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<ul class="summary-list"><li>The investigative news website Bellingcat reported on the Texas mall shooter's apparent neo-Nazi beliefs.</li><li>Right-wing commentators on Twitter suggested that it was fake news, and Elon Musk called it a "psyop."</li></ul><p>Twitter appears to have limited the reach of Bellingcat, an investigative news website, as its main account no longer appears in the app's search tool.</p><p>It's unclear when exactly the change was made but Eliot Higgins, the Bellingcat founder, first <a href="https://twitter.com/EliotHiggins/status/1656708924656041985" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a> about it  Thursday. Bellingcat's main handle did not appear in several searches made by Insider on Twitter Friday.</p><p>Higgins' first tweet about the account being hidden came three days after Elon Musk began spreading doubt over the site's investigation into Mauricio Garcia, the gunman who <a href="https://www.insider.com/police-respond-shooting-allen-premium-outets-mall-near-dallas-texas-2023-5">killed eight people at a mall in Allen, Texas on Sunday</a>.</p><p><a href="https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2023/05/09/tracing-the-odnoklassniki-profile-of-the-texas-mall-shooter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bellingcat reported</a> that Garcia had tattoos of a swastika and other Nazi symbols, and <a href="https://twitter.com/AricToler/status/1655651280096747524" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> about being a white supremacist on Odnoklassniki (OK), a Russian social media site.</p><p>"Didn't the story come from Bellingcat, which literally specializes in psychological operations?" Musk <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1655977617583898637" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>. "I don't want to hurt their feelings, but this is either the weirdest story ever or a very bad psyop!"</p><p>The Twitter boss tweeted about the investigation several times, like <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1655716696521416704" target="_blank" rel="noopener">replying</a> "Odd" to a conspiratorial tweet from an account called "End Wokeness."</p><p>Bellingcat has also been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/feb/20/eliot-higgins-people-accuse-me-of-working-for-the-cia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accused</a> of working for the CIA, a claim Higgins has repeatedly <a href="https://twitter.com/EliotHiggins/status/1464600059862003712" target="_blank" rel="noopener">denied</a>.</p><p>The site reported that it discovered Garcia's OK account after investigators disclosed its existence to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/08/us/texas-mall-shooting-mauricio-garcia.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Times</a>. The shooter had also posted legal documents identifying himself.</p><p>Bellingcat has the gold checkmark for businesses on Twitter, but Higgins <a href="https://twitter.com/EliotHiggins/status/1655977352982036482" target="_blank" rel="noopener">withdrew</a> his own blue tick in the wake of accusations that its Texas mall shooter story was a "psyop."</p><p>Psychological operations are broadly defined as military operations designed to influence people's emotions and political beliefs through propaganda, but the term "psyop" has been co-opted frequently by online conspiracy theorists to accuse the US government of false flag operations like terror attacks and mass shootings.</p><p>Aric Toler, the Bellingcat journalist who reported the story, also <a href="https://twitter.com/AricToler/status/1656720637224779776" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that the site's account hadn't been appearing on TweetDeck searches for weeks.</p><p>In April, he co-wrote the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/13/world/europe/jack-teixeira-pentagon-leak.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Times article</a> which revealed the identity of Jake Teixeira, the National Guard airman who <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/discord-members-say-pentagon-leak-suspect-wanted-to-show-off-2023-4">leaked hundreds of classified documents on Discord</a>. </p><p>That report involved matching up social media images of Teixeira's house with the counter seen in the background of the leaked document pictures to identify him. But with Garcia, Toler said it was "easily the most open-and-shut case I've seen in my life."</p><p>Insider contacted Twitter for comment. The company responded with an automated message that didn't address the inquiry.</p>

Twitter appeared to limit the reach of investigative news site Bellingcat days after Elon Musk suggested its Texas mall shooter investigation was a 'psyop'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Police responded to a mass shooting at Allen Premium Outlets just outside of Dallas, Texas.</li><li>Authorities confirmed 9 dead, including suspected shooter, while 7 are being treated at hospitals.</li></ul><p>At least 8 people were killed by a gunman in a mass shooting at an outlet mall near the Dallas area on Saturday afternoon, according to authorities. </p><p>In a press conference that evening, Allen Fire Department Chief Jonathan Boyd said seven people, including the shooter, were dead at the scene. Two more people died after they were transported to local hospitals. Seven were still hospitalized at the time of the conference, with three in "critical surgery," he said.</p><p>Calls about shots being fired came in about 3:40 p.m. from the Allen Premium Outlets in Allen, Texas, a suburb about 25 miles north of downtown Dallas with roughly 105,000 residents.</p><p>A video shared on social media showed people running through a parking lot while gunfire could be heard.</p><p>One unidentified employee at the mall told WFAA that the suspected shooter was indiscriminately shooting his gun from outside.</p><p>"He was just shooting his gun everywhere, for the most part," the employee said.</p><p>A police officer fatally shot the gunman. Three law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity identified the shooter as Mauricio Garcia, a 33-year-old man.</p><p>People familiar with the investigation <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/05/07/texas-allen-outlets-shooting-dallas/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told The Washington Post</a> that Garcia was a local resident and may have held white supremacist or neo-Nazi beliefs. They spoke on condition of anonymity to talk about an ongoing investigation.