Caracas: Thirteen people have died during two days of unrest in Venezuela amid protests against leftist leader Nicolas Maduro, a Caracas-based rights group reported on Thursday. The deaths, mostly from gunshot wounds, were recorded in the capital and across the country, along with reports of looting in Brazilian border state Bolivar, the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict told AFP.
Unrest first kicked off on Monday when 27 soldiers rose up against Maduro at a command post in Caracas, calling upon people to “take to the streets” in a video circulated on social media. But the most fierce began on Tuesday night in Caracas and Bolivar — continuing Wednesday across Venezuela on a day of huge opposition-backed protests against Maduro.
In Bolivar’s San Felix, protesters burned a statue of former president Hugo Chavez late on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, anti-riot police confronted protesters in east Caracas following the march called for by opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself Venezuela’s interim president as part of his aim to remove Maduro. Apart from the capital Caracas, deaths were reported in Tachira, Barinas, Portuguesa, Amazonas and Bolivar states.
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