CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuelan security forces have arrested at least 400 people after the latest bout of looting and food riots in the crisis-hit OPEC member country, local officials said yesterday.
Another death was also reported in the state of Merida from unrest which is breaking out sporadically across the South American OPEC nation.
On Tuesday, violence engulfed the eastern Caribbean coastal town of Cumana as looters swarmed through dozens of shops and security forces struggled to maintain control.
There were unconfirmed reports on social media of several deaths in Cumana, which is the capital of Sucre state. But regional governor Luis Acuna from the ruling Socialist Party said those reported deaths were unrelated to the looting.
“There were only 400 people arrested and the deaths were not linked to the looting,” he told a local TV station, calling the looters vandals encouraged by right-wing politicians.
“I have no doubt they paid them, this was planned.”
Nelson Moreno, governor of Anzoategui state, which neighbors Sucre, said eight people were also arrested on Tuesday in “irregular” situations, a term that usually refers to looting.
With desperate crowds of people chanting “We want food!,” protests and melees at shops have spread across Venezuela in recent weeks, fueled by severe shortages.
Three people were shot dead in separate incidents last week, with a policeman and a soldier arrested in two cases.
The Merida state prosecutor’s office said yesterday it was investigating the death of a 17-year-old youth, shot late on Tuesday during an “irregular” situation in the western Andean state.
Local media reported food protests and an attack on a Socialist Party office there.
