Saturday morning syrias war escalated to a new level for the first time in thirty years israel lost a fighter jet to enemy fire as israel confirmed Syrian Air Defense shot at one of its f. Sixteen fighter jets the israeli Prime Minister was blunt israel iran and its syrian coast responsible for todays aggression we will continue to do whatever is necessary to protect our sovereignty and our security the crash followed the shooting down of a drone israeli army video shows what they say is the iranian drone flying towards the norden Golan Heights before it was downed in retaliation Israeli Air Force at targets in syria including the suspected Drone Command Center iranian targets and Syrian Air Defense syria launch surface to air missiles during the israeli raid and says it shot down the f. Sixteen which crashed in northern israel at the hands of. The syrian Political Leadership took a decision at the highest level to face to thaw simply any Israeli Military aircraft of a syrian in space today syria did what it promised to pipe down in israeli plane and striking at other planes this is clear for syria it is the decisive decision to confront the Israeli Air Force and its careless behavior. Both pilots ejected and parachuted to these re side of the border one is critically injured the Israeli Army Spokesman said it was wrong it was behind the launch of the drawing but didnt say whether it was armed or not the iranians have reacted theyve said that they are going to stand with syria against any felician us by. Israel the russians have also reacted saying that israel needs to respect syrian state to state sovereignty also what were hearing is that the israelis want to send a strong message to the russians to get iran out of the region iran current aljazeera western islam a Turkish Military helicopter has been shot down in Northern Syria during an operation against kurdish fighters this video is said to show the helicopter moments before it was hit the afrin killing two soldiers on board kurdish Led Syrian Democratic forces say its fight says shut down the aircraft but he says the cause is still unclear a total of eleven turkish soldiers were killed in the fighting on saturday making it the deadliest day for the countrys forces since they began the campaign after in last month. North koreas limping delegation has had a lunch meeting in seoul with the south korean Prime Minister lee yong the Group Includes the sister of the north Korean Leader kim jong il and on saturday she extended a rare invitation to the south korean president to visit pyongyang talks on the sidelines of the winter games the votes are being counted in sri lanka are after its most Peaceful Elections for decades its the first vote since of the electoral laws changed allowing a Record Number of women to campaign for a seat in local government the president and the Prime Minister ruled jointly through a coalition but they have campaigned for their respective parties separately. Thousands of demonstrators have rallied against racism in the italian city of much about a week after six africans were injured in a drive by shooting protesters warned of a revival of neo fascist sentiment during the campaign for next Months National election and see racism rallies also took place in rome and. Indonesia his navy has seized more than a ton of crystal meth and arrested for suspected drug smugglers the seas substances were displayed after being found on a boat in indonesian waters near singapore theyve been hidden under sacks of rice for taiwanese men have been arrested colorful costumes and musicians filled the streets of the bolivian city of the broader world as the connolly that began a four day festival leads up to the start of the christian season of lent the two hundred year old celebration is one of south americas most famous on the tracks nearly four hundred thousand people every year those are your headlines the news continues here on aljazeera after the big picture a lot of summary in about twenty five minutes. Oh. Then israel is gripped by crisis. Ravaged by economic collapse and mon by political decay. The government of Nicolas Maduro faces an existential threat. Mother who has been a bully in the middle of a big story. Latin americas once model democracy struggles to maintain order and feed a divided people. Have never seemed of the curation of Living Standards of this moment almost everywhere in the world a nation boasting the Worlds Largest oil reserves fight the economic survival as its called further apart. Polarization is there racially is there regionally is there by class its there in lol to pull multiple ways. But the seeds of its current demise was sown a century ago. When the events of its formative years in shared that the fate of venezuela would be written in oil. This country that was once that the wealthiest in the region what went wrong how did we get to this point in venezuela. The country starts among the installation process that is shaped by all of this puts a state becomes more and more powerful and they shape their country through the state charges and then my goodness regime try to create. This revolution and that led this people to destroy the whole business apparatus of the country. That unemployment did go down equality increased per capita g. D. P. Of course you could say that because of the oil wealth are at the same time or are that only wealth could have been distributed completely different there and i would say it was distributed much more equitably. And it was a very backward country before or birth of one of the poorest of latin america. Life expectancy was in your early thirtys and about three quarters of the country was a mature. Its very difficult to speak of a National Policy much less of a national culture. Then