Riot police in Venezuela on Friday fired tear gas and water cannon to stop anti-government protesters from marching on a key military installation.
The opposition is trying to sway the support of the armed forces, a key pillar of the government of socialist Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is resisting opposition calls for early elections.
Retired military personnel joined demonstrators who tried to march to the Los Proceres complex, which houses the Venezuelan Ministry of Defense and lies close to a major military base in Caracas.
The protest was aimed at “demanding that the armed forces lower their weapons and not be complicit in the dictatorship,” Venezuelan National Assembly Vice President Freddy Guevara said.
The assembly is the only branch of government the opposition controls.
He called on the military to reject a “constituent assembly” to be elected in July and tasked with drafting a new constitution, saying Maduro’s plans “will liquidate Venezuelan democracy forever.”
Masked protesters threw Molotov cocktails at riot police in scenes familiar after nearly two months of unrest.
A 33-year-old man who was injured oin Thursday night during a protest in the western city of Cabudare died on Friday, bringing the death toll from eight weeks of unrest to 58.
Several people were also injured on Friday in the capital, including opposition lawmaker Carlos Paparoni, who was struck in the leg with a blunt object.
Venezuelan Attorney General Luisa Ortega blamed military police for hundreds of injuries and at least one death.
Protesters brand Maduro a dictator, blaming him for economic turmoil and food shortages.
Maduro is resisting their calls for early elections, saying the opposition and the US are plotting a coup against him.
Despite the opposition’s calls for the military to abandon Maduro, the high command has retained its public support for him so far.
A crowd of Maduro’s supporters in red shirts on Friday started a counter-demonstration near the presidential palace in central Caracas.
Maduro has launched steps to reform the constitution in response to the crisis.
His opponents say that is a bid to dodge elections.
The National Electoral Council said those who wanted to stand for election to the constituent assembly to rewrite the constitution should sign up on Thursday and Friday.
The opposition urged demonstrators to rally again yesterday, this time at the offices of the state media regulator.
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