Three killed in renewed protests in Venezuela

CARACAS: Three people were killed in Venezuela in renewed violence, raising the death toll in three weeks of massive demonstrations against leftwing President Nicolas Maduro to 24, officials said.

Several others were seriously injured and “between life and death”, said public defender Tarek William Saab yesterday.

The latest casualties come on a day anti-Maduro demonstrators blocked major roads in the South American nation.

Two government trucks in the capital’s east were set alight on a freeway by masked protesters who poured oil on the road. Police nearby did not immediately intervene.

Elsewhere in the capital, riot police fired tear gas at another group of stone-throwing protesters.

However, the majority of demonstrators, who numbered in the thousands, rallied peacefully.

The return to violence in the streets of Venezuela after a weekend lull was certain to further stoke international concern over the country, whose economy is imploding despite vast oil reserves.

Latin American countries and the United States have voiced concern. —