we have an extraordinary developments in one thousand nine hundred scene when venezuela sinks its those wells begins pumping oil for the first time. In this way that enters the era of commercial heavy Oil Production and not only is the british and the dutch involved but now the u. S. Also comes to venezuela to partake in oils production. Foreign oil giants such as Royal Dutch Shell and the American Standard oil company were granted concessions by the military dictatorship of one percent take on them as allowing them to drill for oil and allowing us to get rich. A rival of the Oil Companies the development of the industry parallels the rise of one be sent the gold mist and the rise of the venezuelan state even though venezuela really begins to develop its all economy the venezuelan state doesnt benefit hugely because in essence its only charging rent for the land. By the mid one nine hundred thirty s. The once lease collective of largely coffee exporting regions had become a consolidated nation state formed and transformed by oil. We have the beginnings of a mass process of urbanization so people coming out of the move the country signs in city the big cities because the major london is the selling off the Oil Companies the very idea of oil became imbued with the notion of modernity that the oil camps with the north american presence the british presence with electricity water sewage would then become social laboratories that other venezuelans should emulate on the one hand there were people who were living in the oil camps who received all the benefits of working for all companies and then on the outside of these comes you have the majority of Venezuelan Society who didnt have access to all of the health care and benefits and education benefits. One percent take on as died in one thousand nine hundred eighty five but he laid the blueprint for other dictators to follow developing infrastructure suppressing to sand and getting rich off oil deals. The first half of the Twentieth Century would see venezuela ruled by oppressive military regimes for all but three years on a popular push for democracy in one nine hundred forty five briefly on seated dictatorship. But the Political Party cemented in that democratic interlude axion democratic eighty and kapan question democrats remained a persistent opposition to authoritarian rule. By the mid one nine hundred fifty s. The rule of another dictator general marcos paris and then as it creates a vastly expanded and increasingly unequal state we enter what some of called the bulldozer years in venezuela the state will now use the funds the profits of oil to engage in broad scale developmental as projects those are all great opportunities for development but also for corruption because in the process of developing those projects the military and their associates were all benefiting from industry the big problem is that the only way paris in minutes can maintain itself in power is through brutal repression. What we see is a real climb down brutal climb down position. You start to seeing also the very clear parameters of two venezuelas venezuela benefits from oil and the venezuela that actually still remains in the shadow of the oil industry. And that venezuela is rural that venezuela is poor that venezuela is illiterate that venezuela isnt seeing and looking at the evolution of the other but is not benefiting from it. As venezuelas elite rich and its poor but getting left behind the forces for democracy once again dad to take on a dictator. You begin to see rumblings in the military you begin to see younger officers protest in much the same way they had protested before theres also an active social movement being led by dissidents in the communist party in our own democratic even the social democrats and others theyre actually cooperating to undermine the menace. Said perez humanise that is the effectively have thrown through another coup which then brings us to moccasin been swimming in one nine hundred fifty eight. Democracy had fallen to dictatorship a decade earlier right now to survive unity was a must. There is an attempt to form a pact so eydie comes to the table with its union impossible its who framework copay comes to the table the christian democrat right so what you have around the table is essentially all of the key financial and political interests in the country the Roman Catholic church is also essentially politics in these negotiations as is the military these parties signed. And began was being called in venezuela. Meaning there was an agreement which the parties. I agreed not to go in conflicts that could risk with mr allen democracy. Venezuela was moving inexorably toward the socalled first world with growing confidence. It had broken the cycle of military coups and now the printer fiar pact ensured progress would be underwritten by democratic process. In a certain length is a kind of golden age because it has more than inflation going on now for two decades and it also has now a democracy that means to be an example for the rest of latin america. In one nine hundred sixty venezuela helped establish the organization of Petroleum Exporting countries. And in one nine hundred seventy three following the hike in oil prices after war in the middle east it was awash with petrol dollars. Venezuela was asserting itself as a global player. And in colors andrus peres it would have a president ready to take the next big step and take back its well. That was the dream of democracy and so colors and this is ive got the money why not lets do it. So we nationalize the oil industry in one nine hundred seventy five its called with it. What it essentially donts is it nationalizes the bureaucracy of Oil Exploration its nationalization to create a Company Rather than nationalization