Thousands of people join in solidarity to protest in Venezuela

With eight deaths, 137 people injured, three United States diplomats forced to leave the country, barricades blocking roads and reporters detained or confronted with violence, Venezuela is far from a place of peace right now.

Thousands of Venezuelans have joined in solidarity to protest against issues like the rising gas prices, the low availability of basic life necessities and the rising crime rates within the country.

Day by day it seems that the problems are only continuing to escalate. So far Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's response appears to be adding to the civil unrest. By accusing Venezuelan citizens of being fascist, claiming that the United States plotted everything in order to destabilize their government and banning news reporters and sources like CNN from covering the protests, Maduro has been rapidly losing support. 

As these events continue to escalate in threats and violence, will the United States intervene? Should they?

READ MORE: Wait, But Why Is Everyone Protesting

Intervention is certainly an option to be considered, however, it is possible that due to the tense relationship between Venezuela and the U.S., the costs of aiding protestors could definitely be outweighed by the benefits.

President Nicolas Maduro already has assumed that the United States is behind all the political protests—meaning that if the U.S. takes any action in helping the protestors, it could incentivize a counterattack by the Venezuelan government. 

Despite the minimal news coverage on the Venezuelan protests, so far it appears as if the United States does not wan to get involved.

"Rather than trying to distract from its own failings by making up false accusations against diplomats from the United States, the government ought to focus on addressing the legitimate grievances of the Venezuelan people,” said President Obama according to CNN. He also asked that jailed protestors be set free, but ultimately, President Obama did not mention anything about any type of peace-keeping operation or intervention. 

Some may argue that the right thing to do is to intervene and prevent any more deaths of innocent people. The U.S. could bargain with the Venezuelan government and help it out of its social and economic crisis. However, not only does the United States have problems of its own that have yet to be dealt with, but with the stubborn President Maduro, it would be difficult to interfere in a peaceful manner. With support from the public, news media, government officials and other Latin American countries, there must be something that could be done. 

Contact Staff Reporter Karla Martinez here or follower her on Twitter.