</p><p>Garcia wore a patch on his chest that said "RWDS," an acronym for Right Wing Death Squad, the people told the Post. Investigators also found weapons on his body and five guns inside his nearby car, people familiar with the investigation told the newspaper. </p><p>A spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety, which is now handling the investigation, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p><p>On Saturday afternoon, more than 30 police cruisers with lights flashing blocked an entrance to the mall, with multiple ambulances on the scene. A live aerial broadcast from WFAA showed armored trucks and other law enforcement vehicles stationed outside the sprawling outdoor mall. Ambulances from several neighboring cities responded to the scene.</p><p>The Dallas office of the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives also responded.</p><p>Allen Police Department Chief Brian Harvey said in a news conference that authorities believe the shooter acted alone.</p><p><a href="https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-statement-on-shooting-in-allen-texas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In a statement</a>, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he has reached out to Allen Mayor Ken Fulk and Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw in light of the shooting.</p><p>"Our hearts are with the people of Allen, Texas, tonight during this unspeakable tragedy," he said. "I have been in contact with Mayor Fulk and DPS Director McCraw as well as other state and local leaders and offered the full support of the State of Texas to local officials to ensure all needed assistance and resources are swiftly deployed, including DPS officers, Texas Rangers, and investigative resources."</p><p><em>This is a developing story. Please check back for more updates.</em></p>

9 dead, including gunman, after mass shooting at Allen Premium Outlets near Dallas, Texas. The gunman may have held neo-Nazi beliefs, WaPo reports.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Authorities have identified the gunman of the Allen, Texas, mass shooting as Mauricio Garcia, 33.</li><li>Law enforcement sources told AP that the man wore a patch that said "RWDS."</li></ul><p>The gunman who killed at least eight people in <a href="https://www.insider.com/police-respond-shooting-allen-premium-outets-mall-near-dallas-texas-2023-5">a mass shooting at an Allen, Texas, shopping center on Saturday</a> wore a patch on his chest with a phrase frequently thrown around in far-right circles and extremist groups, a law enforcement source told the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/shooting-outlet-mall-allen-texas-cf100ef3cfc6e3c2e687119c06191b87?taid=6457fd0ff925b10001074555&amp;utm_campaign=TrueAnthem&amp;utm_medium=AP&amp;utm_source=Twitter">Associated Press</a>.</p><p>On Sunday, the Texas Department of Public Safety identified the shooter as 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/07/us/allen-texas-mall-shooting-sunday/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>A law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity told the AP that Garcia, after being fatally shot by a police officer, was found wearing a patch that read "RWDS" —  an acronym that stands for "Right-Wing Death Squad."</p><p>Despite what the name suggests, several extremism experts told Insider that RWDS is not a formal group or organization.</p><p>"It's essentially a call-to-arms for would-be fascists, neo-fascists, and anyone who believes in a hard-right authoritarian state," Micheal Edison Hayden, a spokesperson and senior investigative reporter for Southern Poverty Law Center, said.</p><h2>Origins of the acronym</h2><p>Hayden told Insider he first encountered the phrase in the early days of the Trump era and that it appeared as a "kind of insidious meme." But the acronym referenced in alt-right social spheres has evolved from being a simple online meme to appearing in real-world extremist crime scenes. </p><p>The attacker who <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gunman-open-fire-pittsburgh-synagogue-multiple-dead-2018-10">killed 11 people in the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue shooting</a> in 2018 frequently shared RWDS memes online before carrying out the attack, Meghan Conroy, a research fellow at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab and a former investigator for the Subcommittee on January 6, told Insider.</p><p>Similarly, an active duty Marine, who was investigated under suspicion of plotting to murder minorities and DNC employees, among others, was part of a Facebook messenger chat group called Right Wing Death Squad, Conroy noted. The Marine, Travis Owens, was released from the military over the incident but was not charged with a crime, <a href="https://www.insider.com/us-marine-investigated-plan-to-kill-black-people-dnc-employees-2021-6">Insider previously reported</a>.</p><p>"And obviously these people are not necessarily Proud Boys, right? They're not even necessarily part of a specific group," Conroy told Insider. But embracing the online culture surrounding the RWDS memes "enables them to feel like they're part of something bigger than themselves, and they're part of this internet culture that is cool and trendy and is doing something — because if you have death in the title of your chat group, or meme or whatever it may be, that's a not-so-subtle hint that this is going to manifest in some kind of offline action."</p><div type="image" title="Jeremy Bertino" height="2700" width="3600" msid="100088532" hostid="261"></div><p>While it is unclear if the Texas shooter was associated with an extremist group, members of the Proud Boys have been seen wearing references to RWDS.</p><p>Proud Boy member Jeremy Bertino, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-leader-proud-boys-pleads-guilty-seditious-conspiracy-efforts-stop-transfer-power" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who pleaded guilty in October to seditious conspiracy charges in connection to the January 6 riot</a>, can be seen wearing an RWDS patch, as well as a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2020/oct/04/fashion-or-fascist-the-long-tussle-over-that-fred-perry-logo">Fred Perry brand logo</a> and an American flag, at a protest near the North Carolina Executive Mansion in Raleigh shortly after the 2020 election.</p><p>Lawyers for Bertino and representatives for the Fred Perry brand did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. </p><p>At another event in Pittsboro, North Carolina, Bertino added an RWDS patch to his t-shirt that read, "Pinochet did nothing wrong."</p><p>The memes reference former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet Ugarte and his real-life right-wing death squad, Hayden and Conroy noted.