all Venezuelas Oil sector to say many of the world workers maintain their privileged status in the oil camps and this is the period in venezuela that many refer to as loving as well as the image of saudi venezuela in which the notion is that one of the terms in venezuela is. Its cheap to me to venezuela have that kind of wealth. The dream of a state oil company had been realized with head of the south. Paris now im on a nationwide spending spree funding social programs housing projects and nationalizing industries with the price of crude oil at a record high such lavish spending could also be supplemented by borrowing. He wanted to an industrialized country and he could be could be had a lot of. This also puts us in loans and more loans and more than that continues as long as the price of oil is good as the all price begins to fall back venezuela doesnt reduce its financial outlays. You have this huge bureaucracy which will surges in venezuela and huge amounts of corruption government high post implicitly have the benefit of helping yourself and helping others in your Social Circle but instead of addressing any of these problems the strategy of the government is instead to borrow money that. Becomes more difficult to. Under that environment. Is the election one thousand nine hundred to go to war to have a market economy. Inflation begins to take off corruption becomes an even more profound problem and yet we have no effort made by any of the governments in the 1980s to actually address the overwhelming reliance on oil which is falling in by. Successive governments of Axion Democratica and co pay did little to check the economic decline social inequality and the corruption of the ruling class. In december one thousand nine hundred eighty eight. Paris was reelected to office promising to bring back the cash rich glory years of his first. But rhetoric could be trumped by reality. He is sworn into power. He. Tells the reserve people. Who go. To the. Venezuela to go to an agreement with the International Monetary fund saying there was no choice no choice of the time because an assailant was in the venezuela you had to go to some adjustment structure roach adjustment to launch. The growth again the problem is greg this i. M. F. Loan comes with some very difficult terms and conditions you have and you have a segment of the population that hasnt benefited from the boom times Living Conditions have been deteriorating through the eightys and now comes this i. M. F. Loan where yet again theyre feeling the effects should areas have anticipated this. Certainly on huh. Because it affected again the poor who had been already suffering it affects them even more but i would say just one step back also in terms of an alternative i think we have to keep in mind on the one hundred at that time the liberal kind of policy paradigm was absolutely had to monitor and around the world and so it certainly appeared that way i think that there was no alternative i would argue from todays perspective there probably were some alternatives one of them would have been perhaps to actually default on the debt which of course you know has all kinds of other consequence in part about trying to for example tax the wealthy more or some other way of raising revenues other than cutting back on. The parts that. Have an impact on the poor or what do you say to that cost people are still suffering in terms of unemployment and wages yeah because the when you change when you have to the idea in the second last on this but as a government was that the country couldnt be resorting all Oil Resources couldnt be depending on the state resources they had to promote private an intrapreneur ship they have to promote the participation of a business we had to promote for a National Investment in oil and in other industries that where state owned how we change always implies pain and but who are listening to lessen the pain for the majority there were some of the most advance parole or arms about timing. That later on where an you know taken by brazilian man made mexico to. Something then i have a different perspective on that i mean you would you want to change us from from one day to the other into a free market economy when we have been a state economy throughout all the Twentieth Century i mean you cant do that and i think the problem was not that the taint had to come and we have still we still havent been able to have a market economy in some way that will lead us to to create a population that thirty million of and as soon as that we are but the problem was the way it was put out it was a political problem the political problem was gunderson that it said you know what we cant take this in what with change and were going to do a radical change would also how to play the major role in the moment were trying to cover some of the voters ran on a platform and tony a liberal when he ran for president and then made this big turnaround i mean thats why there was a hundred eighty degree turn after he came into Office Actually i think it was a major impact on what happened afterwards as well actually i think thats not accurate because he said in his Electoral Campaign that he was going to bring may use changes in in a Straight Line the economy and political round but what is true is that he represent. All the years that. We had in the senate in one thousand seven hundred standing he was perceived in one way and then does the opposite and that was exactly what was this adding insult to injury injury being cut back some. Subsidies for transportation or for food and at the same time this is not what we thought we were voting for i think there was a big disenchantment to doesnt consult his party because he thinks he is so popular he doesnt need to consult his party