Student Leader loses life amid Venezuela protest

Protesting student:

A student leader was shot dead as protests raged on in the streets of Venezuela on Thursday.
The student leader killed Thursday was at a meeting in the northern state of Anzoategui when “one of those present approached him and shot him several times before fleeing on a motorbike,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

It did not say whether the killing was directly linked to the protests. But it came amid high tension as students pushed on with a wave of street rallies.

Crowds of them marched in Caracas, some clashing with riot police who blocked their way and fired tear gas.

Hooded youths responded by throwing Molotov cocktails and stones.

The prosecutors said a policeman died from a gunshot wound during a protest Wednesday in the western city of Carabobo.

The protest was aimed at removing President Nicolas Maduro from power.

Crowds of students clashed with riot police firing tear gas in the mounting crisis in this oil-rich country saddled with shortages of food, medicine and other basics.

Political opponent of Maduro’s accuse him of trying to strengthen his grip on power and delay elections by launching legal proceedings to overhaul the constitution.

The latest toll provided by prosecutors on Thursday said 35 people have been killed in just over a month of protests against Maduro, whose opponents blame him for Venezuela’s dire economic mess.

Protesters at the women’s rally, to take place in downtown Caracas, were urged to wear white, a traditional show of defiance against what organizers have branded a repressive government. The rally is to hold on Saturday.