The Venezuelan protests have yet another tragedy, as a pregnant woman has reportedly been killed in a protest outside of Caracas. The woman, 28-year-old Adriana Urquiola, is believed to not have been part of the protest.
According to the mayor of Guaicaipuro, the 5-month pregnant woman left a bus that was stuck in traffic due to a barricade created by anti-government protestors. Urquiola is said to have started walking on foot toward the barricade when she was shot in the head. While authorities are not sure why she was shot, they are currently investigating the cause.
Suffice to say, critics of President Nicolas Maduro are blaming the unrest in the country, which began five weeks ago, for the death of the pregnant woman. The citizens of Venezuela started rallying on Feb. 12, 2014, on the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Victoria, to protest Maduro's government after he succeeded Hugo Chavez.
The initial protests--led by the leaders of the Venezuelan opposition María Corina Machado and Leopoldo López -- were followed by a large, city-wide protest on Saturday, Feb. 15. While the protests were led by Machado and López, it was students who coordinated and staged the protests and provided them with the backing. Thus far, the Venezuelan protests have claimed 32 lives.
Venezuelans are no stranger to violence, as the country is notorious for its high murder rate. In fact, a 2010 UN report cites that Venezuela ranks as one of the top four murderous nation in the world with a murder rate of 39 per 100,000 people, according to the Venezuelan government. That said, it should be noted that a nongovernment agency, the Venezuelan Violence Observatory, claims that the murder rate cited by the government are grossly downplayed. The agency reports that there were 24,763 murders last year, which would put the murder rate at 79 per 100,000 people.
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