to do this radical change and so there is some allegan single us on this piece of his his party says if i go to my party i lose too much time he goes to the i. M. F. To do a Shock Therapy with that was that the way it was called that time with a country that everything that depended on the state for so everything you cant just jump into a free market economy without giving attention to the people without convincing the people without doing some kind of political a menu for there to convincing people that that isnt this is a the people didnt think it was necessary thats the point i really think that. This is sad he was used to something and as god will said if you change that its going to be painful and its going the society is going to resist and thats that theyve got across. By nine hundred eighty nine the country was facing a very dire situation the government of cairo some of these babies of which i was part. Did try to rebalance the economy by eliminating all of these price controls Exchange Controls refinancing that and asking for International Financial assistance but before any of these policies were adopted the government that had taken over on february second one nine hundred eighty nine was met with this kind of castle. This was a massive revolt of the venezuelan people. Populous sectors pull sectors who were coming down from the battery offs. That started out of the race of petrol in the gas stations. Middle class people were ransacking markets. It spirals into this massive social explosion because in many ways that venezuelan dream had come to an end. The back to the old the field was shattered because in response to the massive social protests spontaneous social protest the government got one hundred s. Babies his ministers his the porters supported use of the military. The deepening economic turmoil and simmering distrust of the political elite now so crack as a blaze with riots and looting. The president peres gave orders for the military to restore order to the streets of course. Pass the militarys response would be deadly. These words troops the head some of them are young says that eighteen years old they were afraid of the people who threw the big put them into shantytowns and they started killing it was a very brutal it was a very horrific repression all the popular mobilize they should this was the moment of reps or with democracy and this was the headline in newsweek in the us was a lot americans model democracy explodes. Government figures claim two hundred seventy six civilians were killed in the military crackdown independent reports suggested the death toll was almost twice as high. A red line had been crossed and a new fake i was about to match that would challenge a failing government and change the course of venezuelan history. Think military side are conspiring against the government of. A callous of this village and this conspiracy is going to take place is going to come out in the open in one thousand nine hundred two with the coup of february fourth the leader of the coup was a witch of. The coup attempt was launched in six different cities across but in this way luck because chavez had failed to catch a clue that because he was basically taken prisoner and during a very very Famous Television interview when the coup was over the government but all the laws are going to be going to. Move for an order and if you are going to dump chavez said we failed to achieve our goals from that war or this two word sentence really became the catch phrase of demands for political change in venezuela the government of paris doing these reforms how did a lot of these content. When chavez attempted coup in february one thousand nine hundred ninety two. Suddenly the discontent got the face that group or sent it the disturbances the society. Is now on the political map and he in effect is seen as the political savior of those completely disaffected and they do. Chavez a middle ranking officer in the Venezuelan Army that failed to overthrow carlos andrus perez and was sent to prison. He would be released within two years he taken on a corrupt elite stood up for the poor and transformed himself from a man of the military to a man of the people. By nine hundred ninety eight the man who would be king would be elected as president. From Satellite Technology two three d. Printing and recycled waste to form a powered classrooms africa is transforming young innovators are propelling change Building Communities creating employment and solving problems big challenge in systems and shaping you what about creative thinkers shaping their continents future innovate africa at this time on aljazeera. We hear indigenous can be recovered Israeli Palestinian affairs we cover this story with a lot of internet normal to recover includes that we dont dip in and out of this story we have a presence here all the time apart from being a cameraman its also very important to be a journalist to know the story very well before going into the fields covering the United Nations and global the policy for aljazeera is pretty incredible this is where talks happening and what happens here matters. In twenty twelve aljazeera traveled to iraq people here are definitely scared to speak on camera theyre saying that if they talk to us they think theyll be arrested down the line to take the pulse of a country ravaged under Us Occupation some of these graves are completely destroyed its one of the most holy and sacred sites in all of iraq could turn into a battleground between the mighty army and the americans six years on rewind returns to iraq after the americans at this time on all dizzy. We should all be in doha with the top stories on aljazeera israel says its responded to the dining of one of its warplanes by Syrian Government forces