Priest under siege in Venezuela battle

Описание: (1 Mar 2019) A Venezuelan priest has come under siege as the country's political battlelines are drawn.
Salsa music and long tirades blasted through loudspeakers for days at a colonial church in one of Venezuela's toughest slums aimed at drowning out Monsignor Hector Lunar.
The outspoken priest isn't shy of criticising President Nicolas Maduro, even from the pulpit in Petare, one of Latin America's largest slums
Then, the dark red letters appeared overnight, stenciled on the church's pale pink facade: "Hector Lunar - Pedophile - Terrorist."
While appalled by the slurs, Lunar says he feels no need to defend himself.
Parishioners show their support, he says, by filling the pews, knowing the attacks tapping into the worldwide sex-abuse scandals rocking the Roman Catholic Church come from Maduro loyalists intent on discrediting him.
The conflict playing out in Petare underscores the critical role played by the Catholic Church as Venezuela's political crisis deepens.
It also highlights divisions between local clergy and the Vatican on how best to confront Maduro.
Venezuela's bishops have been leading a charge for Maduro's removal, urging a boycott of what they call an "illegitimate" presidential election last year and denouncing the government's human rights abuses.
On the other hand, the Vatican has pursued a softer approach, with Pope Francis surprising many by sending an emissary to the socialist president's inauguration that dozens of countries shunned.
This chasm has unfolded as Venezuela's deepening political and economic collapse nears a breaking point.
Opposition leader Juan Guaido burst onto the scene in January launching the first viable bid in years to change course in the once oil-rich country following two decades of socialist rule.
He has since won backing from the United States and some 50 countries demanding that Maduro leave power.
Meanwhile, the Catholic Church in Venezuela has taken a strong stance in recent years as an outspoken critic of Maduro's policies.
The country's Episcopal Bishop's Conference has called on Maduro to release political prisoners and rejected his policies to consolidate power by forming a constituent assembly that has effectively gutted the opposition-controlled National Assembly.

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