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   From: lbateman@msnbc.com   
      
   Obama and Kerry's punk celebrity employees got kicked out of the   
   country.   
      
   (CNN) -- They've faced gunfire, tear gas and water cannons.   
      
   And now a man who led them in days of anti-government   
   demonstrations is behind bars after turning himself in to   
   authorities.   
      
   But Venezuelan protesters were still in the streets after   
   opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez's arrest Tuesday, demanding   
   better security, an end to scarcities and protected freedom of   
   speech.   
      
   President Nicolas Maduro and his supporters also rallied,   
   blaming the opposition for causing the very problems it protests.   
      
   Clashes during days of demonstrations have already left three   
   anti-government protesters and one government supporter dead.   
   And the simmering tensions show no signs of letting up.   
      
   The confrontation took a dramatic turn Tuesday, when Lopez,   
   accused by the government of conspiracy and murder in connection   
   with the recent violence, marched with a crowd of thousands of   
   protesters before surrendering to national guard troops.   
      
   "The options I had were leave the country, and I will never   
   leave Venezuela!" Lopez told the massive crowd. "The other   
   option was to remain in hiding, but that option could have left   
   doubt among some, including some who are here, and we don't have   
   anything to hide."   
      
   Hours later at a rally with throngs of supporters, Maduro said   
   the head of Venezuela's National Assembly had helped negotiate   
   Lopez's surrender and was taking him to a prison outside Caracas.   
      
   Maduro: Opposition leaders are 'fascists'   
      
   Maduro described opposition leaders as right-wing fascists who   
   plant seeds of fear and violence. He claimed they have U.S.   
   backing and repeatedly tried to assassinate him and overthrow   
   his democratically elected government.   
      
   And he compared the opposition to an illness plaguing the South   
   American country.   
      
   "The only way to fight fascism in a society is like when you   
   have a very bad infection ... you need to take penicillin, or   
   rather the strongest antibiotic, and undergo treatment," he   
   said. "Fascism is an infection in Venezuela and in the world.   
   And the only treatment that exists is justice."   
      
   Footage from Tuesday's demonstration shows Lopez being led by   
   national guard troops to a military vehicle, waving to the crowd   
   as he is placed inside and even continuing to speak on a   
   megaphone until the door is closed.   
      
   Charges against him include murder, terrorism and arson in   
   connection with the protests, according to his party, Popular   
   Will. Lopez denies the accusations, the party said in a   
   statement calling for witnesses of the protests to send their   
   own accounts of what happened to be used in his defense.   
      
   A message on Lopez's Twitter account Tuesday night said he was   
   on the way to a military prison, where party officials said he   
   would be held at least until a court appearance scheduled for   
   Wednesday. The post included a link to an apparently pre-   
   recorded video message, showing the opposition leader seated on   
   a couch next to his wife, calling on Venezuelans to keep pushing   
   for change.   
      
   "If you are watching this video, it is because the government   
   has carried out one more abuse, full of lies, of falsehoods, of   
   twisting facts and trying to manipulate the reality that we   
   Venezuelans are living," he said. "I want to tell all   
   Venezuelans that I do not regret what we have done up to this   
   moment, in convoking the protests ... The people came out. The   
   people woke up."   
      
   'Yankee, go home'   
      
   Major social and economic problems in Venezuela have fueled the   
   protests. But as the demonstrations gained steam, officials have   
   pointed fingers at other factors, accusing the United States of   
   plotting to destabilize the government.   
      
   On Monday, Venezuela gave three U.S. diplomats 48 hours to leave   
   the country, accusing them of conspiring to bring down the   
   government. At Tuesday's rally, Maduro shouted, "Yankee, go   
   home" from the stage, drawing cheers from the crowd.   
      
   17-year-old dies during Venezuelan protests   
      
   The opposition has been defeated over and over again at the   
   polls, and despite this decision by the people, it continues to   
   call for marches and protests, Julio Rafael Chavez, a ruling   
   party lawmaker, told CNN en Español on Tuesday.   
      
   "The peace-loving Venezuelans feel very, very worried by the   
   irrational, fascist-leaning attitude and actions of a sector of   
   the Venezuelan opposition," he said.   
      
   This isn't the first time that bitter protests and counter-   
   protests by supporters and opponents of the government have   
   threatened political stability in Venezuela over the past decade.   
      
   Many of Maduro's claims -- of U.S. intervention, of   
      
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