with its most significant attack on syria for decades the strikes targeted the military and what israel claims are iranian bases the u. N. Secretary general has called for an immediate deescalation but the u. S. Says israel has the right to defend itself mike hanna has more now from washington. The state department appears to be convinced that iran is to blame for this round of combat that weve seen emerge over the course of this particular day a state Department Spokesperson has released a statement saying and i quote irans calculated escalation of threat and its ambition to project power places the entire region at risk from she says yemen to lebanon a Turkish Military helicopter has been shot down in Northern Syria during an operation against kurdish fighters this video is said to show the helicopter moments before it was hit near killing two soldiers on board kurdish Led Syrian Democratic forces say it fights a shutdown of the aircraft but turkey says the cause is still unclear north koreas limping delegation has had a lunch meeting in seoul with the south korean Prime Minister lee not yong the Group Includes the sister of the north Korean Leader kim jong il and on saturday she extended a rare invitation to the south korean president of his appeal talks on the sidelines of the Winter Olympics votes are being counted in sri lanka or after its most Peaceful Elections for decades its the first vote since electoral laws changed allowing a Record Number of women to campaign for seats in local government. Thousands of demonstrators have rallied against racism in the italian city of much other after a week after six africans were injured in a drive by shooting protesters warned of a revival of neo fascist sentiment during the campaign for next Months National election and see racism rallies also took place in rome and. Colorful costumes and musicians filled the streets of the bolivian city of overall as the annual carnival that began before day festival leads up to the start of the christian season of lent the two hundred year old celebration attracts nearly four hundred thousand people every those are your headlines lets take you back now to the big picture ill see you soon. In december one thousand nine hundred ninety eight chavez a former on the left hand in kano was elected as president of venezuela so you order from and then they are oh john or freddie in a country divided by race and class where white equaled wealth and privilege and anything else meant everything less chavezs victory was an historic turning point he was of mixed indigenous heritage he was really nothing like anything that we had ever seen before in terms of venezuelan president ial elections a politics which would always been very much dominated by an a white elite class of politician. Travis was elected on a very simple blood form saying that essentially a problem is corruption and we have to get rid of this political. Chavez was talking about the importance of base good way between socialism and capitalism it was all about participation democracy a what chavez was promising to do is to completely overhaul the pontiff equal states yet because of the article. The new president created a constituent assembly to write a new constitution and set about his task of transforming the country. To say we need to eradicate this poverty and our country in the way to do it is by gaining control of our oil industry making sure those profits are going back into our country. Because they want to import closer to get a bit less of a place i dont know what the embassy in but it was each of the end of it and we have no. Doubt that they do that. By seeking greater control of the National Oil Company divest chavez was taking on venezuelas most prized and powerful asset. The fight for bed of s. S. Spilled out onto the streets becoming symbolic of the struggle between two venezuelas one left behind fine oilfield modality the alba looking to keep its place and its control within it. Caracas was a tinderbox of competing ideals battling for the very idea of that his way finishing up once in a huge to more everyday demonstrations in the street. And going to meet a floating impersonation. But it was an opposition rally it was moving in the hundreds of thousands towards the palace in order to us toast to resign. But the palace was surrounded by backers of we were childless though going to resist this other. People that were on the buildings shooting. We dont know who they were. So well civilian felt a bit of both sides. So obvious call the army to send the pants in the street to stop the people. Army so sorry this is a political problem. We are not sending the folks on the street to stop the people. That was a coup that was really when the moment the cool happened was when his minister said. I cant go out. The army had been scarred by the handling of the car so on rest in one nine hundred. But its high ranking been conspiring with elements of the elite establishment deposed by chavez and together they plotted his downfall. We started getting reports. In the fall of two thousand and one that you know this guy that guy the other guy are planning a coup. Charles ship iraq had taken his seat is the Us Ambassador to venezuela just three weeks before the coup against president chavez a coup that was far from secret it becomes like background noise if were hearing this everybody in venezuela is hearing it as well the executives have been there is there were in the queue the church was in the cool the cardinal of course was in the cool. The interval nor the president of the government as was in that cool and so became clear that they were planning something and the u. S. Ambassador who was in venice while at the time was openly collaborating with the opposition i did not