</p><p>Pinochet ruthlessly sought out his opposition after his 1973 coup d'etat — and one way he executed his enemies was by throwing people off a helicopter mid-flight. </p><p>"Action is absolutely imbued into the very name of RWDS, especially because Pinochet was a real person, the right-wing death squads were real and they actually did the thing that a lot of these folks want to do, which is murdering political enemies, and also staging a coup against the democratically elected president," Conroy told Insider. "The through lines are so there and the precedent exists — because they have this tangible thing that happened in history that they can point to and be like, 'Oh, look, we can do it too.'"</p><p>Hayden said a meme about helicopter rides circulated on Twitter before the 2016 election, sending the message that when Donald Trump is elected, his critics will be thrown out of a helicopter.</p><p>Proud Boys members also sold RWDS and Pinochet T-shirts for $40 at rallies and online beginning in 2018, <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/files/proudboyssellingpinochetjpeg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to SPLC.</a> </p><p>Mixing the message, "Pinochet did nothing wrong" and "Right-wing death squad," the overall point is straightforward, Hayden said. "It is for people who desire a hard-right authoritarian state — a brutal fascist takeover of the United States," he said. "And it is a way to signal interest in extrajudicial violence."</p><h2>How extremists use humor</h2><p>Extremists have long used memes, jokes, and irony to advance their ideology while maintaining an air of plausible deniability. Viveca Greene, a professor at Hampshire College who researches the use of satire across extreme ideologies, told Insider it's an approach that modern alt-right activists have embraced.</p><p>"A lot of the memes function by appealing to people who like having the insider knowledge to be able to get the joke," Greene told Insider. "A lot of them perform what humor scholars called boundary maintenance: there's an 'us' and there's a 'them.' I mean, racist jokes and humor have done that forever."</p><p>By using memes and jokes to signal you're part of the in-group, people who share them can feel a sense of belonging and continue perpetuating the sense of the difference between those who understand and agree with the meme versus those who don't.</p><p>"Admittedly, it can be difficult when you're trying to determine whether someone is shitposting on the internet because they're angry or they're sad or they feel they want to feel like they're part of something bigger than themselves," Conroy told Insider. "Or if you're going to have a situation where someone is going to mobilize offline."</p><p>Authorities are still investigating a motive for the attack by the Texas shooter. However, a source told AP that federal agents who reviewed his social media accounts found posts expressing neo-Nazi and white supremacist views.</p><p>Conroy noted that the continued circulation of the memes, especially after mass violence, can recruit more extremists, glorifying the perpetrator and urging like-minded followers to stop posting and take action.</p><p>Hayden said the RWDS meme was circulated "heavily" in fringe Telegram channels following the Texas shooting.</p><p>"Some people say, 'Oh, well this is just a joke' and stuff like that," Hayden added: "Very clearly, if Garcia was wearing it, he did not take it as a joke."</p>

The RWDS patch reportedly worn by the Texas shooter is a 'signal' to 'would-be fascists,' an extremist expert said

<ul class="summary-list"><li>22-year-old <keyword id="10946866" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="vergil-ortiz">Vergil Ortiz</keyword> Jr. is one of <keyword id="6362171" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Boxing">boxing</keyword>'s most thunderous punchers.</li><li>Ortiz Jr. is one of the sport's youngest stars, and is just days away from his biggest test.</li><li>Before his Saturday bout with Maurice Hooker, he told Insider the secret to his knockout punches.</li></ul><p>Vergil Ortiz Jr., 22, is like other young American men his age.</p><p>He wakes up in the mornings and answers questions from his grandma about what he wants to eat. He drinks a lot of coffee. He plays guitar, the piano, and spends time on his PS5.</p><p>But there is one aspect of Ortiz Jr.'s life that separates him from everybody else.</p><p>The <keyword id="89006" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Golden-Boy-Promotions">Golden Boy Promotions</keyword> phenom is one of the most celebrated punchers in <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/boxing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the sport of boxing</a> with a flawless record of 16 wins from 16 fights - all of them by way of knockout.</p><p>The power-puncher returns to the ring Saturday for the biggest test of his career, competing in a welterweight match against Maurice Hooker at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.</p><p>Ahead of the bout, which will be broadcast on DAZN, Ortiz Jr. told Insider about life as a heavy-hitter.</p><p>He said he wasn't aware of quite how different he is to most fighters until a Golden Gloves tournament in Texas.</p><p>"I was stopping everyone … every night," he told us of his amateur days. "It was back-to-back-to-back, and it was honestly crazy how often it was happening.</p><p>"Everyone talked about it," Ortiz Jr. said. "I would say they were impressed, and I was too, to be honest. I wasn't expecting all that. Eventually, I learned how to harness it, and use it when I needed to."</p><h2>Ortiz Jr. is wary of falling in love with his power</h2><div type="image" title="Vergil Ortiz Jr. boxing" height="1000" width="1500" msid="81554614" hostid="261"></div><p>After four fights in 2019 that included a particularly thumping win over Mauricio Herrera, Ortiz Jr. has come to be regarded as the best prospect in boxing.</p><p>He has that acclaim for good reason.</p><p>He has fast feet, stands his ground, and fires all kinds of shots at his opponent's head until they can no longer stand, and end up finished on the floor.</p><p>When people get hit cleanly by his punches they have all kinds of reactions. Some can't stay upright because their legs buckle. Others get their necks snapped back and collapse because they're so dazed and confused.</p><p>His overhand right is an especially nasty weapon, but he's finished bouts just as well with his left hook, his uppercut, and even his jab.</p><p>Ortiz Jr. told Insider that he can even tell from the crack his gloved fist makes when it's whacked into his opponent's face, whether it will have had the intended effect.</p><p>"You can tell when you land a knockout punch, or at least you can tell it'll start the process to get the knockout. You can really feel it," he said. "It's a different punch."</p><p>Ortiz Jr. is trying not to fall in love with his power, which is a trap many big hitters fall into, he said.</p><p>And so he likes to vary how he seeks finishes. "It can be a lot of different things - whether I'm laying traps, setting them up, or just doing a certain pattern [of punches] where you're trying to time them.