student shot in the head in caracas. the eu postpones brexit negotiations. voters will go to the polls in june for the first time in two years. four days before the french go candidates --two

a candidate buried the hatchet with a former rival. all that coming up. we begin in venezuela where a student has died after being shot in the head during the protests in caracas according to security sources. the army has joined security forces on the streets of the capital where the battle lines have been drawn up by keller. thousands stressed in white are demonstrating against the socialist president while those in red are marching in support of nicolas maduro. rival marches followed it up weeks of violent protest that left five people dead and dozens wounded. venezuelan opposition says maduro is veering toward authoritarianism and want him to

step down. the president says he is victim of what he said almost amounts to a coup. for more on this, we will be to the president of the inter-american dialogue. he joins us from washington. thank you for joining us. we are getting word a young protester has died after being shot in the head, potentially by security forces maduro has placed in the streets for this protest. are the opposition right to say that this looks like the behavior of an authoritarian , is not stretching it to perhaps a would-be dictator? >> i think there is little question that the regime has become increasingly authoritarian in many respects. obviously, when thousands of people are marching on the , things can get a little out of control. unfortunately, there have been of adeaths and one today

student who was killed, but there's no question that the regime is tightening its grip. the situation has deteriorated dramatically, and that is what has provoked, prompted people took amount -- people to come out to the street, a sense of desperation. it has barred any contenders for the presidency from running. those are characteristics of an authoritarian government, and that is the background for these protests. are these about maduro's allegedly moved toward authoritarianism, as you would just describing, and how much about the dire economic

situation, for example, the ? nezuelans find themselves in >> clearly, when people cannot eat and are going hungry, that tends to take precedent over all .ther concerns the stories one reads about, one hears about in venezuela are just heartbreaking. there's no question that there is tremendous misery and suffering, and i think that explains a great deal of it, but there is also the sense that this is a government that does not want to play by the rules by its own constitution and is not really prepared to submit itself to the popular will, because they know all the polls suggest that if there were an election anytime soon, the government would lose, not because the opposition is so popular but because there tremendous anger towards the government.

>> how are they going to negotiate the next few months? there main leader has been officefrom running for for 15 years. the opposition itself is very divided, so there may be a more popular stance than the government, potentially, but how will they form any type of ? alition or coherence >> today, the opposition is not saying let's get rid of the government. the opposition is saying, "let's establish a calendar for elections, which i think is much more sensible, much more realistic. since hugo chavez took power, venezuelan has had elections. the problem was chavez was pretty popular and so he won

those elections. now the situation has changed and the opposition is saying let's have elections. they have not had the local elections that were supposed to , and there arer supposed to be presidential elections next october, 2018, so ist the opposition is saying they want the government to honor its own electoral calendar and hold elections, and that, i think, is a pretty reasonable negotiating position. even though the main candidate is banned from running again, he is still very active, very vocal and has been very involved in these protests. there are active leaders who have come together. >> to be clear, you think if there were elections now, the opposition would win, but who would they be led by?

>> i think there are other leaders of the opposition -- i think it would be such an overwhelming anti-majuro vote -- anti-maduro vote. the opposition has other leaders .rom different parties i mean, there are a number of parties that form the opposition, and i believe that any number of them would stand a very good chance of defeating arero because his numbers so low. there's just no question according to all accounts that people are just very angry and opposedperate and are to this government. >> what about the international community? should it be doing anything in the face of these protests and the violence with which they are being put down? >> i certainly think so. there was a statement just yesterday by 11 governments in

latin america that i think was very encouraging, calling for nonviolence on both sides, on the government side and also on protesters'. this is a situation that is very combustible, very volatile. it can get out of control. that is a risk. that is a possibility. hopefully, it will not happen. it has not happened so far, but i think there's a growing concern about the situation in venezuela and its spillover neighbors. of course, if there is some sort of meltdown and collapse, there's no telling what could in terms of greater insecurity, criminality, violence. are nowthe governments sending the right message, hopefully, that they can be involved in some sort of process

support a transition or at least holding of elections, the constitution calls for, and of course, the government does not know what to do because they know that if they went to elections, they would be a good chance that they would lose. but i think pressure from the neighbors is very important, and it is going to shift. that was not the case three years ago when there were protests, and the last three years or so, the situation has deteriorated to such an extent that there has been a much greater response and concern than before. >> president of the inter-american dialogue. thank you very much for joining us. moving on now to a vote in the u.k. parliament. a snaps cemented election on june 8. a clear majority, members of the british parliament, voted by a

