by WorldTribune Staff, May 24, 2017
Protesters in Venezuela’s Barinas state on May 22 burned down the childhood home of late dictator Hugo Chavez, whose socialist policies have continued under current President Nicolas Maduro, resulting in the collapse of the nation’s economy.
Social media users noted that the fire began shortly after the news that the military had killed 19-year-old anti-socialist protester Yorman Ali Bervecia Cabeza, the Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional reported.
The death toll during the latest round of protests has increased to 62.
The Spanish newspaper ABC reported that protesters also burned down the home of Chavez’s grandmother and attacked the local headquarters of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), the National Electoral Council (CNE), the regional headquarters of the Secretariat of Education, and the Institute of Housing.
ABC added that protesters in Barinas burned a statue of Chavez. Protesters have burned or taken down at least four statues of Chavez since the latest wave of protests began. In westernmost state Tachira, which has been in open revolt for at least three years, protesters beheaded a statue of Chavez in 2014.
The Chavez family continues to hold great influence in the country.
The socialist dictator’s brother Adan runs the Institute of Housing, which the protesters attacked, and his daughter Maria Gabriela Chavez is believed to be the nation’s wealthiest woman.
Meanwhile, Maduro’s imposition of strict price controls, ration cards, and government requirements on bakeries have left much of the nation without food.
An estimated 15 percent of Venezuelans subsist off of industrial garbage, while three out of four Venezuelans lost an average of 19 pounds in 2016 due to food shortages, Breitbart reported on May 23.
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