</p><p>"Or you can just do it the old-fashioned way by overpowering your opponent, simply. But you've got to combine all of them," he said.</p><p>Ortiz Jr. is trained by the accomplished Robert Garcia, a former world boxing champion who has coached Mikey Garcia, Nonito Donaire, Marcos Maidana, Abner Mares, and Brandon Rios out of his southern California gyms.</p><p>He has also worked through routines with his father, Vergil Ortiz Sr., who showed his son hours of video footage featuring Latin America's superstar boxers like Miguel Cotto, Sergio Martinez, and Golden Boy founder Oscar de la Hoya.</p><p>Regardless of who he's looked up to in the past, and how he trains with Garcia, Ortiz Jr. is focusing on adding further skills to his boxing so he can become more well-rounded in the years ahead.</p><p>"It's learning not to fall in love with the power, which some fighters do, especially if they have a lot of it," Ortiz Jr. told us.</p><p>"They think they're going to knock out everyone. I know I'll eventually meet someone I won't be able to put away - he'll just be too tough.</p><p>"I kind of already went through that. In my fifth fight, I knocked the guy [Angel Sarinana] down in the first round, didn't put him away at first, and I actually had to start using my head rather than my muscles."</p><p>Ortiz Jr. tired somewhat by the second, but still finished the fight in the third round, preserving his 100% knockout ratio. "So I got over that challenge and it's made me an even better fighter today.</p><p>"My most satisfying opponent to finish was Mauricio Herrera because I didn't think I was going to stop him.</p><p>"He's a world-class vet who has been in there with the best. And though he didn't get the decisions [results] he wanted [in previous fights], he was also talking smack before our fight, saying I wasn't ready.</p><p>"So that kind of made it a lot better, too."</p><h2>Ortiz Jr. puts his 100% knockout record on the line once again</h2><div type="image" title="Bernard Hopkins and Vergil Ortiz boxing" height="1243" width="2000" msid="81554615" hostid="261"></div><p>Ortiz Jr. fights Hooker this weekend and he's well aware that it will be his greatest challenge yet.</p><p>"Mighty Mo" Hooker has only been beaten once in 31 bouts, and even won the WBO super lightweight championship in 2018 having beaten Terry Flanagan by split decision.</p><p>"I believe this is a new level for me, fighting Hooker," Ortiz Jr. told us.</p><p>"He has a reach advantage, technically has a lot more experience than I do in the ring, and he's in his prime right now at 31 years old. Those are the things he's got on me.</p><p>"The expectation for me, on myself, is to win," he said. "I want to win, and I want to win in good fashion.</p><p>"You can win and not look good and you'll have people questioning whether you're still the real thing, or not. I just want to win and look good, and that can include getting a knockout though that's not really what I'm looking for. It has to come naturally, that's when knockouts come best."</p><p>Insider asked Ortiz Jr. who he feels he can forge a future rivalry with in the super lightweight and welterweight divisions, but the fighter was loathe to give anybody a mention.</p><p>"I don't think anyone deserves that spot," he said.</p><p>As Saturday's fight is for a minor WBO title, it is likely Golden Boy Promotions will be looking to navigate one of their superstar athletes into a high-stakes match with the three-weight world champion Terence Crawford, Top Rank's current ruler with the WBO at 147-pounds.</p><p>If Ortiz Jr. has his way, it would be a match that is made this year.</p><p>"I've been perfect for these past 16 fights and believe I have earned a title shot," Ortiz Jr. told us. "By the end of this year, I hope to become a world champion."</p>

Rising American power hitter Vergil Ortiz Jr. talks through the secrets of landing his vicious knockout punches

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Carlos Barria</span></p><p class="caption">President Donald Trump with Argentine President Mauricio Macri at the White House, April 27, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Argentina's president thinks the US should further sanction the Venezuelan government by blocking the country's oil exports to the US.</strong></li><li><strong>However, targeting Venezuela's oil industry is considered the most drastic action the US could take, and it is likely to have severe consequences in both countries.</strong></li></ul><p><br />Argentine President Mauricio Macri wants the US to crack down further on the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by blocking its oil imports.</p><p>Macri told The Financial Times that such a draconian measure was warranted given the Maduro government's anti-democratic actions and Venezuela's continued deterioration.</p><p>"I think we should go to a full oil embargo," Macri <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/286ad07a-c415-11e7-b2bb-322b2cb39656" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a>. "Things have gotten worse and worse. Now, it's really a painful situation. Poverty is going up every day, sanitary conditions are getting worse every day."</p><p>Macri - whose center-right government <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-28/no-turning-back-now-argentina-s-macri-says-as-economy-rebounds" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has led</a> an economic rebound in Argentina and whose party <a href="https://nacla.org/news/2017/11/07/argentina%E2%80%99s-mid-term-elections-victories-cambiemos" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">had a strong showing</a> in late-October midterm elections - has been a sharp critic of Venezuela and is the first Latin American leader to call for such an embargo on its oil exports.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at the Simon Bolivar airport in La Guaira, October 7, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The US <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-im-not-going-to-rule-out-a-military-option-for-venezuela-2017-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sanctioned numerous Venezuelan officials</a> this summer, including Maduro. Trump also hinted at a "military option" in Venezuela (which <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fallout-from-trumps-comments-about-military-action-against-venezuela-2017-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">was received poorly</a> in the region) but stopped short of blocking Venezuela's oil exports to the US.