This shocking video shows a Venezuelan National Guard armoured personnel carrier driving into a crowd of protesters during the political upheaval in Caracas in 2019. The footage, filmed on a street filled with demonstrators, captures the moment the vehicle accelerates towards people who scatter in panic, with some struck by the carrier as it passes. It is disturbing evidence of the violence used against opposition protesters at a moment when Venezuela’s political crisis was reaching a peak.
The incident took place against the background of the stand-off between President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido, who in early 2019 claimed the interim presidency and called on the armed forces to break with Maduro. Protests, clashes with security forces and attempts to bring in humanitarian aid had already left many people injured and killed, and this video became one of the most widely shared images of the crackdown, both inside Venezuela and internationally.
For readers interested in socialism’s history and present, the footage matters because it confronts a central question about power and accountability. A government that presents itself as serving the people must be judged by how it treats dissent, and the use of military vehicles against unarmed civilians is difficult to reconcile with that claim. The video below presents the full footage and report.