According to Xinuanet, reporting on 24 February 2017, President Nicolƒ¡s Maduro is calling for
dialogue with all religions to take place. Yet on the same day, Noticia Cristiana reported that socialist militants
attacked churches shouting "satan" and "fascist" at religious leaders. One incident involved about 20 people bursting into the church of San Pedro Claver, in Maracaibo, shouting "˜Chavez lives". The pulpit microphone was then used to demand that the Catholic Church stop criticizing the government of President Maduro. The current
violence against Christians was also the focus of an article in La Razon on 27 February 2017.
Rossana Ramirez, working for World Watch Research, explains: "The repression currently being suffered by Venezuelan Christians is well illustrated by these incidents. In Venezuela, where approximately 92% of the population is Christian, the main persecution engine is Communist and post-Communist oppression. There is a political trend towards establishing a socialist society, with the government aiming to crush all opposition. Tensions between President Maduro (Chavez" successor) and the leadership of the Catholic Church in particular have been growing steadily. Open Doors categorizes Venezuela as one of the "˜Persecution Watch Countries", a group of countries beyond the World Watch List Top 50, in which serious degrees of hostility against Christians and churches are prevalent."
