Anti-government protests on streets across Venezuela

● Hundreds of arrests after MPS vote to put president on trial

0 Protests against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as crowds take to the streets on Margarita Island Anti-government protesters filled the streets of Venezuela’s capital and other major cities in a show of force against President Nicolas Maduro.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators shut down the main highway in Caracas, and police clashed with protesters in other cities in what opposition leaders called “the takeover of Venezuela”.

Nationwide at least 140 people were detained by police, according to the Foro Penal human rights group. A police officer was shot and killed, and two others injured, under unclear circumstances in central Miranda state.

“Maduro has shown how scared he is that the people will express themselves,” opposition leader Henrique Capriles said.

The protests come after electoral authorities blocked a recall campaign against Mr Maduro last week. The faceoff escalated on Tuesday when the opposition-led legislature voted to put the president on trial, accusing him of effectively staging a coup.

Opposition politicians argued that Venezuela’s leader has effectively abandoned the presidency by neglecting his job.

Many Venezuelans blame him for the country’s tripledigit inflation, free-falling economy and shortages of food, medicines and other basic goods.

Government supporters staged a much smaller rally attended by Mr Maduro in central Caracas.

Opposition leaders ended a national day of protest with call for a general strike tomorrow. They also threatened to march on the presidential palace in the heart of the city on 3 November if the government does not reverse its decision to block the recall effort.

The opposition has not been allowed to protest in front of the presidential palace since a massive march there helped precipitate a short-lived coup against former president Hugo Chavez in 2002.

On Wednesday, police fired tear gas and clashes with police in provincial capitals that left several wounded. In the border state of Tachira, the windows of the heavily-guarded regional electoral office were broken and anti-government slogans spray-painted on the entrance.

In a video widely circulating on social media, a young man shouted in the face of soldiers in riot gear maintaining a line against a crowd of masked protesters.

“I’m going hungry! If you’re going to shoot me because I’m hungry, shoot me,” the protester said.

Unlike other countries in Latin America such as Brazil, where Dilma Rousseff was removed from the presidency in August, Venezuela’s National Assembly cannot impeach the president. That power lies with the Supreme Court.