CARACAS: Two leading Venezuelan opposition figures were wounded in anti-government protests on Monday, as demonstrators vowed to intensify pressure on President Nicolas Maduro and against his plans to hold a constitutional assembly. Henrique Capriles, a former opposition presidential candidate, said he and his team were beaten by National Guard troops as they left a rally that had been broken up by tear gas. “They cornered us, they beat us. They robbed us all. They took my team’s watches, radios, gas masks. When I asked them ‘What’s wrong with you?’ their reaction was to give me a blow to the face. Did they want to kill us?” he told reporters. Separately, lawmaker Carlos Paparoni was wounded when he was struck on the head by a tear gas canister. Protesters wearing masks and helmets hurled stones and fuel bombs at riot police as they tried to march downtown along a major highway in Caracas toward the government ombudsman’s office. Police, who were blocking the road, responded by firing tear gas, water cannon and buckshot. </s> Two Venezuelan opposition leaders were among more than a dozen people wounded by security forces dispersing protests in the capital Caracas against President Nicolas Maduro.

Maduro’s adversaries have for two months been blocking highways and setting up barricades in protests demanding he call early elections and address an increasingly severe economic crisis that has left millions struggling to get enough to eat.

Fifty-nine people have died in the often violent street melees, which Maduro calls an effort to overthrow his government.

“We were ambushed,” said two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, who accompanied protesters on Monday in an effort to march to the headquarters of the government ombudsman’s office, but was blocked by security forces.

“This government is capable of killing or burning anything,” Capriles said in a press conference.

He said 16 others were injured in the march, adding he would file a complaint about the issue with state prosecutors.

Legislator Jose Olivares, who is a doctor, tweeted a picture of a bruise on Capriles’ face that he said was the result of a soldier hitting him with a helmet during the clashes.

During the same march, opposition deputy Carlos Paparoni was knocked to the ground by a water cannon sprayed from a truck, requiring he receive stitches in his head, Olivares said.

The Information Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. </s> MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) — A total of 247 people received different injuries during anti-government protests in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas on Monday, local media reported citing Henrique Capriles, an opposition leader and the Miranda state governor.

According to El Nacional newspaper, 65 people were injured by steel billets, 66 were hit by shotgun pellets, 90 were asphyxiated, four received fractures and 22 others were beaten. </s> Riot security forces clash with demonstrators as a motorcycle is set on fire during a protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in San Cristobal, Venezuela May 29, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Eduardo Ramirez

CARACAS (Reuters) - Two Venezuelan opposition leaders were wounded on Monday by security forces dispersing protests in the capital Caracas against President Nicolas Maduro, according to one of the leaders and an opposition legislator.

Maduro’s adversaries have for two months been blocking highways and setting up barricades in protests demanding he call early elections and address an increasingly severe economic crisis that has left millions struggling to get enough to eat.

Fifty-nine people have died in the often violent street melees, which Maduro calls an effort to overthrow his government.

“We were ambushed,” said two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, who accompanied protesters in an effort to march to the headquarter of the government ombudsman’s office but was blocked by security forces.

“This government is capable of killing or burning anything,” Capriles said in a press conference.

He said 16 others were injured in the march, adding that he would file a complaint about the issue with state prosecutors.

Legislator Jose Olivares, who is a doctor, tweeted a picture of a bruise on Capriles’ face that he said was the result of a soldier hitting him with a helmet during the clashes.

During the same march, opposition deputy Carlos Paparoni was knocked to the ground by a water cannon sprayed from a truck, requiring that he receive stitches in his head, Olivares said.

The Information Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. </s> Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles has been tear-gassed during a protest in the capital.

The former presidential candidate was gassed Monday by soldiers who were trying to control an opposition protest that blocked a highway.

His bodyguards helped him get out of the scrum of protesters. Capriles says soldiers assaulted members of his team as they tried to move away from the crowd.

The demonstrators had been trying to make their way to a government office in the center of Caracas, but were blocked by hundreds of soldiers in riot gear and armored cars.

Such scenes have played out again and again during two months of near-daily protests by opponents of Venezuela's socialist government. </s> CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles has been tear-gassed during a protest in the capital.

The former presidential candidate was gassed Monday by soldiers who were trying to control an opposition protest that blocked a highway.

His bodyguards helped him get out of the scrum of protesters. Capriles says soldiers assaulted members of his team as they tried to move away from the crowd.

