Three students were shot dead in cold blood this week by Venezuelan police who claim they mixed the students up with some criminals they were hunting. Just like that, three lived snuffed out on a sunny street in Caracas. It was all just … another … mistake.

That’s brought thousands of people into the streets this morning in Caracas. It’s one of the first big demonstrations since the demoralization of the Venezuelan opposition in the wake of the widely-believed fraudulent recall referendum on Hugo Chavez last August. The shootings of course represent the projection of Hugo Chavez’s power. So it hasn’t taken long for them to become anti-Chavez demonstrations.

Daniel has some serious scoop about the shooting incident here.

Urru.org, a little independent news agency in Venezuela, has a pdf file of the names of those who were killed extrajudicially here. They also do extraordinary photo essays – they are not up yet but will be soon, the link to watch is here.

Update: Alek Boyd has a video of the marchers denouncing the killing – scroll down, it’s at the end of this link you click here.

Update: Jorge Arena has more.

Update: Photos of the Chavez-defiant, Venezuelan protest babes, all different versions of Venezuela’s best-known export, Miss Universe, are here.

SOURCE: Globovision

Now, I am getting word from a journalist in Venezuela that 2000 students are marching against Chavez in a rapidly swelling crowd in Caracas. Chavez isn’t going to be able to control this. And it comes against a summer backdrop of a big Youth Festival Chavez is hosting in August, Daniel (link above) notes.

This revolution may be getting started again.

Update: The crowd has swelled to 5000.

Update: The crowd has swelled to 10,000 and Chavez has sent out low-flying military aircraft to intimidate the crowd.

Update: Globovision has the first news story and picture of this fast-growing demonstration here.

Update: The passion of the crowd is getting intense – it’s not just about extrajudicial killings but now becoming an anti-Chavez rally. The crowds are chanting: Y cual, y cual, y cual democracia, se allana, tortura y dan tiros de gracia!