</p><p>Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves and is the US's third-largest oil supplier, sending about 800,000 barrels of crude a day to US refiners. It also gets about <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-im-not-going-to-rule-out-a-military-option-for-venezuela-2017-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">95% of its export revenue</a> from oil. Sanctioning Venezuela's oil sector is generally considered the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-targeted-sanctions-on-venezuela-oil-sector-imports-2017-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">most drastic action</a> the US could take, as it would harm not only the US oil industry but also severely hinder Venezuela's ability to buy imported food and medicine and to pay bondholders.</p><p>Macri didn't mention multilateral action against Venezuela's oil industry, but he said there was "broad support" in Latin America for US doing it. "We have been talking about this many times with many people over the past month," he <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/286ad07a-c415-11e7-b2bb-322b2cb39656" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told</a> the Financial Times.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">The logo of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA next to a mural depicting late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at a gas station in Caracas, March 2, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Experts in the US have warned against blocking Venezuela's oil because of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/humanitarian-economic-political-effect-of-us-sanction-on-venezuela-oil-2017-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the deleterious effects it would have</a>, and US lawmakers - particularly those from states on the Gulf of Mexico, where many refineries are based - have said such a move could raise domestic prices and damage the US economy.</p><p>Other legislators have called for a stronger US line against Maduro.</p><p>Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-02/trump-weighs-trying-more-venezuela-sanctions-to-maduro-actions" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a> this summer that, "<span>You can expect that every time Maduro does something outrageous, the </span>White House<span>will respond with additional sanctions."</span></p><p><span>Florida Democratic Rep. Bill Nelson <a href="https://www.billnelson.senate.gov/sites/default/files/20171107%20Letter%20to%20Secretary%20Mnuchin%20regarding%20additional%20Venezuela%20sanctions.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wrote a letter</a> this week urging Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to continue sanctioning Venezuelan officials tied to wrongdoing and to target the country's state-owned oil company and to "consider banning the import of Venezuelan crude to the United States until constitutional order has been restored."</span></p><p><span>Despite Macri's assurances, there is reason to doubt such action by the US would be well received in Latin America.</span></p><p><span>"In fact, it is <em>exactly</em> the kind of unilateral policy that isolated the US from the region with regard to Cuba," Greg Weeks, a political-science professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and editor of the The Latin Americanist academic journal, <a href="http://weeksnotice.blogspot.com/2017/11/oil-embargo-against-venezuela.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wrote</a> Wednesday morning.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins</span></p><p class="caption">Opposition supporters clash with riot police during a rally to demand a referendum to remove President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, May 18, 2016.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>"To repeat, the embargo has not isolated Cuba, nor will it isolate Venezuela unless the sanctions are multilateral. That would mean no Latin American country buys the oil," Weeks wrote. "I didn't hear Macri saying anything about Argentina's role. It is a bad idea for the US to engage in unilateral sanctions like this."</span></p><p><span>Moreover, <a href="http://weeksnotice.blogspot.com/2017/11/oil-embargo-against-venezuela.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Weeks noted</a>, aggressive action to isolate Venezuela would likely make deeper partnerships with Russia and China more appealing. The two countries have extended Venezuela at least <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-oil-insight/venezuela-falls-behind-on-oil-for-loan-deals-with-china-russia-idUSKBN15O2BC" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">$55 billion in credit</a> in exchange for oil.</span></p><p><span>A <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-special-report-vladimirs-venezuela-leveraging-loans-to-caracas-moscow-snaps-up-oil-assets-2017-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters</a> report this summer found that Russia extended considerable financial support to Venezuela's oil industry, in turn expanding its control of Venezuela's oil reserves and deepening Caracas' reliance on its assistance. On Wednesday, Russia's finance minister <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-venezuela-debtrenegotiation/venezuela-agrees-to-restructuring-of-3-billion-debt-to-moscow-russian-finance-minister-idUSKBN1D813T" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a> Venezuela had agreed to restructure $3 billion of its debts to Moscow under previously agreed-upon terms.</span></p><p class="tagline">Get the latest Oil WTI price<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/oil-price?type=WTI"> here.</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/helima-croft-rbc-commodities-oil-market-venezuela-2017-7">RBC commodity chief: The oil market has a lot riding on Venezuela</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Argentina's president wants the US to take a drastic measure against Venezuela

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Javier Andres Rojas</span></p><p class="caption">A Colombian soldier guards the border with Venezuela in Cucuta, Colombia, February 9, 2018.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Venezuela's economic, political, and social turmoil is deepening.</strong></li><li><strong>Those crises have spurred massive waves of migration, as Venezuelans leave to look for relief.</strong></li><li><strong>Countries in the region are trying to adjust to the influx - and prepare for what's next in Venezuela.</strong></li></ul><p><br />Venezuela's deepening turmoil has spurred mass migration to the rest of the region, and now countries straining to deal with arriving migrants are taking steps to address the influx.</p><p>On February 8 in Cucuta, a border city that has become a hub for migrants, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced stricter migration controls and the deployment 3,000 security personnel to control hundreds of crossing points along the countries' 1,370-mile shared border.