The Venezuela army and police have reclaimed the streets of San Cristobal, the city that’s been the center of anti-government demonstrations that have left at least 39 people dead over the past weeks of trouble.

“We recovered this sector that had been under threat, often by armed thugs who had virtually kidnapped people denying them to enjoy their city,” said National Guard General Miguel Vivas Landino, and that’s one of the nicer things he said about the protesters, whom he termed “terrorists”. 

“We came to bring back peace and we did it in a peaceful way.  This is a democratic state.”

The troops fired stun grenades and tear gas at the barricades, and the protesters responded with bricks and homemade explosives.  But police quickly dispersed the protesters, and cleared the way for crews to haul the garbage of the barricades away.  Not completely “peaceful”, but no major injuries and no fatalities are reported.  The protesters are vowing to rebuild the barricades.

The regional governor welcomed the removal of opposition barricades.  San Cristobal’s former mayor Daniel Ceballos of the opposition Popular Will party was removed from office last week and sentenced to 12 months in prison for disobeying a Supreme Court order mandating that he have the barricades removed.

The protests against the elected government of President Nicolas Maduro started in early February, with conservative leaders playing on discontent over rampant crime, food shortages, and rising inflation.