Thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets in wealthy eastern Caracas Thursday amid a tropical downpour to support a protest movement that is gaining steam even as it turns more deadly. Venezuela officials confirmed earlier in the day that a fifth person had died in the wave of anti-government protests now entering its third week.

Start the conversation, or Read more at US News & World Report. </s> CARACAS, VENEZUELA—Thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets in wealthy eastern Caracas Thursday amid a tropical downpour to support a protest movement that is gaining steam even as it turns more deadly.

Venezuela officials confirmed earlier in the day that a fifth person had died in the wave of anti-government protests now entering its third week.

The public prosecutor’s office says it will investigate the death of 36-year-old Miguel Colmenares. He was shot at a protest in the central city of Barquisimeto on Tuesday.

Read more:Venezuelans rally to oppose President Maduro as officials attempt to break up crowd

Gruseny Calderon was killed during the same protest. Congressman Alfonso Marquina says the 32-year-old protester was injured by rubber bullets that pierced his lung and liver. </s> Amid shortages of food and medicine, thousands take to Caracas streets as campaign to topple the president turns deadly.

Fresh clashes have erupted between police and protesters rallying against the Venezuelan government as a fifth person reportedly dies after being shot during earlier unrest.

Thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets in eastern Caracas amid a tropical downpour on Thursday to support a protest movement that appears to be gaining steam even as it turns more deadly.

Venezuela officials confirmed later in the day that a fifth person had died in the wave of anti-government protests now entering its third week.

The public prosecutor's office says it will investigate the death of Miguel Colmenares, 36.

He was shot at during a protest in the central city of Barquisimeto on Tuesday.

Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela's socialist president, is fighting off efforts to topple him as Venezuela struggles with shortages of food and medicine.

Dozens of people have been injured and more than 100 arrested over the past week in clashes in various cities, according to authorities.

Alfonso Marquina, an opposition politician, on Twitter identified the latest death as Antonio Gruseny Calderon and called him "another victim of the dictatorship".

Marquina and officials earlier said a 13-year-old boy was shot dead in protests on Tuesday in Barquisimeto.

Marquina blamed that killing on so-called colectivos, armed supporters of the government whom the opposition accuses of attacking them during demonstrations.

A 36-year-old man was killed the same night in Barquisimeto, prosecutors said.

Two 19-year-old students were shot by police in earlier unrest, one on April 6 and one on April 11, according to authorities.

Also on Thursday, Jose Manuel Olivares, another opposition legislator, said police fired tear gas "point-blank" at demonstrators in the state of Vargas.

"If they think they will scare us that way they are wrong. We will stay in the street!" he wrote on Twitter.

While demonstrations are often held in middle-class neighbourhoods, this most recent wave of unrest for the first time has prompted protests in the slums that have historically been bastions of support for the socialist revolution launched nearly two decades ago by Hugo Chavez, the late president. </s> MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) – More than 20 people were taken to the hospital amid anti-government protests in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, the country’s National Assembly deputy Jose Manuel Olivares said.

"13 electrocuted patients arrived [at the hospital], of whom 8 died and 1 is in grave condition!" Olivares wrote on Twitter on Friday, adding in another post that "Also came 8 patients injured by gunfire, 1 died in the emergency department of the University Hospital of Caracas."

Earlier on Friday, local media reported that the death toll from ongoing protests against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro stood at 10, with one person having been killed overnight in Caracas.

Executive Director of Venezuelan NGO (non-governmental organization) Foro Penal (Criminal Forum) Alfredo Romero wrote on Twitter on Friday that 1,289 people have been arrested amid protests in Venezuela since April 4.

Venezuelan National Assembly deputy Marialbert Barrios said on Thursday that a total of 585 people were arrested during anti-government demonstrations on Wednesday and Thursday.

Mass anti-government protests started in Venezuela at the beginning of April after the country’s Supreme Court decided to take on the legislative functions of the National Assembly, which is currently controlled by the opposition. The court’s decision was reversed, but protesters remained on the streets, demanding the resignation of the court’s members. </s> Caracas - A fifth person died Thursday after being shot during protests against the Venezuelan government, officials said, as tension mounted in a political crisis driven by food shortages.

The 32-year-old man died from a gunshot wound suffered during clashes on Tuesday night in the northwestern town of Cabudare, a spokesperson for the public prosecution service who asked not to be named told AFP.

