Venezuela crisis: Three killed at anti-government protests

At least three people have been killed in Venezuela in protests against the government of President Nicolas Maduro.

A teenager in the capital Caracas and a woman in San Cristobal, near the Colombian border, were shot dead.

A national guardsman was killed in south of the capital. Tens of thousands of people rallied to demand new presidential elections and the release of jailed opposition politicians.
Mr Maduro accused the opposition of attacking police.

What happened?
Opposition groups had called on their supporters to take part in anti-government protests across the country on Wednesday.

In the capital, Caracas, tens of thousands marched towards the Ombudsman's office from different points in the city. Some of the marches turned violent, with protesters throwing stones and members of the security forces firing tear gas and rubber bullets.

Tens of thousands of government supporters also gathered for a rival rally in Caracas at which President Maduro spoke.

Who died and why?
Seventeen-year-old Carlos José Moreno was killed by a shot in the head in the centre of Caracas near an opposition demonstration.

His brother said the teenager had not been attending the protest but was on his way to play football when he came across an opposition march and was shot dead.

Witnesses told Agence France Press news agency that the shots were fired by men on motorbikes, who also threw tear gas at the opposition march.

A 23-year-old student, Paola Ramírez, was shot dead in the city of San Cristobal, in western Venezuela.
Her boyfriend told Reuters news agency that they were chased by armed men on motorbikes as they were leaving an anti-government protest in the city, also on a motorbike.

Ms Ramírez was shot dead shortly afterwards at a square where she had been looking for her sister, her boyfriend said.

A member of the National Guard, Sergeant Niumar Sanclemente, was shot dead in Miranda state, ombudsman Tarek Saab tweeted.

He said that Sgt Sanclemente had been killed by a "sharpshooter" during an anti-government protest, where a National Guard colonel was also injured.

He did not give further details about who the sharpshooter may have been. Who was behind the killings? Witnesses in the killings of Mr Moreno and Ms Ramírez said that the shooters belonged to "colectivos", pro-government militant grassroots groups.

Members of the colectivos argue that they are defending President Maduro's socialist revolution from attacks from elitist and imperialist sectors of society. But critics say their most hardline members are little more than thugs who intimidate anyone who thinks differently. Vice-President Tareck El Aissami said opposition leaders who had called for the protests were to blame for the killings, in particular the president of the opposition-led National Assembly, Julio Borges.

"The person responsible [for the killings] is Julio Borges, as he has repeatedly spread his message of violence, hate and intolerance," Mr El Aissami said. "He pushed one group of Venezuelans to confront another group of our countrymen."

Ombudsman Saab called for an investigation into all of the killings. What else happened? More than 50 people are reported to have been injured in the protests across Venezuela.

There were reports of shops being looted in western Caracas and more than 500 people were arrested according to figures compiled by a non-governmental group Foro Penal.

A pro-government rally in Caracas was attended by tens of thousands of people who cheered President Maduro and the deputy leader of the socialist PSUV party, Diosdado Cabello. Mr Cabello praised the people who had come out to "defend the Bolivarian Revolution".

In a sign of heightening tension between the government and private enterprise, US car giant General Motors said that its Venezuelan plant in the city of Valencia had been "unexpectedly taken by the public authorities".