the u. S. Government did not organize plan implement. Authorize a coup ok and if i have im not organized enough to have organized a coup in three weeks chavez was forced out by this coalition of you know these opposition groups allied with these dissenting military high ranking military officers who had forcefully gone in and taken him against his well. Chavez had been ousted taken into custody and flown to an offshore military base. Petro com the head of the Venezuelan Chamber of commerce but they come ross was now hastily sworn in as interim president his presidency would last only hour as. When this huge approach of his demonstration comes and since he drives carmona and his government out of the president ial palace. Military since the helicopter the pickup jobbers child is gets back to the president ial palace. Its something way a movie. It would come good in the helicopter and then by the people of waiting for to. Go to sleep when your president. Within forty eight hours of being overthrown chavez was back in power. Eight months later his authority would be challenged once again. Certain offices of the Earth Company seem to have been involved in the coup but in any case chos didnt feel Strong Enough to oust them from the company and what they did was. Continued to could to make a bit of coup thats really with it. So what was a bit cool an oil lockout. This is not a strike. This was the result of an action taken by executives and by high Oil Executive officials to actually lock out employees to bring production to zero to try to crash the economy in venezuela to put the economy on its knees. The National Oil Company along with the Union Federation and the chamber of commerce conspired to bring venezuela to an economic standstill with the way of bringing down the guy chavis. The strike to be a failure they were unable to stop production theres a new sense of pay their base out that comes out of the strike that pay their base and now belongs to a larger number of venezuelans than rather the symbol of a privileged status for a small select number of individuals. Who got chavez had health and now at the beginning of two thousand and three the president s resilience and tourists. That they have no value but unfortunately everything about them certainly isnt fair to you on a plane literally going to hell you know the feeling of hearing. So he went to cuba. And cuba came up. With a bunch of new social. And he started to implement these new social programs massive new social programs. For health care for access to food for scholarships we have a whole raft of these socalled mysie own is the social programs which give people Citizenship RightsIdentity Cards access to job training access to breakfast clubs University Systems so this is a very comprehensive effort to deliver basic social services what this is doing though is essential is Still Using Oil as that redemptive quality to bring social change while bringing social change deepening the dependence on oil and he can do this while the prices of oil hard. He had access to firearms he could borrow as if it was going out of fashion so. He decided that that was the moment to radicalise the process. In two thousand and seven with the price of crude oil six times greater than when he was first elected to Office Chavez embarked on a nationalisation drive big plays out of it or. Not he says young but better than all that but the only way that. He renegotiated Oil Contracts and brought power in Resource Companies as well as Telecommunications Groups and banks under state ownership and in his view under the will of the venezuelan people. Is trying to continue on with this grassroots governance by the more entrenched he became in power the more sort of the further away he drifted from that initial model that had been so widely accepted and you know beloved by the people or oil prices began to. Decreased people are going to say wait a minute before its all gone im going to get my piece of that one child as it first comes to power he had said that essentially there was going to be a you know a hard hand denying fist against these problems of corruption which had been surveyed from the point of his mo but the reality was that absolutely nothing was done. As the integrity of his government with it so too did the president s health. Chavez was suffering with cancer and could no longer keep his ailing condition hidden from the venezuelan people. In october two thousand and twelve still frail from intensive treatment chavez won a fourth term as president by march two thousand and thirteen he was dad. Its impossible to underestimate the effect that the death of. The for the one saw on the streets. At the same time as the split ratio of some people really was expletive of the venice well as we had with the thousands lined up to see him his body lying in state. Others in miami and others in that i celebrated. In the car is the guys with you know who was willing through his charisma and through his money and those two things disappear in two thousand and thirteen they didnt set any money aside in a Sovereign Wealth Fund on a Rainy Day Fund you know so they got money in case things go down everybody in the oil industry knows oil prices are cyclical. The use the period of the oil boom from two thousand and four to two thousand and fourteen to six to pull the public theyre the biggest sucker in venezuelan history. Hes the guy whos going to follow chavezs prose and thats exactly what. The law would be the law. Nicolas maduro a former bus driver and trade unionist that served as foreign minister was handpicked by chavez as his successor however the only. Leader will. Fall. Borrowing below. My dear i was no chavez is narrow election victory in april two thousand and thirteen and the