Socialist President Nicolas Maduro is fighting off efforts to oust him as Venezuela, once a booming oil exporting nation, struggles with shortages of food and medicine.

Dozens of people have been injured and more than 100 arrested since April 6, according to authorities.

Riot police in various cities have fired tear gas and water cannon at stone-throwing demonstrators.

Opposition lawmaker Alfonso Marquina also reported the man's death on Twitter, identifying him as Antonio Gruseny Calderon.

Marquina called him "another victim of the dictatorship."

"My solidarity and condolences for all his relatives and friends. This must not go unpunished," he wrote.

Marquina and officials earlier said a 13-year-old boy was shot dead in protests on Tuesday in the western city of Barquisimeto, in Lara state.

Marquina blamed that killing on so-called "colectivos," armed supporters of the government who the opposition says commit violence during demonstrations.

A 36-year-old man was killed the same night in Barquisimeto, prosecutors said.

Two 19-year-old students were shot by police in earlier unrest, one on April 6 and one on April 11, according to authorities.

Also on Thursday, opposition lawmaker Jose Manuel Olivares said police fired tear gas "point-blank" at demonstrators in the state of Vargas.

"If they think they will scare us that way they are wrong. We will stay in the street!" he wrote on Twitter.

Two other demonstrations took place in Caracas and one in the country's second city, Maracaibo, without incidents, according to media reports.

On Wednesday, scuffles broke out between government supporters and opponents during a Holy Week procession at the Santa Teresa church in central Caracas.

The next major organised rallies called by opposition leaders are set for Wednesday next week.

That is expected to be the next big showdown in an increasingly fraught crisis that has raised international concerns for Venezuela's stability.

The opposition is demanding the authorities set a date for postponed regional elections.

It is also furious over moves to limit the powers of the legislature and ban senior opposition leader Henrique Capriles from politics.

Those moves have raised international condemnation including from the United States and the European Union.

Maduro has resisted opposition efforts to hold a referendum on removing him, vowing to continue the "socialist revolution" launched by his late predecessor Hugo Chavez.

Maduro says the economic crisis is the result of what he calls a US-backed capitalist conspiracy. </s> CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - The Latest on the political crisis in Venezuela (all times local):

For the first time in three weeks of protest, demonstrators in Venezuela have crossed from the wealthier eastern side of the nation's capital to the west without encountering resistance from state security.

Opposition lawmaker Freddy Guevara likened the march toward some of the city's more humble neighborhoods as "crossing the Berlin wall."

Tens of thousands of protesters dressed in white are marching in cities around Venezuela Saturday in homage to at least 20 people killed in a wave of unrest that has jolted the nation.

Opposition leaders marched with their arms wrapped around each other into western Caracas Saturday, vowing to continue protesting until new elections are granted.

Thousands of Venezuelans dressed in white are marching in a silent protest paying homage to the at least 20 people killed in unrest generated after the nation's Supreme Court stripped congress of its last powers, a decision it later reversed.

Walking with black bands tied around their arms and carrying signs denouncing President Nicolas Maduro, protesters in Caracas Saturday were heading toward the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference, where they were expecting to pray for those killed.

The protest is the latest mass gathering in a wave of tumult that has rocked the nation over the last three weeks as demonstrators press for new elections.

Those killed include protesters and bystanders struck by gunfire and a dozen dead Friday in overnight clashes and looting that destroyed more than two dozen businesses. </s> CARACAS, Venezuela — The Latest on the political crisis in Venezuela (all times local):

For the first time in three weeks of protest, demonstrators in Venezuela have crossed from the wealthier eastern side of the nation's capital to the west without encountering resistance from state security.

Opposition lawmaker Freddy Guevara likened the march toward some of the city's more humble as "crossing the Berlin wall."

Tens of thousands of protesters dressed in white are marching in cities around Venezuela Saturday in homage to at least 20 people killed in a wave of unrest that has jolted the nation.

Opposition leaders marched with their arms wrapped around each other into western Caracas Saturday, vowing to continue protesting until new elections are granted.

Thousands of Venezuelans dressed in white are marching in a silent protest paying homage to the at least 20 people killed in unrest generated after the nation's Supreme Court stripped congress of its last powers, a decision it later reversed.

Walking with black bands tied around their arms and carrying signs denouncing President Nicolas Maduro, protesters in Caracas Saturday were heading toward the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference, where they were expecting to pray for those killed.