</p><p><span>A new migration unit will also patrol public areas where displaced Venezuelans gather, help them get oriented, and address problems related to their arrival and the precarious conditions they face, like prostitution. Venezuelans in the country will be required to register with Colombian officials.</span></p><p>"Colombia has never lived a situation like the one we are encountering today," Santos <a href="https://apnews.com/0cb8aa4801134173ab62889bf580b8d8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. Colombian immigration officials say there are nearly 600,000 Venezuelans in the country - double the number six months ago. Venezuelan groups and officials in border cities say it could be higher.</p><p><span>"This is a tragedy," Santos added. "I want to repeat to President Maduro - this is the result of your policies. It is not the fault of Colombians, and it's the result of your refusal to receive humanitarian aid."</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Carlos Eduardo Ramirez</span></p><p class="caption">Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos greets police officers during a meeting with regional authorities in Cucuta, Colombia, February 8, 2018.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>Venezuela's economy continues to unravel. Inflation is expected to hit <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/venezuelas-misery-fuels-migration-on-epic-scale-1518517800" target="_blank" rel="noopener">13,000%</a> this year. Rampant shortages <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/venezuela-economic-food-crisis-meals-2016-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">leave store empty</a>, and many hospitals are ill-equipped to treat even basic problems. Malnutrition is rising, and some parents who are unable to feed their children have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/venezuelas-economy-is-so-bad-parents-are-leaving-their-children-at-orphanages/2018/02/12/8021d180-0545-11e8-aa61-f3391373867e_story.html?utm_term=.d4305ed89446" target="_blank" rel="noopener">turned them over to orphanages</a>. Violence <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-venezuela-says-murders-soared-to-60-per-day-in-2016-2017-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">is pervasive</a>, and security forces have been accused of extrajudicial killings and other abuses. </span></p><p><span>Despite broad unpopularity, President Nicolas Maduro is expected to retain power in a April 22 election <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-colombia/colombia-brazil-tighten-borders-as-venezuelan-crisis-deepens-idUSKBN1FS2VW" target="_blank" rel="noopener">under conditions</a> the US and others say are stacked against the opposition.</span></p><p><span>Emigration from Venezuela has <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/venezuela-protest-driving-migration-changing-demographics-and-politics-2017-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">moved in waves</a> over the past two decades. That movement has intensified in recent years, and the exodus now draws from <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/venezuela-protest-driving-migration-changing-demographics-and-politics-2017-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a broad segment</a> of the population</span><span>.</span></p><p><span>Polling in late 2016 and early 2017 found <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/venezuela-protest-driving-migration-changing-demographics-and-politics-2017-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">35.3% of Venezuelans</a> wanted to leave in the next three years - nearly triple the 12% who said the same in 2014. A December poll by a Venezuelan firm <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/venezuelas-misery-fuels-migration-on-epic-scale-1518517800" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found 40%</a> of respondents wanted to leave.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">A Venezuelan woman and her child sit in a gym-turned-shelter for Venezuelans, in the Caimbe neighborhood in Boa Vista in Brazil's Roraima state, November 17, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>There are now large Venezuelan expatriate communities in Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. A border crossing in southern Colombia saw the number of Venezuelans going to Ecuador <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/venezuelas-misery-fuels-migration-on-epic-scale-1518517800" target="_blank" rel="noopener">surge</a> from 32,000 in 2016 to 231,000 in 2017.</span></p><p><span>An International Organization for Migration report <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article190769629.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> more than 629,000 Venezuelans living in nine major South American cities in 2017 - up from just 85,000 in 2015.</span></p><p><span>But Colombia has borne the brunt of the movement. During the latter half of 2017, the number of Venezuelans living there <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-colombia/colombia-brazil-tighten-borders-as-venezuelan-crisis-deepens-idUSKBN1FS2VW" target="_blank" rel="noopener">jumped 62%</a> - some <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/venezuelas-misery-fuels-migration-on-epic-scale-1518517800" target="_blank" rel="noopener">50,000</a> have already arrived there this year.</span></p><p><span>"Venezuela ... I wouldn't wish it on even my worst enemy," Luis Alfredo Rivas, a 32-year-old Venezuelan <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article198542849.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told El Nuevo Herald</a> just after he arrived in Bogota earlier this month. </span>"My plan is to be here, to work and to move ahead if I can, to bring my family over, too, to get them out of that hell."</p><h2>'I don't have a happy ending'</h2><p>Venezuela took in more than a million Colombians during a the latter country's half-century civil conflict, and Colombia is now struggling to care for Venezuelans as it nurtures <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/colombia-farc-rebels-reach-new-peace-agreement-deal-2016-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a nascent peace</a> and deals with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amid-a-cocaine-boom-in-colombia-a-deeper-problem-is-emerging-2017-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ongoing security challenges</a> - all while managing a weak economy.</p><p><span>"Venezuela was very generous to Colombia when Colombians went in search of a better life," Santos <a href="https://apnews.com/0cb8aa4801134173ab62889bf580b8d8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in Cucuta. "We should also be generous to Venezuela." He asked his countrymen to avoid hostility, but Venezuelans' growing presence has been a source of frustration.