Thousands of supporters and foes of President Nicolas Maduro took to the capital’s streets for rival rallies marking a month since the first bloodshed in the recent unrest around the South American OPEC nation.
Trouble began when National Guard troops blocked opposition marchers from leaving Plaza Venezuela to head to the state ombudsman’s office. Students threw stones and petrol bombs while security forces fired tear gas and turned water cannons on them.
Reuters witnesses saw dozens of people leaving injured.
Elsewhere, in central Carabobo state, a student, a middle-aged man and an army captain were shot dead in the latest fatalities from now-daily clashes around the South American nation of 29 million people.
Opposition activists blamed armed government supporters for shooting the student near his home in Valencia city, but the state governor said the shot came from snipers among protesters.
A 42-year-old man died during the same disturbances, shot while painting his house, the local mayor said. In the third killing, an army captain died from a gunshot during a clash with “terrorist criminals”, government officials said.
Maduro’s government has declared victory over an attempted “coup” against the 51-year-old former bus driver who won election last year to succeed the late Hugo Chavez.
Student radicals have vowed to continue the “Venezuelan Spring” protests. But despite the bloodshed and drag the actions have had on the county’s troubled economy, Maduro appears to be in little danger of being toppled.
“I’m going to take drastic measures against these sectors who are attacking and killing the people,” a furious Maduro said in a speech to the nation as night fell.