Vice President of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela said that social protests in Venezuela are comparable to those that mired Ukraine in 2014 and led to ouster of then-president Viktor Yanukovych.

–

MERIDA (Venezuela) (Sputnik)The social protests in Venezuela are comparable to those that mired Ukraine in 2014 and led to ouster of then-president Viktor Yanukovych, Vice President of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela Jesus Faria told Sputnik in an interview.

"The protest movements, the way we know them in Venezuela, are intended to burn the country down with their terrorist acts. This is the same tactic as we have seen in Ukraine, when the neofascist groups supported by North American media toppled the legitimate government, setting the country on fire socially," Faria said.

Last month, a number of opposition rallies took place in major cities of Venezuela. The demonstrations marked the anniversary of a 2014 mass uprising in the country against police violence, record-high inflation and shortages of basic goods. The country's government said the protests were coup attempts, and arrested several opposition leaders.

Faria added that those members of law enforcement accused of abuse during the 2014 protests have been charged in court.

In 2013, then-president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine refused to sign an association agreement with the European Union. The move led to a wave of violent protests, which ended in a 2014 coup in which Yanukovych was overthrown. Far-right groups played a crucial role in the protests.