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City that sparked Venezuela protests braces for more unrest

A woman waits in a line in a light rain, hoping to find soap and toilet paper at a supermarket to purchase, in San Cristobal, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015. Venezuela’s crisis has only deepened with falling crude prices crippling the oil-dependent economy, leading to a cash crunch that has restricted imported goods to just a trickle. Basic items like flour and diapers are hard to come by even on the black market and the government has had to deploy soldiers to keep peace outside stores where people wait hours for a chance to pick through near-barren shelves. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
A woman waits in a line in a light rain, hoping to find soap and toilet paper at a supermarket to purchase, in San Cristobal, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015. Venezuela’s crisis has only deepened with falling crude prices crippling the oil-dependent economy, leading to a cash crunch that has restricted imported goods to just a trickle. Basic items like flour and diapers are hard to come by even on the black market and the government has had to deploy soldiers to keep peace outside stores where people wait hours for a chance to pick through near-barren shelves. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano) A woman waits in a line in a light rain, hoping to find soap and toilet paper at a supermarket to purchase, in San Cristobal, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015. Venezuela’s crisis has only deepened with falling crude prices crippling the oil-dependent economy, leading to a cash crunch that has restricted imported goods to just a trickle. Basic items like flour and diapers are hard to come by even on the black market and the government has had to deploy soldiers to keep peace outside stores where people wait hours for a chance to pick through near-barren shelves. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

By Associated Press 5 min read

SAN CRISTOBAL, Venezuela (AP) – The young men move furtively among the would-be shoppers queued outside a supermarket, passing out pamphlets calling for the resignation of President Nicolas Maduro, whose socialist policies they blame for leaving store shelves barren and Venezuela’s economy in shambles.

A lookout signals that he’s spotted an armed national guardsman approaching, and the group scatters like birdshot. This is not the time to risk being detained, student activist Osmel Garcia explained.

“Nobody wants to get arrested now when things are about to heat up,” he said.

One year ago, Garcia was among the thousands of people who staged violent protests in this mountain city in Venezuela’s far west. Home to several colleges, San Cristobal was the crucible of student-led unrest that spread to other cities and provoked clashes with authorities and pro-government demonstrators, ultimately leaving 43 people dead and sending hundreds to jail, but failing to unseat Maduro.

The barricades of burning tires and steel manned here by rock-throwing youth only fell after the government sent in tanks, thousands of troops and even scrambled fighter jets to make low, menacing passes over the city of 1 million.