A 20-year-old Venezuelan protester died on Friday after being shot in the head, authorities said, taking fatalities from a month of anti-government unrest to at least 37 as the opposition geared up for more demonstrations.
Hecder Lugo was hurt during fighting between demonstrators and security forces in Valencia on Thursday that also injured four others, the local opposition Mayor Enzo Scarano said in a series of tweets.
The state prosecutor's office, which keeps an official count of deaths since protests began against socialist President Nicolas Maduro in early April, confirmed he died after being shot in a protest.
Another 717 people have been injured and 152 are still in jail from the hundreds rounded up in widespread unrest around the volatile South American OPEC nation of 30 million people, according to the office's latest tally.
There has been violence and widespread looting this week in Valencia, a once-bustling industrial hub two hours from the capital by road.
And in an incident loaded with symbolism, a handful of young men destroyed a statue of late leader Hugo Chavez in the oil-producing Zulia state, according to videos circulating on social media on Friday evening.
Footage shows the statue, which depicts Chavez saluting and wearing a sash, being yanked down to cheers in a public plaza before it is bashed into a sidewalk and then the road as onlookers swear at the leftist, who died in 2013 from cancer.
"Students destroyed this statue of Chavez. They accuse him, correctly, of destroying their future," opposition lawmaker Carlos Valero said about the incident, which was also reported in local media. Reuters was unable to independently confirm it.
Venezuela's opposition, which now enjoys majority support after being in the shadow of the ruling Socialist party since Chavez's 1998 election win, says his successor Maduro has become a dictator and wrecked the economy.
Vowing to stay in the streets for as long as necessary, opposition leaders announced nationwide women's marches for Saturday with the biggest planned for the capital Caracas.
Opposition lawmakers briefly unfurled a banner on Friday at the National Assembly, where they won a majority in 2015 thanks to voter ire over the recession, saying "Maduro Dictator".
The president says they are seeking a violent coup with U.S. support, and is setting up a "constituent assembly" super body to shake up public powers, change the constitution, and possibly replace the existing legislature.
"President Maduro has made a big call to national dialogue," Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez told diplomats at a meeting on Friday, showing them images of violence and vandalism on the streets caused by youths at the front of protests.
"They are not peaceful, the opposition leaders share big responsibility in these acts of extremism and vandalism."
FATALITIES ON BOTH SIDES
Opposition protests have often started peacefully but degenerated into violence when security forces block marchers and masked youths fight them with stones, Molotov cocktails and fireworks shot from pipes turned into homemade mortars.
Fatalities have included supporters of both sides, bystanders and members of the security forces.
Gunshot wounds have been the most common cause of deaths.
The opposition is boycotting Maduro's constituent assembly process, saying it is a ploy to keep him in power by setting up a body with mechanisms to ensure a government majority.
Having failed to trigger a referendum on his rule last year, the opposition is calling for delayed state gubernatorial elections to be held as soon as possible, and for the next presidential election slated for 2018 to be brought forward.
Polls show the ruling Socialists would badly lose any conventional vote due to four years of economic crisis that has led to debilitating food and medicine shortages.
While Maduro says opposition ranks include armed hoodlums, activists accuse the security forces of using excessive force including firing teargas canisters directly at people and allowing pro-government gangs to terrorize demonstrators.
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles said on Friday that 85 members of the military in Caracas had been arrested for opposition "repression," adding that their relatives had asked him to publicize the detentions.
"Cousin, it's enough!" Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino's cousin, Ernesto Padrino, wrote to him in an open letter.
He was following in the footsteps of the state human rights ombudsman's son who surprised the country by publishing a video begging his father to "end the injustice."
"Eighty percent of Venezuelans want elections as a way out of our nation's grave economic and political crisis," wrote Ernesto Padrino on Facebook.
"Sooner or later, the Venezuelan people will make you pay."
Reuters
Sat May 06 2017
Demonstrators clash with a riot police armored car during a rally against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela May 1, 2017. -Filepix/Reuters
Berita tempatan pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Berikut adalah berita yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang Ahad, 28 April 2024.