</span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins</span></p><p class="caption">Colombian police officers stand in front of people queueing to try to cross into Colombia from Venezuela through Simon Bolivar international bridge in Cucuta, Colombia, January 24, 2018.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>"We also have a problem within our population, because we almost have a two-digit unemployment figure," Maria Isabel Nieto Jaramillo, Colombia's consul general in New York City, said during an event at the Proskauer law firm this month. "We had a situation with our own [countrymen] not wanting many of the Venezuelans to come to [our] country and being hostile."</p><p>Some Venezuelan professionals have found jobs, but many there illegally are <a href="https://apnews.com/0cb8aa4801134173ab62889bf580b8d8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unable to obtain</a> official status allowing them to work. Some live on the streets and work for scant pay in the informal economy.</p><p>"They have increased unemployment and they have taken jobs at lower wages," Mauricio Franco, who leads Cucuta's response to the migration, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/venezuelas-misery-fuels-migration-on-epic-scale-1518517800" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The Wall Street Journal. "We don't have opportunities for them."</p><p>"It is a fact that the Venezuelans are taking jobs [from] Colombians," Nieto Jaramillo said. But, she added, the government and civil-society groups have had success informing Colombians of the situation Venezuelans face.</p><p>"It's showing that these people that are coming ... are people that are in need," she added. "It's more like a humanitarian way of looking at it."</p><p>"We're taking the Venezuelans that are very poor people. We're taking them to shelters, because we don't want ... the Colombian citizens of those places to feel that they're being ... overwhelmed," Nieto Jaramillo said. "It's an ongoing crisis at the moment, so I don't have a happy ending, but still, we're working on it."</p><h2>'<span>This is a humanitarian drama'</span></h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins</span></p><p class="caption">Carolina Centeno, right, sits next to her family and their belongings, as they sleep in a sport center where a community of homeless Venezuelan migrants stays, in Cucuta, Colombia, January 24, 2018.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span>Colombia is not alone in its efforts to deal with an influx of Venezuelans.</span></p><p>Brazilian <keyword id="6354810" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Defense">Defense</keyword> Minister Raul Jungmann, speaking in the northern border state of Roraima last week, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-brazil/brazil-to-deploy-more-troops-on-venezuela-border-amid-refugee-crisis-idUSKBN1FS3AD" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> his government would send more troops to the area, relocate tens of thousands of Venezuelans to other parts of Brazil, and take a census of the Venezuelans who have resettled there.</p><p>Venezuelans in Roraima have <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/venezuela-protest-driving-migration-changing-demographics-and-politics-2017-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">put considerable strain on hospitals and social services</a> and angered locals, especially in the capital, Boa Vista, where the mayor <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-brazil/brazil-to-deploy-more-troops-on-venezuela-border-amid-refugee-crisis-idUSKBN1FS3AD" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says 40,000</a> Venezuelans have relocated, many living on the streets.</p><p>Early on February 8, two gasoline bombs were <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-colombia/colombia-brazil-tighten-borders-as-venezuelan-crisis-deepens-idUSKBN1FS2VW" target="_blank" rel="noopener">thrown into houses</a> in the city where Venezuelan migrants were sleeping. The attack gave a 3-year-old girl second-degree burns and injured her parents. Days earlier, a woman in the same neighborhood was burned in a similar attack.</p><p><span>"This is a humanitarian drama. The Venezuelans are being expelled from their country by hunger and the lack of jobs and medicine," Jungmann <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-brazil/brazil-to-deploy-more-troops-on-venezuela-border-amid-refugee-crisis-idUSKBN1FS3AD" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> after meeting with local officials.</span></p><p>In Peru, which <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-peru-to-give-visas-to-thousands-of-crisis-weary-venezuelans-2017-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said last year</a> it would issue more permits for Venezuelans to work and study there, a Venezuelan migrant selling pastries on a public bus came to blows with a Peruvian man who said Venezuelans fleeing their country were like "<a href="http://www.el-nacional.com/noticias/latinoamerica/golpiza-entre-migrante-venezolano-ciudadano-peruano-conmociono-facebook_222308" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rats</a>."</p><h2>'What happens when Maduro falls?'</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Jaime Saldarriaga</span></p><p class="caption">Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at a joint news conference in Bogota, Colombia, February 6, 2018.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Colombia and Venezuela have had contentious relations in recent years, and Maduro has <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/venezuela-shutting-down-border-with-colombia-over-currency-smuggling-2016-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shuttered the border several times</a> since 2015 to crack down on crime and ward off what he claimed was interference from Colombia.</p><p>Suggestions by President Donald Trump and other US officials of military action, both <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rex-tillerson-talking-about-us-oil-sanctions-against-venezuela-2018-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">internal</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-im-not-going-to-rule-out-a-military-option-for-venezuela-2017-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">external</a>, against Maduro have also drawn rebuke, and Venezuelan officials have recently warned of a looming invasion by Colombia.</p><p>Bogota called those fears "<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-france/france-will-strike-if-proven-chemical-bombs-used-in-syria-macron-idUSKCN1FX2PT" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ridiculous</a>." It has also contracted international lending agencies about setting up a financial rescue plan for Venezuela if Maduro leaves power.