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles, center, takes cover from tear gas during a march towards the Ombudsman's Office in protest of President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, May 29, 2017. Protests against Maduro's government have left dozens dead in the last two months. The opposition wants immediate presidential elections and the liberation of political prisoners. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

The demonstrators had been trying to make their way to a government office in the center of Caracas, but were blocked by hundreds of soldiers in riot gear and armored cars.

Such scenes have played out again and again during two months of near-daily protests by opponents of Venezuela's socialist government.

A protester injured by a glass marble fired by security forces is carried away as an opposition march against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is blocked from reaching the Ombudsman's Office in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, May 29, 2017. Protests against Maduro's government have left dozens dead in the last two months. The opposition wants immediate presidential elections and the liberation of political prisoners. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Protesters confront security forces blocking them from marching to the Ombudsman's Office to protest Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, May 29, 2017. Protests against Maduro's government have left dozens dead in the last two months. The opposition wants immediate presidential elections and the liberation of political prisoners. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Security forces spray a water canon at opposition protesters marching to the Ombudsman's Office to protest Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, May 29, 2017. Protests against Maduro's government have left dozens dead in the last two months. The opposition wants immediate presidential elections and the liberation of political prisoners. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

A man carries a weeping boy away from clashes with security forces during a march towards the Ombudsman's Office to protest Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, May 29, 2017. Protests against Maduro's government have left dozens dead in the last two months. The opposition wants immediate presidential elections and the liberation of political prisoners. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano) </s> Opposition leader Henrique Capriles, center, takes cover from tear gas during a march towards the Ombudsman's Office in protest of President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, May 29, 2017. Protests against Maduro's government have left dozens dead in the last two months. The opposition wants immediate presidential elections and the liberation of political prisoners. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles, center, takes cover from tear gas during a march towards the Ombudsman's Office in protest of President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, May 29, 2017. Protests against Maduro's government have left dozens dead in the last two months. The opposition wants immediate presidential elections and the liberation of political prisoners. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles has been tear-gassed during a protest in the capital.

The former presidential candidate was gassed Monday by soldiers who were trying to control an opposition protest that blocked a highway.

His bodyguards helped him get out of the scrum of protesters. Capriles says soldiers assaulted members of his team as they tried to move away from the crowd.

The demonstrators had been trying to make their way to a government office in the center of Caracas, but were blocked by hundreds of soldiers in riot gear and armored cars.

Such scenes have played out again and again during two months of near-daily protests by opponents of Venezuela’s socialist government. </s> A big protest happened in Caracas, Venezuela last Saturday, April 8, 2017, where 4,000 protesters attended. These people are supporters of Henrique Capriles, a 44-year-old leader of the opposition who lost in the battle as a president last 2013 where his opponent President Nicolas Maduro won.The said protest last Saturday rises when the protesters who stayed in the east of the city change their course at Capriles's request and headed downtown to the government's ombudsman office.

According to Time, the clash began where authorities closed the metro stations, set up checkpoints and cordoned off a square where protesters planned their rebellion against the present administration. Capriles wrote on his twitter account that Maduro wanted to kill them because the buildings where he carries out his political activities was bombed and if something bad happens to them people already have an idea who will be to sought.

The Venezuelan protesters clash with police through throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails where two police officers were hit by flaming bottles.The Anti- Maduro protesters that clashed with police build barricades, burn rubbish and hurl rocks. On the other hand, the national guard police used tear gas, water cannon, and rubber bullets. According to the mayor of Caracas, the initial tally of injured people stood at seventeen

According to the The Organization of World Peace, this clash between the people and government was born after the experience of crisis in Venezuela. Many people suffer from inflation, food shortage, not enough medicines and other necessities that should be given to every people.

This political crisis in Venezuela started when the State Comptroller Manuel Galindo imposed the ban of Capriles from his position as a governor due to administrative irregularities. Governor Capriles served as a governor since 2008 and said that he will appeal the decision and continue his duty and job.

Some people are showing their sympathy to Capriles, like Adel Rincones, 61, said that what they did to the Capriles was a sign of tyranny and according to Vanessa Garcia, 37, who is an optometry student, people are tired of corruption, hunger, and poverty. Other bigger demonstrations are expected this coming 19 during Venezuela's National Holiday. </s> CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — At least 12 people were killed overnight following looting and violence in Venezuela’s capital amid a spiraling political crisis, authorities said Friday.

Most of the deaths took place in El Valle, a working class neighborhood near Caracas’ biggest military base where opposition leaders say a group of people were hit with an electrical current while trying to loot a bakery protected by an electric fence.

