International News

Venezuela’s Maduro vows crackdown on protest violence

CARACAS, (APP/AFP): Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro vowed Tuesday to jail opposition leaders if they incite violence at upcoming protests to pressure authorities to allow a referendum on removing him from
power.
Maduro, whose opponents blame him for a devastating economic crisis,
accused opposition leaders of plotting a “terrorist coup” against him ahead of Thursday’s nationwide protests.
“We must defeat the coup d’etat without impunity. Whoever gets involved in a coup plot, or calls for violence, is going to jail, sir. Shriek, weep or scream, but you’re going to jail,” he told supporters at a rally in Caracas billed as an early counter-demonstration.
Maduro accused the United States of plotting against leftist governments in Latin America.
“The threat is coming directly from American imperialism,” he said.