Venezuelan Opposition Protests Continue During Carnival Despite Maduro’s Call To ‘Happiness’

El Nacional reported on Tuesday that opposition protestors continued demonstrations in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas even as the country heads into Carnival, a week when Venezuelans traditionally flock to vacation destinations on the northern coast. The paper writes that thousands of demonstrators, many dressed in white and carrying placards, marched from Plaza Miranda en los Dos Caminos in the middle-class opposition stronghold of Altimira to Petare, one of the largest shantytowns in Latin America and a traditional bastion of Chavismo. That route likely means demonstrators have their eye on convincing the poorest sectors of society to join their ranks.

The New York Times noted at the end of February that the demonstrations which have taken place in cities across Venezuela, leading to hundreds of arrests and 18 related deaths, have been confined largely to middle-class and upscale neighborhoods. “After 15 years of war speech, we have become two distinct countries, two societies that haven’t been able to reconcile in more than a decade,” wrote Audrey Dacosta, a blogger with the English-language Caracas Chronicles, in a post last week. “It’s not merely that we can’t see eye to eye. It goes beyond that. We are two sides, each projecting their darkest traits upon the other.”

EFE reports that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro sought over the weekend to portray protests as waning. “Definitely Venezuela is giving a lesson to those who wanted to prohibit Carnival and do violence to the People’s Happiness,” he wrote on Twitter. “¡Viva La Paz!” Maduro also posted a series of photos of beaches at popular Venezuelan resorts, noting the abundance of visitors. "Happiness will conquer the embittered,” he said later during a televised speech. “The Venezuelan people have won because happiness and peace have conquered.”