the National Bolivarian Police (PNB) manipulated proofs about the use of firearms against protesters in Barquisimeto to avoid incrimination. 15 February – Chavistas protested at Plaza Venezuela in Caracas. A Globovisión reporter and her workmates denounced being attacked with stones in Plaza Venezuela and thanked those who were there that sympathized with her. Haiman El Troudi denounced that Caracas Metro workers were assaulted "with sticks and pipes", and that "damage and destruction" were produced in its facilities during the protests the 12 and 14 February. He also explained that 40 Metrobús units were stoned and now inoperative, and that escalators, train glasses, cameras, signals and fire systems were damaged. CONATEL's CEO, William Castillo, justified taking NTN24 off the air basing in the article 27 of the Law of Social Responsibility in Radio, Television and Electronic Media, which prohibits incitement of hatred, and expressed that he thinks that an "abuse" of the freedom of speech is exercised. According to him, CONATEL carried out a monitoring where "90% of NTN24's programmation was dedicated to Venezuela where the 80% was biased to one side of the conflict." 16 February – The Venezuelan Minister for Communication and Information, Delcy Rodríguez warned that the government will take legal action against international media "media manipulation". Rodriguez claimed that the social networks and national and international media have allegedly reported fake pictures that do not correspond to Venezuela. The Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace, Miguel Rodríguez Torres, assured having evidence that "proves that the protesters in Chacao are outside of the age range of a university student, and that they use very expensive motorcycles with an attire not peculiar of a middle or popular social class student. He accused Ramón Muchacho, the mayor of the Chacao municipality, of not assuming his responsibility for the security of the municipality. Henrique Capriles criticized the national government, considering them irresponsibles and affirming that "the civilians don't carry out coups", and asking where are the proofs (of this). 17 February – Armed government intelligence personnel illegally forced their way into the headquarters of Popular Will in Caracas and held individuals that were inside at gunpoint. About 300 opposition protesters gathered outside the headquarters to protest against the infiltration of the facility and are dispersed with tear gas. 18 February – Leopoldo López delivered a speech in Plaza Brión where he pointed out that its necessary to build "a pacific exit, inside the constitution but in the streets" and assured that "there isn't free media anymore to express themselves and if the media stays silent they must go to the streets". He declared that "if his imprisonment allows Venezuela to wake up definitely and for the Venezuelans that want a change, his imprisonment will be worth it." He turned himself to the National Guard at 12:24pm, Venezuelan time, and said he was turning himself to a "corrupt justice". After Lopez turned himself in, the opposition protesters blocked the Francisco Fajardo Highway. Hundreds of his supporters gathered outside the Palacio de Justicia, protesting the fact that in their view Lopez will be judged by an unfair and corrupt justice system in a country where "there is no separation of powers". The opposition protesters were attacked outside the Palacio de Justicia by armed pro-government groups who beat them, threw objects at them from the building and tried to steal their cellphones. Amnesty International said the charges appeared to be politically motivated, and called for the release of López in the absence of evidence. Human Rights Watch said "The Venezuelan government has openly embraced the classic tactics of an authoritarian regime, jailing its opponents, muzzling the media, and intimidating civil society", saying that the Maduro government was blaming opposition leaders, including López, for violence. Some students and professors are arrested for allegedly setting fire to a PDVSA oil truck. Student protesters said they were forcibly removed by police from where they were concentrated for seven days in Maracay. 19 February – Miss Tourism Venezuela Génesis Carmona died after being shot in the head while supporting an opposition protest. Some protesters claim she was killed by a Chavista. Father Palmar, a Catholic priest and supporter of the protests in Zulia was attacked and injured by government forces during a peaceful demonstration. This happened a couple days after Father Palmar gave a speech against Maduro asking for his resignation and claiming that the Cuban G2 was responsible for influencing Maduro. The trial for Leopoldo Lopez was postponed again and moved to Ramo Verde military prison. That evening, a pro-government group known as "La Paz" was seen firing weapons at buildings without impediment from members of Bolivarian National Guard. Pro-government groups on motorcycles also attacked protesters in Sucre with stones and bottles with support from government security forces. After a group of citizens gathered in Caracas asking for no more deaths, groups of Chavistas and GNB responded violently shooting tear gas, buckshot, and shot a 37-year-old law student who was trying to mediate between protesters and the National Guard. 20 February – The removal of María Corina Machado's parliamentary immunity is requested in the National Assembly. The minister of Electric Energy, Jesse Chacón, denounced vandal acts to the property of the National Electric System in the Anzoátegui, Bolívar and Carabobo states. The charges of terrorism and homicide of Leopoldo López are suspended. In response to the death of Miss Tourism Venezuela Génesis Carmona, groups of women planned to defend the family of Génesis and protest her killing on 22 February. A citizen in the Mérida state dies after sustaining fatal wounds while crossing a barricade with barbed wire in a motorcycle with one of her children. 21 February – Venezuela closed its consulates in Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire after an alleged attack by a Venezuelan citizen, said Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua. A motorcycle rider died after tripping with a guaya (steel cable) placed near a barricade. The government accused the opposition students for the event. 22 February – A student protester, Geraldine Moreno, died in the hospital after sustaining wounds in the face caused by shotgun pellets when a member of the National Guard shot her at point blank range while she was protesting in the Tazajal sector, Carabobo state.