Venezuela doctors stage protest after man is set on fire
CaRaCas: Doctors rallied in Venezuela in the latest street protests against President Nicolas Maduro, as a young man lay in hospital after being set on fire by an angry crowd.
Three people were killed, all of them by gunshot wounds, in violent riots in late president Hugo Chavez’s home state of Barinas – bringing the death toll to 51 as the unrest entered its eighth week on Monday, the public prosecution service said.
An AFP reporter saw demonstrators burn a government office and a police car in the western town of Barinas in the state of the same name.
Fresh clashes also broke out between protesters and police on the outskirts of Caracas, where demonstrators blocked streets with barricades.
After marches by various civil rights groups, it was the turn of the Venezuelan Medical Federation to express its frustrations in the streets.
About 20,000 thousand of its sympathizers marched towards the health ministry in Caracas.
Police fired tear gas to drive them back, in scenes that have become familiar after weeks of unrest.
“The country is verging on catastrophe. The health system is a disaster,” said Fernando Gudayol, a 50yearold surgeon.
“One is always afraid to come out, but we will carry on doing it until there is a change.”
The opposition is demanding elections to remove Maduro from power.
They blame him for an economic crisis that has caused shortages of food, medicine and basic supplies.
“A simple infection can turn into something serious for a lack of antibiotics and any kind of supplies, and for a lack of maintenance of the equipment,” said Eliecer Melear, a 41yearold urologist.