Venezuela Crackdown in Caracas

Austerity measures provoke an orgy of rioting and murder

At his Feb. 2 inauguration, President Carlos Andres Perez warned Venezuelans that hard times were ahead for their heavily indebted, oil-exporting country. Even he had no idea how hard -- or how soon. Last week the citizens of one of Latin America's most stable democracies were in shock after a social explosion that tore apart downtown Caracas, the capital, and shattered the peace in at least 16 other cities. Government-imposed austerity measures had ignited a three-day free-for-all of rioting, looting and killing that left an estimated 300 people dead, 2,000 injured and another 2,000 in jail.

Venezuela had not seen such...

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