resounding 522-13 in support of the prime minister's call for an early general election, which was due to be held in 2020. theresa may will be hoping for a similarly clear majority or her conservative government in june when british voters go to the polls for the third time in two years. with their position weekend divided, there's concern she may sweep the victory. to the right, 522. the nos to the left, 13. >> a clear mandate for theresa may at the house of commons backing her call for a snap election. may argues a new poll will strengthen britain's's hand in negotiations within the eu and help make a success of brexit. >> i will be out campaigning and taking photos, taking the message to the voters crucially

of our plan to make brexit a success and to build a stronger bridge and for the future. >> theresa may was, however, criticized for previously saying there would be no general election before 2020. >> we welcome the general election. but this is a prime minister who promised there would not be one. who cannot beer trusted. >> theresa may is also likely to face charges from scottish nationalists, who are calling for a second independence referendum. may insist scotland should wait, but the scottish first minister disagrees. >> if the s&p wins this election then [inaudible]

give the people of scotland a choice over their own future when the time is right. the conservative party will increase its majority in parliament but calls for the international party in scotland. >> this is at heart a decision about the u.k. leadership, much of it based on brexit and the negotiations that are just beginning. our correspondent in london has this to say about theresa may's decision to bring forward that election. >> the political gamble. it is a major u-turn, and as you are witnessing in france, here in the united kingdom, party political gambles can payoff, and sometimes they do not. we saw david campbell lost his gamble.

will this payoff? will theresa may on june 8, trusting, as she says, the people, putting the eight of her herrnment and her own and plan for brexit -- will that be what voters go for on june 8? according to the polls, yes, and the prime minister hopes to get a comfortable majority, rather righthe 12 or 17 she has now, inherited from her predecessor david cameron. she hopes to get 100, or if we are to believe the polls, as much as 144 150, but as we well know, campaigns have their own life. there are twists. there are turns. that majority in the polls could change. a lot of labor seats are quite .afe liberal democrats will actually be snapping at their heels. difficult to tell. turnout will indeed be key. the primerexit, as

minister wants, dominate? difficult to tell. there will be other issues. well, it's four days to go until the first round of presidential elections here in france. we are bringing you continuous coverage of the campaign with thetoday conservative candidate, who has been visiting a french music streaming company in paris and for the first time in two months, francois fillon appears alongside a rival. betweenbolic handshake two former rivals, the first theysince january that made a joint public appearance, and despite their recent falling outs, both men acted like the best of friends. it is a way for the mayor of mulder to reenter it his support for the conservative candidate. >> we talk a lot on the phone. we have spoken to each other for

a long time, haven't we? >> too long to count. >> a favorite in last wings right wing primaries was butated by francois fillon, after the conservative candidate was accused of corruption, there were calls for him to run instead. he refused and publicly slammed francois fillon for wasting the right's chances. with an unprecedented -- with a .eek to go on tuesday, nicholas sarkozy reiterated his support for his former prime minister. >> our very own catherine nicholson is following the socialist candidate's campaign here in paris now. he is not doing very well in the polls, but that does not seem to have stopped him from pulling out all the stops where you are,

hasn't? >> absolutely. i'm sure you can see behind me, this looks and sounds more like a music festival than a political rally, but a political rally it certainly is. organizers say around 30,000 to this placeup our viewers will remember from many other political rallies, those marches, demonstrations of all different sorts. aside from the musicians, the crowds came to see and hear some includingheavyweights the lady who oversaw the introduction of the gay marriage legalization here in france, and also the former head of the socialist party. acknowledgedhave

their candidate is not the favorite. one said francois's apathy is the worst of the people, and he ended the speech by telling crowds he will write on. >> what about security at that rally in the wake of yesterday's rrest? >> security being taken very seriously here. it even took my team and i require long time to get in this evening, even when -- even with our press passes and accreditations. there are dozens of police. authorities have installed

temporary concrete barriers. there's a risk of a vehicle ramming attack like we've seen nice and stockholm in recent months. he shook hands with people run about 15 minutes at the end of his speech, so, yes, trying to give it that festive atmosphere. the statement is here set to continue until at least midnight. >> thank you so much for that. in syria, the evacuation and transfer of thousands of syrians from for besieged areas has restarted. armed rebels in a town near damascus have left and thousands

in two shiite villages have also been removed as part of a reciprocal evacuation deal. those evacuations were disrupted when a bomb on saturday killed more than 120 pro-government is vacuous. most of them children. i spoke with henry peck in lebanon. >> this is the end, supposedly, of the first phase of this evacuation deal. today, about 45 buses left from those two northwestern towns, those government-held towns, and approximately 3000 civilians, including perhaps 700 gunmen, moving towards aleppo. at the same time, about 11 buses left town close to damascus carrying anywhere from 150 to 300 people. those towns close to damascus, those rebel-held towns are no empty or virtually empty.

