Tension mounts:

At least 35 people were killed in drugrelated attacks across Mexico last weekend – part of a surge in drug gang violence in the country that has seen the numbers of murders return to a level not known since 2011. Nine people were killed in a shoot-out between rival gangs in an isolated village in Churumuco municipality, in the mountainous west coast state of Michoacán. In Sinaloa state, where battles between gangs have increased since local cartel boss Joaquin “el Chapo” Guzman was rearrested last year, 12 people were killed in a spate of incidents. Last month, there were 2,020 recorded murders in total, the highest monthly total since June 2011.

Thousands of people dressed in white marched through Caracas and other Venezuelan cities on Saturday to honour the 24 or more people killed in anti-government protests in recent weeks. Since late January, demonstrations have been held across the country on an almost daily basis. The spur to action was the governmentcontrolled Supreme Court’s attempt to strip the opposition-majority congress of its powers – a thinly disguised power grab by President Nicolás Maduro, which he was immediately forced to reverse after a storm of international protest. In response to a protest last week, Maduro (pictured) put troops on the streets and supplied guns to sympathetic local militias. But on Saturday, the demonstrators were permitted to cross peacefully from the wealthier eastern side of Caracas to the traditionally progovernment western side. Human rights campaigners say more than 1,000 people have been detained during recent disturbances, and more than 700 remain in prison. Thousands of Venezuelans have been fleeing over the border into Colombia.