Three dead in Venezuela cash unrest

CARACAS: A weekend of looting and clashes left at least three people dead in Venezuela, authorities said Monday, as anger roiled over a chaotic currency reform that left many without cash.

A man, a woman and an adolescent boy were shot dead when violence erupted Saturday in the town of La Paragua, in the southern state of Bolivar, the attorney general's office said.

The opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable ( MUD), which accuses President Nicolas Maduro of driving oil-rich Venezuela to the brink of economic collapse, contested the death toll. It said five people had died in the state.

Unrest broke out Friday after Maduro ordered the 100-bolivar bill removed from circulation before the 500- bolivar bills intended arrived.

Desperate Venezuelans looted delivery trucks, burned banks and clashed with police in towns across the country as the move left them with no cash to buy food.

Bolivar was the state hit hardest by the unrest. A curfew has been in force there since Saturday, and more than 3,000 troops are patrolling the streets.

Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said 286 people were arrested in the state, accusing the 'Venezuelan far right' of fomenting the violence.

Maduro has likewise blamed the opposition for the unrest.

In Washington, the Organization of American States urged the government to “take all means necessary to restore order, address people's urgent needs and restore peace for its people.” to replace it had

Faced with world-high inflation that has made the Venezuelan bolivar increasingly worthless, Maduro's socialist government is trying to introduce new bills in denominations of up to 20,000 bolivars.

Formerly the highest denomination bill, the 100-bolivar note is worth about three US cents on the black market, and accounts for 77 percent of the cash in circulation in Venezuela.

Maduro said it had to be urgently pulled because “mafias” were hoarding it abroad in what he called a US- backed plot to destabilize Venezuela.

Following the weekend's unrest, however, he extended its use as legal tender until January 2.

The new 500- bolivar note, the first in the new series, had originally been due to go into circulation last Thursday. — AFP