Venezuelan riots claim 36th victim

A YOUNG man died after he was injured in violence as looting broke out in impoverished Venezuelan cities at the start of the weekend, bringing the toll from unrest in more than a month of protests to at least 36.

Mass protests by demonstrators demanding elections to remove President Nicolas Maduro erupted on April 1. They blame him for an economic crisis that has caused shortages of food, medicine and other basics.

Looting broke out this week in cities such as Valencia, which looked like a disaster zone with bars on shop windows bent and windows broken.

Maduro has the public backing of the military high command — although the opposition claims mid-ranking officers are increasingly opposing the crackdown on protesters. —