Two killed in Venezuela national strike against Maduro's rule

CARACAS: Two people were killed in clashes Thursday in Venezuela during a nationwide strike against President Nicolas Maduro's plans to re-write the country's constitution.

Thursday's 24-hour stoppage affected areas of the capital and other regions, including the country's second-biggest city of Maracaibo, with businesses shuttered, public transport stalled and streets often deserted.

Riot police and soldiers fired tear gas and buck shot at protesters, who blocked streets with debris in parts of Caracas and set a police booth on fire. Street blockades continued overnight.

Prosecutors said a 24-year- old man was killed on the outskirts of Caracas and a 23-year-old man was killed in the city of Valencia. They did not say who was responsible for the deaths. This brings to 99 the death toll in anti-government protests since April.

“I wish this strike were indefinite until this dictatorship leaves,“said Coromoto Garcia, 48, who was at a street blocked by protesters in eastern Caracas.

Protesters also hurled rocks at workers with VTV state television, who were rescued by riot police.

Nearly 370 protesters were arrested in Caracas and four other states, the NGO Foro Penal reported.

“It doesn't matter losing a day's work if we're losing the country,” said one striker, a 34-year-old owner of a small Caracas construction firm who only gave his first name, Omar.

“I'm joining the strike to rescue the little remaining for us, to increase pressure” on Maduro, he said.

In pro-government parts of the capital, however, life went on as normal.

Some workers in public offices were reluctant to take part, scared it would cost them their jobs.

“If I don't go to work, they'll fire me,” a 39-year- old public worker who gave her name as Carolina told AFP.

Maduro seized on the areas of normality to claim victory over the strikers, saying key sectors were “100 per cent” unaffected by the strike.

Maria Francis, a 53-year- old worker in the Caracas metro system, called it an “absurd strike.” The opposition, she said, “wants the United States to come in and take over the country.“

Opposition leaders, however, claimed 85 per cent adherence to the strike. “The people have given evidence that will not bend to their knees,” said senior opposition figure Henrique Capriles. — AFP