 Critics claim "guarimbas", which are primarily erected in residential areas, victimize local residents and businesses and have little political impact.President Maduro and poor sectors in some cities criticized barricades, with Maduro denouncing that “thousands of people are affected by a small group of ten or twenty persons”, and that “some of them don’t have access to health care, including children and elders”, although many opposition protesters argue that "guarimbas" are also used as a protection against armed groups, and not only as a form of protest.At some barricades, ""guayas"" or wires are placed near them.