deepening economic crisis would herald protests from a restive population. And over a new challenge from an emboldened off position. When the dollars to the price start dropping the government was inside had a severe death. And deny her the enough dollars to buy the food imports in the medicine and force. A whole wave of protests or roles in this context. What we have joy in the first couple of years of the majority presidency is the opposition use of protest and street mobilization as a way of discrediting and deal just lies in the government becomes the key opposition tool the protests are sidetracked by these more violent sectors who are looking for an incident the. Protests against crime against Food Shortages and against Economic Hardship all ultimately protests against the madeira government. Violence was met with violence clashes between protesters and state forces would leave dozens of venezuelans dead. Modo has no support the only support them a hoss is the Repressive Forces of the state the military the police and the paramilitary groups. And parliamentary elections held in december two thousand and fifteen the opposition Democratic Unity roundtable that had included parties such as acts young democratica and kobe secured a two thirds majority in the National Assembly. Convulsed by the prospect of the opposition blocking government appointments as well as dictating policy president might to read manipulated Supreme Court appointments and manufactured a ruling favorable to his objective to nullify the National Assembly. Thats were some of us began to see these transgressions into now more author a tarion type of government less democratic. You know then clearly weve stepped beyond the bounds of democracy and far beyond the participatory democracy that the ball of our own revolution had proposed to build the country. In may two thousand and seventeen amidst continuing protests against his government but during announced plans to hold elections for a new legislative body was. The constituent assembly would have sweeping powers to rewrite the constitution and dissolve the opposition led National Assembly. Such plans would lead to three months of sustained clashes between antigovernment protesters and the governments own forces this mass protest was met with massive massive repression in the end a hundred thirty five people were killed fifteen of them all on july thirtieth twenty seventh in the day when the National Police took them to someone who was elected. Fifteen thousand people were injured six thousand people were put in prison it was a repression of a scale that the country had never seen. Two thousand and seventeen would continue to be a year of contested elections the constituent assembly would be boycotted by the opposition leaving the two o. L. S. With total control. The Ruling Socialist Party would also win eighteen of the twenty three governorships in the gubernatorial elections in october. Contested counts and procedural irregularities dog the elections that were claimed as proof of chevys most enduring appeal by madeira and gave cause for the opposition to call for more protests and more. On rest. In two thousand and eighteen the year of another pivotal president ial election the will divide a fractured nation once more the battle for venezuela goes on. People need to be expressed politically or the dissatisfaction in the rejection that they are feeling and the desire that they have put political change and i would i would say big wanted democracy democracy and yet position hasnt known how to put their act together to give that strategy and that political expression because that is not going to come from the government they are all. Is there any way any chance that you can have the opposition and the government have any type of talks and negotiations what is clear throughout discussion is that through the decades you have had a pos struggle you had a power struggle playing out this is a deeply divided society can these forces that have been opponents for so long. Coexists currently they are negotiating and i think. Theres a willingness on both sides to come to an agreement because the economic crisis has been dealing been going on for so long and people will tend to blame her for that although i think you know the u. S. And the opposition bear a large part of the blame for the current economic crisis venezuela is in a kind of so my civil war situation right now with the opposition from the us u. S. Is putting tremendous pressure with its financial sanctions against when this when i work cannot refinance its debt that has having an Economic Impact as well as of course on the ongoing kind of. Tremendously high inflation which i think is partly also the governments fault but the combination of these factors is going to cause a lot of people to say you know we give up were going to vote for somebody else i think they only solution for venice where are negotiations for a transition to democracy meaning dressing nation of mother little free and Fair Elections. Supervised by International Organizations and to get a new path to democracy. Personally i think that the elections are already very guaranteed in terms of their security and protect protected against fraud but they could have additional controls and that could happen and then that might be a way of moving forward but it all depends again on who the opposition candidate is and if they can actually challenge the bovary and so to Speak Movement which is still very substantial and honestly is that any existence between that that support the revolution and those that oppose a or is it always going to be like this in venezuela is zero sum game for survival i think that the people that are the top of the of the government dont have any. This position