Venezuela has marked a month since protests began with another violent clash betweeen student-led protesters and government troops which has left three more people dead. Students and anti-government activists took to the streets in a number of rallies throughout Caracas on Wednesday: violence erupted when government troops refused to allow protesters to leave Plaza Venezuela. Students attacked the National Guard with petrol bombs and rocks and were met with tear gas and water cannons in return.
The death toll in Venezuela has now risen to twenty-five: casualties have been felt on both sides. In the most recent spate of violence a student, a middle-aged man and an army captain were shot dead. Yet despite the rising violence, President Nicolás Maduro has insisted that his government has triumphed: "We have faced a coup and neutralised it," Mr Maduro said this week. "I'm going to take drastic measures against these sectors who are attacking and killing the people."
"Today we're marching to denounce the repression. There can't be impunity. Why do they attack us when we are demonstrating freely? The security forces are bowing to a political ideology when their duty is to protect the people," law student Agnly Veliz, 22 told Reuters at the opposition rally. Veliz has been protesting everyday since the rallies began on February 12. "What's the point of graduating while the country is in chaos? If I lose the year but help to achieve a better Venezuela, then it's worth it."
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