The protest is the latest mass gathering in a wave of tumult that has rocked the nation over the last three weeks as demonstrators press for new elections.

Those killed include protesters and bystanders struck by gunfire and a dozen dead Friday in overnight clashes and looting that destroyed more than two dozen businesses. </s> At least two persons have died in the anti-government demonstrations in Venezuela that saw more than 400 people arrested, according to the country’s Criminal Forum.

While some 57 persons have been injured on Wednesday said the Mayor of Caracas’ Ramon Muchaco, Efe news reported from social media updates.

The demonstrators were attempting to approach the office of the Ombudsman to ask for the official’s support in the process that was launched by the opposition-controlled Parliament against the Supreme Court magistrates who took over some legislative duties.

The two persons killed during the protests were a 17-year-old boy in Caracas and a 23-year-old woman in Tachira state, the local media and the public prosecutor’s office said.

The Director of the Venezuelan Criminal Forum, Alfredo Romero, told EFE that the lawyers who were advising the arrested were constantly updating and verifying the figures in the capital as well as in the 23 states of Venezuela, as “too many cases had been registered in only one day.”

Muchaco said that the hospitals in his jurisdiction were taking care of 57 people “from the demonstration,” who tried unsuccessfully to reach the Ombudsman’s Office in the centre of the Venezuelan capital here.

“Everyone is out of danger,” Muchaco said on his Twitter account.

The two persons killed apparently were not participating in the demonstrations and were shot by unknown perpetrators, according to preliminary information.

Venezuela’s Executive Vice President Tareck el Aissami rejected accusations by opposition groups who blamed the government of Nicolas Maduro for the deaths.

After almost three weeks of anti-government protests on the streets of Venezuela and coupled with Wednesday’s figure, the current death toll has increased to eight, including one police officer.

Almost one thousand people have been arrested.

The police on Wednesday fired tear gas to disperse the demonstrators and block their marches.

The huge demonstration included thousands of government opponents who assembled and marched from 26 separate spots around the capital to the Libertador district.

The Libertador district encompasses part of the capital’s metro area’s central and western zones and is the area where key government buildings are located. </s> CARACAS, Venezuela -- Thousands of Venezuelans dressed in white, some walking with their hands up, marched Saturday in a silent protest in homage to the at least 20 people killed in unrest generated after the nation's Supreme Court stripped congress of its last powers, a decision it later reversed.

Saturday's protest was the latest mass gathering in a wave of tumult that has rocked the nation over the past three weeks as demonstrators continue to press for new elections. Throughout the protests, state security forces have confronted protesters with tear gas, drawing international condemnation. Those killed include protesters and bystanders struck by gunfire and a dozen dead in overnight clashes and looting that destroyed more than two dozen businesses in a working-class neighborhood.

"We should remember there are people who were killed fighting for the cause we are defending," opposition lawmaker Freddy Guevara told demonstrators walking through Caracas on Saturday. "And if they died for this we don't have the right to rest."

Elsewhere in the city, smaller pockets of violent protesters, some of them with their faces covered and throwing rocks, clashed with riot police, who responded with tear gas.

The opposition contends rogue, armed pro-government groups are fomenting the violence. Government leaders claim the violence is being generated by right-wing opposition forces working with criminal gangs in an attempt to remove them from power.

"These are terrorist groups on a mission to sow hate and death," Diosdado Cabello, leader of the ruling socialist party, told supporters last week.

For the first time, protesters were able to cross on Saturday from the east to the western side of Caracas without being confronted by state security, an act that Guevara compared in a tweet to "crossing the Berlin wall" that divides one half from the other. Eastern Caracas is home to some of the city's wealthiest neighborhoods, while the western side has poorer communities.

Once assembled outside the headquarters of the Roman Catholic bishops' confederation, religious leaders led the crowd in a moment of silence and asked God for strength. Then a string of political leaders passed around a megaphone and from the back of a pickup repeated their demand of recent days for immediate elections and freedom for dozens of jailed government opponents they consider political prisoners.

"Let it be heard: The dictatorship is in its final days," said Maria Corina Machado, who was stripped of her seat in congress in 2014. The crowd responded with shouts of "Freedom! Freedom!"
Thousands of people take to the streets in Caracas as Venezuelan authorities acknowledge a fifth death in the protests.