Rubber bullets fired as crowds protest against country’s president

AUTHORITIES HAVE fired tear gas and rubber bullets at thousands of opponents of President Nicolas Maduro on the streets of Caracas amid a week-long protest in Venezuela.

The demonstrations in the capital and other cities came a day after Mr Maduro’s government barred top opposition leader Henrique Capriles from running for office for 15 years.

The ban capped a tumultuous 10-day crackdown that saw progovernment groups rough up several opposition leaders and another seek refuge in a foreign embassy to escape arrest.

The protests were triggered by the Supreme Court’s decision to gut the opposition-controlled legislature of its last vestiges of power.

The move that was later reversed amid widespread international condemnation and even dissent within Mr Maduro’s socialist leadership.

“Nobody can disqualify the Venezuelan people,” an emotional Mr Capriles said from a stage on Saturday as he called on protesters to march to the Ombudsman’s office.

As the sea of protesters approached the headquarters of state-run PDVSA oil company, they were met by tear gas and rubber bullets.

Mayhem ensued, with riot police racing down windy streets, dodging objects thrown from apartment buildings as they deployed to squash the unrest.

At least 17 people were treated for injuries, according to Ramon Muchacho, a Caracas-area mayor where the demonstration took place. Around most of Caracas, checkpoints were set up to search cars and frisk bus passengers even miles away from the clashes.

As the most dominant figure in the opposition over the past decade, Mr Capriles has been at the forefront of the protests.

They are the most combative since a wave of anti-government unrest in 2014, in which dozens of people were killed.