for changing their points of view and so there is no way we can go to a democratic transition and i think one could say the same thing about the stubbornness of the opposition i mean to have taken also very extreme very hard line positions that make negotiation extremely difficult so when. Known to me it was a resignation that. I was in a cable back but thats what theyre about but that is not at all and thats what our table site but thats an example of four things to free the prisoners to recognize a national ask somebody to give a crown a gram of the of a Fair Election whats the fourth and. To respect International Law and to call for human rights i dont but its not that i think resignation agreement is possible but so far the demonstrations and all of the what the demands on the. Resignation of. The most gracious and democratic rights it was in writing that they come to me saying as long as they maintain that position and agreement will not happen if you ask for a resignation of ah office or a Public Office or you write letters im not saying its not their right im just saying that no agreement will be reached on that but that is not on the table of negotiation i repeat they are all for things that on the table and negotiate the resign its not on but thats part of an agreement is possible in that sense but not on the table but many heart of resignation just say what is it you said you recognize a National Constituent assembly the opposition cannot recognize a National Constituent thats simply because its completely destroys democracy their main issue is that their government has the National Constituent assembly with were in super constitutional power that can. Decide whatever it wants to decide to suppress govern orders to suppress mayors to. Change it out of the National Assembly whatever it was you dont have any control social control on that body that is the body of the very notion that. The fist of that they can or should i mean theres many different responses to but i mean one of them is of course that this was an elected body even though the government i mean the opposition boycotted that election once in a democratic election after my general there was something i would do in a new government regulations to slow that office one would have wanted as you can tell me that that is a. Good basis of democracy is one one citizen one vote. We are talking about to finish with us the upper middle class in many ways thought that they owned the Venezuelan National project it was their project. It was their notion of a country because in many ways it was part of their property their privilege their position and that other in this way there was always an uncomfortable attachment that even this when i was always there but not part of the national narrative. That venezuela that was historically you raced out of the dominant narrative in the oil years that in this way love that exists and that one chills that surround us and almost every other major city in venezuela that venezuela which includes a very diverse segment of the population and who solve their lives improved under the charges. And goes well beyond what Business Vision wise for venezuela. But a lot of this is showing is that the movement wasnt Strong Enough to survive on its own without its leader. This is a regime and their rules according to the right they have to move because they are the successes of tones that inherit his legacy. How is it possible that a participatory democracy thats supposed to be grassroots based and a government of the people can survive with just the people was really led by a leader. Because no one can fill the shoes of a child as. Were dealing with us a very Fragmented Society it comes from two different lived experiences there is no going back to preone nine hundred ninety eight and preach obvious venezuela has been transformed it has changed what it will evolve to remain cities. Hello there is still quite cold for many of us in the south eastern parts of china the temperatures in shanghai during the day are too bad theyre getting to around seven or nine degrees but at night theyre still dropping below freezing so certainly feeling very cool for us for the south and for hong kong will be around nineteen generally theres not a great deal of cloud around the coast there but it heads down towards the philippines this formal cloud here on monday thats thanks to an approaching storm so we keeping a close eye on lot over the next few days thats not going to reach just to choose day though so for the time being its actually been quite quiet across the philippines is the far more clout further south borneo and across jobber raul the way here and plenty more rain still to come as we head through the next couple of days towards the west well its largely quite quiet weather wise here stretching from thailand all the way down through k. L. And singapore thats a good chance of seeing plenty of dry weather over the next few days as we head across towards india you can see the cloud is snaking its way across bangladesh and into nepal thats not really giving us a very active weather its just been high cloud mostly were seeing some more active weather work its way across the northern parts now thats across the northern parts of india it is giving us some heavy snow more still to come as we head into monday. Facing realities growing up when did you realize that you were living in a special place the socalled secret city getting to the heart of the matter why is activists to live in jail just because she expressed herself hear their story on talk to aljazeera at this time. More raids as israel responds to the downing of its fighter jet inside syria. Following down job of this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up a coffee table