</p><p>"What happens when Maduro falls? We should not improvise. There should be a plan because Venezuela will require financial support," Colombian Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas <a href="https://in.reuters.com/article/colombia-venezuela-aid/colombia-wants-to-build-venezuela-financial-rescue-plan-idINKBN1FU00P" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Reuters</a> this week, estimating Venezuela would need about $60 billion in loans under a new government and economic policies.</p><p>During a visit to Colombia last week, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he was "heartbroken" to see the conditions faced by Venezuelans and added that the US could redirect humanitarian funds meant for Venezuela to Colombia.</p><p><span>"Our ability to provide that aid to Venezuela has not been easy because of the situation, so we're going to look at what we have available, and some of that may be redirected to serve Venezuelans ... in Colombia," Tillerson <a href="https://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2018/02/278032.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on February 6. "We'll be in consultation with the president and his team as to whether what we are able to do would be useful. And we recognize that it is putting a burden on Colombia as well."</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/venezuela-was-latin-americas-richest-country-heres-how-it-fell-apart-2017-7">Venezuela was Latin America's richest country and now it is in complete crisis - here's how it fell apart</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

'I don't have a happy ending': Venezuela's misery is deepening - and spilling over its borders

<p class="p1"><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins</span></p></div><p></p></div>Ten days ago, a few hundred students marched into the streets of Caracas, Venezuela to protest against President Nicolas Maduro and the Chavista government. Since then, the protest have grown by the thousands and turned violent.</p>
<p class="p1">Sparked by the violent death of actress and former Miss Venezuela Monica Spear, during a roadside robbery, the students have called for Maduro's resignation and an end to the chronic scarcity of basic goods, out of control inflation, and high levels of violence and murder in the country. </p>
<p class="p2"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Riot police have been out in force, firing tear gas and buckshot at protesters to disperse the crowds. So far, the protests have claimed six lives.</span></p>
<p class="p1">Below are some pictures from the rapidly unfolding protests. <strong>WARNING: Some of these photos are graphic.</strong></p>
<h3>Peaceful protests began ten days ago in cities and towns across the country. THey are the largest President Maduro has faced in his first year in office. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Fernando Llano</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Student leaders met with police officers to try to set rules for the march to avoid violence, but the situation quickly devolved. Police attempted to disperse the crowd with water cannons and tear gas. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Despite accusations from the government that extremist protesters caused the violence, protesters have maintained that they are peaceful and unarmed. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Unnamed thugs, who many think are Chavista supporters, have begun to claim lives. The Maduro government claims that the shooters are opposition supporters, disguised as Chavistas in order to incite violence.In response, protesters erected and burned garbage barricades to block highways.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>The police retaliated by beating and arresting protesters and firing rubber bullets into the crowd.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>They used water cannons to put out the fires and clear protesters from the highway. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>The response has not deterred the protesters, who are only growing in numbers.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Jorge Silva</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>At the center of the opposition is the Popular Will (Voluntad Popular) party, headed by former mayor of Caracas Leopoldo Lopez. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Jorge Silva</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></h3>
<h3>Venezuelan special forces broke into the party's headquarters on Monday, demanding the national coordinator for the party, Carlos Vecchio. The Maduro government has begun to crack down on the popular opposition party, whom Maduro calls fascists and terrorists.<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Reuters TV</span></p></div><p></p></div>The Maduro government called for the arrest of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez on charges of terrorism, murder, and conspiracy. On Tuesday, Lopez agreed to turn himself in, after one last rally. The streets filled to hear him speak.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>While standing on the statue of independence hero Jose Marti, Lopez declared "I am handing myself over to an unfair justice system ... May my imprisonment serve to wake the people up." As he stepped down from the statue, he was taken into custody by police.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Jorge Silva</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Meanwhile, in Valencia, 100 miles from Caracas, Venezuelan beauty queen Genesis Carmona was killed while protesting the government. She is the sixth confirmed death to occur during the protests.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Mauricio Centeno-Notitarde</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>At the same time, President Maduro held a pro-government rally that drew massive crowds. Even now, the Venezuelan public is sharply divided between those who support and those who oppose the government. <div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Miraflores Palace/Handout</span></p></div><p></p></div>The arrest of Lopez has fueled the protesters, who continue to flood the streets. Hooded extremists have begun to riot and the clashes between protesters and police continue.<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins</span></p></div><p></p></div>President Maduro has said that there will be no more anti-government protests. "This is not Ukraine," he told supporters during a rally. Protesters aren't listening. It looks like the situation could deteriorate further.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></h3>

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