Two days of massive protests on the streets of Caracas against the government of President Nicolas Maduro spilled into a violent night in several parts of the city, with residents in El Valle witnessing repetitive gunfire, street barricades set aflame and more than a dozen businesses looted. Amid the confusion, mothers and newborn children had to be evacuated from a maternity hospital named after the late leader Hugo Chavez when it was swamped with tear gas.

The Public Ministry said the violence left 11 people dead in El Valle, all men between the ages of 17 and 45. Another death was reported east of Caracas in El Sucre. Six others were injured.

Opposition leaders blamed the government for repressing protesters with tear gas but standing idly by as businesses were looted. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez pointed the finger at the opposition, saying armed groups controlled by them were responsible for the attack at the hospital.

“We reject and do not accept those irresponsible declarations,” said Henrique Capriles, a former presidential candidate who the government recently barred from running for public office.

Earlier Friday, officials reported that one of the dead was Mervins Guitian. The young Venezuelan man was fatally shot when he was returning home late from work on Thursday and got caught in the middle of late-night street clashes. Vicente Paez, a local councilman, said Guitian was an employee of a Caracas-area city governed by an opposition mayor and didn’t join the protests. It wasn’t clear who shot him and there was no immediate comment from authorities.

Venezuelan social media was ablaze late into the night with grainy cellphone videos of light-armored vehicles plowing down dark streets to control pockets of protesters who set up burning barricades in several neighborhoods.

Vice President Tareck El Aissami said Friday the country is facing an “unconventional war” led by opposition groups working in concert with criminal gangs. He said opposition claims government forces were responsible for launching tear gas at the maternity hospital were another attempt to demoralize a people who have “decided to break ties with the bourgeoisie forever.”

Overall, at least 20 people have been killed in the unrest generated after the government-stacked Supreme Court gutted congress of its last vestiges of power three weeks ago — a move later reversed amid a storm of international criticism. Opposition members say they do not intend to ease up on protests demanding new elections as they decry a government they deem a dictatorship responsible for triple-digit inflation, rising crime and food shortages.

“Twenty days of resistance and we feel newly born,” said opposition lawmaker Freddy Guevara during an evening, outdoor press conference as residents looking out from balconies in an eastern Caracas neighborhood at the heart of the protest movement cheered loudly in support.

The next planned protest is Saturday, when opponents are being asked to dress in white and march silently to commemorate the victims of the demonstration. There’s also a sit-in to block major highways planned for Monday.

General Motors announced early Thursday that it was closing its operations in Venezuela after authorities seized its factory in the industrial city of Valencia, a move that could draw the Trump administration into the escalating chaos engulfing the nation.

A number of major Latin American governments, including Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, called on Venezuela to take steps to increase democratic order and halt the violence that has been swirling around the protests. Across the country, clashes have been intense as protests grow in size and fervor.

The Supreme Court ruling reinvigorated Venezuela’s fractious opposition, which had been struggling to channel growing disgust with Maduro over widespread food shortages, triple-digit inflation and rampant crime.

Opponents are pushing for Maduro’s removal through early elections and the release of dozens of political prisoners. The government last year abruptly postponed regional elections that the opposition was heavily favored to win and it cut off a petition drive aimed at forcing a referendum seeking Maduro’s removal before elections scheduled for late next year.

But the government hasn’t backed down.

Already drawing criticism for the GM seizure, Maduro announced late Thursday that he wanted an investigation into cellphone operator Movistar for allegedly being part of the “coup-minded march” organized by his adversaries Wednesday. That march was the largest and most dramatic the country has seen in years. He said the subsidiary of Spain’s Telefonica “sent millions of messages to users every two hours” in support of Wednesday’s protests.

As tensions mount, the government is using its almost-complete control of Venezuela’s institutions to pursue its opponents. On Wednesday alone, 565 protesters were arrested nationwide, according to Penal Forum, a local group that provides legal assistance to detainees. It said 334 remained in jail Thursday.

Associated Press photographer Juan Carlos Hernandez in Valencia, AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher in Detroit, and Christine Armario in Bogota, Colombia, contributed to this report.

More Associated Press reporting on Venezuela’s problems can be found at https://www.ap.org/explore/venezuela-undone .
Eighteen people, including two opposition leaders, Henrique Capriles and Carlos Paparoni, are injured in Caracas as security forces stop protestors from reaching the government ombudsman's office.