page_title: 2017 Venezuelan protests
section_title: Use of snipers
hierarchical_section_title: 2017 Venezuelan protests / Law enforcement / Plan Zamora / Use of snipers
caption_attribution_description: English: Crosses displaying the names of the deaths during the Venezuelan protests in 2017 during an opposition sit in
context_page_description: The 2017 Venezuelan protests were a series of protests occurring throughout Venezuela. Protests began in January 2017 after the arrest of multiple opposition leaders and the cancellation of dialogue between the opposition and Nicolás Maduro's government.
  As the tension continued, the 2017 Venezuelan constitutional crisis began in late March when the pro-Maduro Supreme Tribunal of Justice dissolved the opposition-led National Assembly, with the intensity of protests increasing greatly throughout Venezuela following the decision. As April arrived, the protests grew "into the most combative since a wave of unrest in 2014" resulting from the crisis with hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans protesting daily through the month and into May. After failing to prevent the July Constituent Assembly election, the opposition and protests largely lost momentum.
context_section_description: In late-April, days after the Mother of All Marches, generals of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela gathered in Barquisimeto at discussion chaired by Lara Division General José Rafael Torrealba Pérez; with Brigadier General Hernán Enrique Homez Machado (National Guard), Brigadier General Carlos Enrique Quijada Rojas (Air Force), Brigadier General Dilio Rafael Rodríguez Díaz (Army), Brigadier General Joel Vicente Canelón (Army) and Brigadier General Iván Darío Lara Lander (Army) attending.
  At the meeting, Torrealba suggests the use of snipers against protesters, explaining that sniper candidates must be chosen out of loyalty, telling the generals "to make preparations with those individuals that can serve as snipers, beginning with psychological and aptitude tests". He further explained the risk of civil war, stating that President Maduro "has already signed a range of operations and as I said ... we could be at the beginning of a subversive urban war". Despite the objection by an attending general, Torrealba insisted that the snipers would scare protesters off the street, saying "it will only be us that pulls through because ... once people start to see dead bodies, and dead bodies begin to appear, then everyone will begin to stay at home ... You will remember my words, the armed forces are the ones that have to solve this problem".
  On 22 May, it was reported that snipers supposedly belonging to the National Guard were firing from the Center for Education and Development of Petróleos de Venezuela rooftops in the El Hatillo Municipality.
caption: Venezuelan tricolor crosses commemorating those killed during protests.
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