Days of revolt

In three capital cities around the world thousands of protesters have taken to the streets against those in power.

Ukraine may be on the brink of civil war as bloody protests over the future of the country’s economy escalate in the capital, Kiev. In Venezuela, protesters are taking to the streets in Caracas and cities throughout the country to demand economic and social change. And in Bangkok, political violence has flared again as tensions boil over between political parties backed by the educated urban middle class and conservative rural poor.   

The Kiev protests started three months ago in response to President Viktor Yanukovych rejecting a trade deal with the European Union. The country is torn between closer economic ties to the West and being governed by the rule of law, or retaining close links with Russia.

This week has been the most violent to date, with protesters shot dead and protesters firebombing police lines. More than 70 people are believed have been killed and several hundred injured.

Local internet news service Espreso TV is streaming live from Independence Square. There’s also dramatic footage, filmed by a drone, of barricades burning.

Protesters in Venezula are demanding better security, an end to goods shortages and protected freedom of speech.

Jorge Farias, a self-employed motorcycle taxi driver, told The Guardian:

This country can't stay like this for much longer. If it's not lack of food, it is the fear of being killed when you step out of your house to go to work ... I would like to wake up without this fear.

I have never seen this country in this state of total collapse. We are going from bad to worse, and we are losing faith.

The leader of protests this week handed himself into authorities after coming out of hiding to join a rally of supporters. Leopoldo Lopez, who was educated at Harvard University, faces charges of terrorism and inciting protests against President Nicolás Maduro’s government.

"I have nothing to hide. They want to jail Venezuelans who want peaceful, democratic change," Lopez said before he was arrested. "This is the first step in the construction of the road for change and it must, by necessity, be a peaceful process."

Venezuela officials have accused the United States of trying to destabilise the government and this week ordered three diplomats to leave the country within 48 hours.

Meanwhile, a Thai court has forbid authorities from using violence to contain protesters attempting to “shutdown” the city by besieging various government buildings.

The Protesters are calling for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's resignation and the installation of an unelected "people's council" to instigate political reform.

Yingluck, 46, is accused by protesters of being a puppet of her elder brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. 

Thaksin came into power in 2001, with support from the country’s rural poor for policies such as microfinance schemes, subsidised fuel and universal health care.

This raised the ire of Thailand’s traditional elites and Thaksin was pushed from power by a military coup in 2006.

Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban claims that democratic principles have been subverted by Thaksin’s wealth, and the country’s political system restarted.

More than a dozen people have been killed and several hundred injured since protests began in November.