north, in the northwest, there's still a number to be moved, and this is still a small fraction of the total number of civilians besieged across syria. >> time for business now and will hilderbrandt is back in the studio with me. we are beginning with that snap election in the u.k. how is the business world responding? >> we are seeing a reaction on the currency markets. the british pound drop about .1% against the dollar, but currently, it is down against the greenback about .4%. on tuesday, when prime minister theresa may announced the snap election, the #a six-month high against the greenback, and that has been bad news for britain's most important stock index as many multinational companies on the ftse 100 have foreign-based revenues. here is how one senior analyst responded. >> it looks like markets are taking the story of a may election victory at face value.

they are expecting a strong majority from conservatives based on the polls, of course, and that led to the big rise we saw in the ruling yesterday, and that has had a knock on negative affect. there are probably many spills and thrills to come over the next six or seven weeks also. >> the strong pound hurting the footsie -- the ftse. corrupt -- the 40 closing down. dow jones down .5% on the back of some disappointing news from ibm. we will have more on that story in a moment. the european commission has determined britain will have no say on the location of eu

agencies post brexit. that means the banking authority agency will be moving to continental europe. london had been hoping to retain not only boosted the city's prominence but also employed a number of people and hosted annual events in the capital. time now for a look at some of the day's other business headlines. it's been touted as the biggest e-commerce deal ever. petsmart is buying a startup. in only its fifth year of operation, the pet product website reported 900 million dollars in product revenue. that spells one less competitor for petsmart who has more than 15 million stores across the country. for 20es haveve now fallen straight quarters with first-quarter revenue slipping 3%. the technology group is making it difficult transition from its traditional business model,

which has struggled, to newer endeavors like cloud computing and artificial intelligence. pass biggestst airline emirates is reducing flights to the united states over the trump administration's policies. u.s. courts have already blocked revised travel restrictions. emirates blamed the government for weakening demand. after failing to reform and dismantle obamacare, the next major priority for donald trump is his tax plan. republicans plan on cutting corporate taxes and rolling back thanking regulations. two definitions -- initiatives at the international monetary the criticized in semiannual stability report. those moves could lead to financial risk-taking, the likes of which have not been seen since before the 2008 financial crisis.

the united states, policies could increase fiscal and balances and push up interest rates and global risk premium. global protectionism could drag down trade and growth, triggering capital outflows from emerging markets. the amount of global cooperation on regulatory reforms could reverse some of the gains that have made financial systems safer. >> finally, after donald trump and china's xi jinping met, for so-calleds barriers of conflicts of interest. -- yvonneps secured ould trump -- >> the past month has been good to ivanka trump and her global brand. she joined her father's administration as an unpaid adviser.

a little over a week later, she received good news from beijing. on the same day her father was hosting china's president, her company received monopoly rights to sell her jewelry, bags, and small services to china's consumers, a lucrative go ahead, sayone the brand's attorney she was not involved with. the 35-year-old stepped down from running her business after her father won the election, but she still owns it, and the brand is doing well with record sales so far this year. >> ivanka is selling her persona. her life is captured on the republican stage is now for sale to retailers, and that is a line that has never been captured before. >> this could create conflicts trumperest, one ivanka says has been worked out. according to george w. bush's former ethics lawyer at the white house, she is still in

tricky territory. >> i think it's wonderful for her that her businesses are doing well and everything would be just fine if she were not also working in the white house. she has to comply with the criminal conflict of interest statute. >> a federal lawsuit is under way against trump for possible ethics by relations and trademark approvals from china have been added to the list of complaints. topping the is fashion pulls in politics? >> it's far from my area of expertise, but i've heard prime minister theresa may might be the woman. >> she is the winner over in banca trump -- over ivanka t rump? >> again, not my area of expertise.

04/19/17 04/19/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> the annie dookhan drug lab scandal. amy: the state of massachusetts has thrown out over 21,000 criminal drug cases after a state chemist admitted to identifying evidence as illegal narcotics without even testing it. this went on for years.