2016 protests in Venezuela began in early January following controversy surrounding the 2015 Venezuelan parliamentary elections and the increasing hardships felt by Venezuelans.[1] The series of protests originally began in February 2014 when hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans protested due to high levels of criminal violence, inflation, and chronic scarcity of basic goods because of policies created by the Venezuelan government[2][3][4][5][6] though the size of protests had decreased since 2014.
In the first two months of 2016, over 1,000 protests and dozens of looting incidents were recorded throughout Venezuela.[1] Much of the looting occurred due to shortages in Venezuela with Venezuelans forced to stand in the sun for hours while waiting in line for scarce products.[1] By September, Venezuela saw some of its largest protests in the country's history with over one million demonstrating on 1 September 2016 and 26 October 2016. Into November, protests ceased due to the Vatican-backed dialogue between the opposition and the Bolivarian government, though the talks began to fall apart by the end of December. The protests are listed below according to the month they had happened.
- ^ a b c Cawthorne, Andrew (17 March 2016). "Small protests proliferate in simmering Venezuela". Reuters. Archived from the original on March 20, 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- ^ Lopez, Linette (11 April 2014). "Why The United States Has Done Nothing About Venezuela". Business Insider. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
- ^ "Protesters in Venezuela Press Government". The Wall Street Journal. 23 February 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
- ^ "Venezuelans protest en masse in rival rallies". Borneo Post. 24 February 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
- ^ "Venezuela's Maduro says 2013 annual inflation was 56.2 pct". Reuters. 30 December 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- ^ "Venezuela Inflation Hits 16-Year High as Shortages Rise". Bloomberg. 7 November 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2014.