Venezuela protesters vow to turn up the heat

Now in their second week, protests initially erupted on April 1

Thousands of protesters demanding new elections faced off with security forces who launched tear gas and stood shoulderto-shoulder blocking roadways in the Venezuelan capital on Monday.

Demonstrators covered their faces to protect against the plumes of tear gas that wafted through the streets of Caracas. A few threw rocks as they tried to make their way downtown waving Venezuelan flags and carrying signs decrying President Nicolas Maduro.

“We need to get out on the street and fight, to tell these people we don’t want them,” said Maria Guedez, a 67-yearold homemaker carrying a sign that read, “No more dictatorship.”

Now in their second week, the protests initially erupted April 1 after the Supreme Court stripped congress of its last vestiges of power, a decision it later reversed. Demonstrators and opposition leaders are angered at what they see as a government that no longer respects democratic institutions and is sliding towards authoritarianism.

AFP A young woman who was overcome by tear gas shot by riot police is carried away by fellow demonstrators after opposition activists clashed with police in Caracas.