It started as a protest led by Venezuelan students against the government of Nicolas Maduro; this resulted with the first 3 deaths on February 12, 2014. Fifteen gruesome deaths in total  and about 500 arrests have been reported within a period of about 3 weeks. The protests began in result of the scarcity of food, elevated crime rate, and other daily necessary products. Venezuelans from all over the world will just have to hope for the best and support their country.

The protests initiated as students from a university were demanding increased security. Another cause was the nation’s scarcity of basic goods, such as milk, which has been missing from supermarkets for months. Venezuela also hopes to gain more open access to what is going on in the nation through mass media.

“From the outside, people may be thinking the students and the people are defying the government, but from the inside of the country, Venezuelans see an opportunity to stop something that needs to be changed,” Venezuelan native and French teacher  Ms. Fernandez said.

Young students, a brother of a ruling leader, and a former beauty queen were all killed in result of the violent uprising. In despite of their horrific murder, what shocked Venezuelans the most, was the fact that Venezuela’s National Guard and Police are turning against them. They are shooting, physically attacking, and brutally beating and torturing their own people.

“I’m scared for Venezuelans, but especially for my family. Everyday I’m worried that something has happened to them, but as a Venezuelan myself, I am happy that they are fighting for what they want. I just hope no one else keeps getting hurt,” freshman Tania Nieto said.

Numerous amounts of slogans and expressions have been created so far.One of them include “El Que Se Cansa, Pierde” meaning those who stop, lose. SOS Venezuelan is the main slogan used by many while #PrayforVenezuela was created for the use in social medias.

Miami, being home to many Venezuelans, has hosted various meeting groups in numerous parts of the city with the hopes of giving support and strength to their beloved nation.A major Venezuelan gathering took place in Doral on February 22, where a huge SOS sign was created using an immense amount of people lined up to form the letters. Places such as The Freedom Tower and the Miami Tower were illuminated to yellow, blue and red, to represent the colors of Venezuela’s flag.

“I went to the gathering in Doral for Venezuela, and it gave me hope being surrounded by people that care so much about my country. You could feel it in the atmosphere that everyone there wanted to help Venezuela to reach a peaceful solution,” freshman Leismary Davis said.

Even though Venezuela is going through an extremely tough situation, people are still holding strong and keep fighting for their country.