Venezuela opposition rallies for jailed aides

Opponents of Venezuela’s leftist government marched towards jails yesterday demanding the release of opposition leaders they say are being unjustly held as political prisoners in the country’s deadly crisis.
It was the latest in a month of demonstrations that have left 28 people dead in clashes between riot police and anti-government protesters, according to prosecutors.
The centre-right-led opposition is demanding elections to remove President Nicolas Maduro. It blames him for an economic crisis that has caused food shortages.
The key rally yesterday targeted Ramo Verde prison near Caracas, where the most prominent of the prisoners, Popular Will party leader Leopoldo Lopez, was being held after his arrest in 2014.
Lopez was sentenced to 14 years on charges of inciting violence during deadly riots that year.
A lead prosecutor in the case later alleged irregularities in his conviction.
Lopez’s wife Lilian Tintori has become one of the international faces of Venezuela’s political crisis, travelling to meet with foreign officials to raise awareness of her husband’s fate.
“We do not want confrontation, violence or gunshots,” she said.”We want solidarity with those who are resisting like Leopoldo. We want a country without dictatorship and without repression.”
Attempts by protesters to march towards sensitive state institutions have erupted into deadly violence over recent days.
Senior opposition lawmaker Henry Ramos Allup said the security forces had orders not to let the demonstrators pass.
“Either we get there or they will repress us, but we are not going to hold back,” said Freddy Guevara, deputy speaker of the opposition-held national legislature.