Mesyuarat Khas WEF: Dunia perlukan persaingan sihat dalam transisi ke Orde Baharu - Menteri Luar Arab Saudi
Menteri Luar Negeri Arab Saudi, Putera Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud berkata dunia memerlukan persaingan sihat dalam transisi daripada Orde Dunia Lama kepada Orde Baharu. Jelasnya, persaingan ini akan memberi manfaat dalam bentuk kos pengeluaran lebih rendah, perkembangan inovasi dan pelaburan lebih baik. #MesyuaratKhasWEF #WEF
Mesyuarat Khas WEF: Dunia saling tidak percaya akibat kebergantungan dipersenjatakan - Naib Presiden Suruhanjaya Eropah
Naib Presiden Suruhanjaya Eropah, Josep Borrell Fontelles berkata fenomena hilang kepercayaan yang melanda komuniti antarabangsa ketika ini adalah akibat kebergantungan yang dipersenjatakan oleh beberapa pihak. Jelasnya, situasi ini boleh membawa kepada pengasingan negara-negara tertentu dari pentas global, seterusnya menghambat pelaksanaan agenda antarabangsa. #MesyuaratKhasWEF #WEF
Mesyuarat Khas WEF: Negara-negara selatan global hilang percaya akibat ‘leteran’ negara maju - Menteri Luar Sri Lanka
Menteri Luar Negeri Sri Lanka, Mohamed Uvais Mohamed Ali Sabry berkata negara-negara selatan global hilang percaya kepada inisiatif antarabangsa akibat campur tangan berlebihan dalam proses membuat keputusan di peringkat domestik oleh negara-negara utara global. Jelasnya, negara-negara maju perlu berhenti memaksakan penyelesaian kepada semua masalah yang timbul keatas negara-negara membangun. #MesyuaratKhasWEF #WEF
Mesyuarat Khas WEF: Hubungan China-AS kelam - Pakar
Pengasas dan Pengerusi Wusawa Advisory Inc., Qian Liu berkata hubungan China dan Amerika Syarikat tidak akan bertambah baik untuk tahun-tahun mendatang. Jelasnya, kedua-dua negara menggunakan momokkan imej negara pesaing dalam usaha menangani isu-isu domestik, yang secara tidak langsung merugikan dunia. #MesyuaratKhasWEF #WEF
Mesyuarat Khas WEF: China akan atasi AS, sedang belajar menggunakan kuasanya keatas dunia - Pakar
Pengasas dan Pengerusi Wusawa Advisory Inc., Qian Liu berkata China dilandasan yang betul untuk mengatasi Amerika Syarikat sebagai ekonomi terbesar dunia dalam masa beberapa tahun. Jelasnya, meskipun pertumbuhan ekonomi China perlahan, namun saiz pertumbuhan itu secara relatifnya lebih besar daripada keseluruhan ekonomi Arab Saudi dan Switzerland. #MesyuaratKhasWEF #WEF
Bangladesh buka semula sekolah walaupun cuaca masih panas
Pelajar kembali ke sekolah di seluruh Bangladesh walaupun negara itu dilanda gelombang panas berlarutan yang mendorong pembelajaran secara bersemuka ditangguhkan, hujung minggu lalu.
Filipina tangguh kelas secara bersemuka kerana cuaca panas
Filipina menangguhkan kelas bersemuka di semua sekolah kerajaan selama dua hari, susulan cuaca panas melampau dan mogok oleh pemandu jeepney atau bas mini di seluruh negara.
Puting beliung landa bandar Guangzhou
Puting beliung melanda bandar Guangzhou di selatan China dan mengorbankan lima nyawa dan 33 lagi cedera.
Menurut laporan CCTV, puting beliuang itu melanda daerah Baiyun di Guangzhou pada petang Sabtu.
Menurut laporan CCTV, puting beliuang itu melanda daerah Baiyun di Guangzhou pada petang Sabtu.
Tak dapat jadi TPM, Menteri Luar Thailand letak jawatan
Menteri Luar Thailand, Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara meletak jawatan secara mengejut hari ini, selepas tidak dinamakan sebagai timbalan perdana menteri dalam rombakan Kabinet.