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>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>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>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>CARACAS, April 27 Venezuela's electoral authority said on Saturday the opposition created false hopes about a vote audit being prepared after President Nicolas Maduro's narrow election win, adding that his rival had failed to present compelling proof of foul play.

The National Electoral Council had stressed from the start that the "expanded" audit it agreed to after the April 14 vote would not change the results, which made Maduro the successor to the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez.

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles says there were thousands of irregularities during the vote, and that his own calculations showed he won. He says he will challenge the outcome in the OPEC nation's courts.

"We have always insisted that Capriles had the right to challenge the process," Tibisay Lucena, president of the electoral council, said in a televised national broadcast.

"But it is also his obligation to present proof."

She dismissed various opposition submissions alleging voting irregularities as lacking key details, and said Capriles had subsequently tried to present the audit in very different terms than the electoral council had agreed to.

"It has been manipulated to generate false expectations about the process, including making it look like the consequence of the wider audit could affect the election results," she said.

Capriles has said that unless the audit includes all the relevant paperwork from polling centers, his team would not take part in a process that would end up being "a joke."

He has conceded that his legal challenge to Maduro's election faces a difficult path through the South American country's courts. Critics say Chavez packed the judiciary with loyal political appointees during his 14 years in power.

Capriles, a 40-year-old centrist state governor, confounded opinion polls to run a close finish against Maduro in the election, held just five weeks after Chavez's death from cancer. Capriles lost by less than two percentage points, according to official results.

The government blames Capriles for post-election violence that it says killed nine people, and the "Chavista"-dominated Congress is investigating him in connection with the unrest.

On Saturday, security forces arrested a retired general who is now a senior official with an opposition party and was recorded on video apparently advising rioters during clashes with police in a Caracas square a day after the election.

The opposition said the arrest was "illegal and cowardly."

The government also has arrested an American citizen it says was financing opposition student protesters to destabilize the country on behalf of an unnamed U.S. intelligence agency.

Relatives and friends of Timothy Hallet Tracy, 34, described him to U.S. media as a documentary-maker who was in Venezuela to make a film about the presidential election.

Some Maduro allies say the violence was proof that the opposition tried to launch a coup, while the opposition accuses the authorities of exaggerating the trouble and counting victims of common crime among its figures.

Both sides have called on their followers to march again on May 1, creating another potential flashpoint.

On Saturday, Maduro was on an official visit to Cuba to strengthen ties between the two countries. Chavez helped support Cuba's economy after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Maduro spoke at a tribute where President Raul Castro described Chavez as Cuba's best friend, and he signed cooperation accords for 51 projects.

Capriles, who accuses Cuba's Castro brothers of meddling in Venezuela's affairs, criticized the trip on Twitter.

"The Big Connected-One (Maduro) goes to Havana to receive instructions from his Boss. We always said it, there's nothing more powerful that the truth!" the opposition leader tweeted. (Editing by Paul Simao)</s>The oil-rich but crisis-shaken South American nation has been convulsed by escalating protests over the last two weeks amid a punishing recession and accusations that Maduro has seized dictatorial powers.

In a worrying sign for Maduro, people in traditionally pro-government slums and low-income areas have blocked streets and lit fires during scattered protests this week. A crowd also broke through a security cordon at a Maduro rally on Tuesday, heckling him and throwing stones while bodyguards scrambled.

Authorities confirmed a fifth person had been killed during protests over the last week, as the opposition pushes an agenda that includes calls for an early presidential election and the freeing of jailed political activists.

Seeing momentum on their side, opposition leaders were urging Venezuelans to keep up the pressure across the country on Thursday in an effort to leave security forces too thinly spread to break up rallies.

Opposition activists accuse police and the National Guard of indiscriminate use of tear gas, including at clinics, and arbitrarily detaining people for simply being within the vicinity of protests.

"This is a struggle of resistance, whose fundamental objective is to wear them out, and see who breaks first," said opposition lawmaker Freddy Guevara in a video posted on Twitter.

"Will it be our desire to fight or theirs to repress? Will it be our desire to have a better Venezuela or theirs to obey the dictatorship?"

The opposition says Maduro made it clear to the world he was a dictator when the Supreme Court in late March assumed the functions of the opposition-led congress.

The court quickly rolled back on the move in the face of an international outcry, but it breathed new life into the fractured opposition movement.

Last week's government move to ban opposition leader Henrique Capriles from holding office for 15 years also fuelled demonstrators' outrage. Capriles was seen as the opposition's best presidential hope in elections scheduled for late next year.

A tropical downpour hurt turnout at a protest in Caracas on Thursday, with only a few hundred protesters showing up by midday. Some also stayed at home due to fears of clashes, especially with pro-government grassroots groups that the opposition blames for fomenting violence.

Still, a couple hundred protesters were also marching in the sweltering oil hub of Maracaibo near the Colombia border, brandishing signs reading "No to dictatorship!" and waving Venezuelan flags. Small marches also took place in Ciudad Guayana, in the jungle and savannah state of Bolivar, where protesters scrawled "elections now!" on the street.

"Maduro must know we cannot keep going like this," said carpenter Rafael Garcia, 41, who was protesting in the arid province of Paraguana. "I don't want to be here protesting during Easter holidays, but it's worth the effort because what we live through in the next few years depends on this."

Along with planned opposition marches that have dissolved into clashes, there have also been scattered reports of looting and impromptu nighttime protests, with demonstrators sealing off streets with makeshift barricades of trash or burning debris.

Maduro has drawn parallels between his own situation and that of his populist predecessor - the late Hugo Chavez - during a short-lived coup in 2002. He has also warned that an opposition government would slash social benefits like healthcare for the poor and subsidized food.

The opposition has responded that any social advances made under Chavez have been wiped out by an economic crisis that has brought widespread shortages of food and medicine.

Major anti-government protests in 2014 eventually fizzled out. But many Venezuelans are now geared up for next Wednesday when opposition leaders say they will stage an anti-government protest dubbed the "Mother of all Marches."</s>Newly militant opposition leaders also announced another round of demonstrations against President Nicolas Maduro for Thursday, despite chaos and violence in Caracas on Tuesday that left 20 injured and 18 arrested.

The opposition, which won control of the National Assembly in late 2015, accuses Maduro of wrecking the South American nation's economy and squashing democracy.

Maduro says his foes are seeking a coup with the help of Washington and compliant foreign media.

The opposition's main demand now is to bring forward the next presidential election scheduled for the end of 2018.

But there is no sign authorities will concede, analysts and diplomats say, unless foreign pressure ramps up considerably or Venezuela's powerful military sways the equation.

The political drama is playing out against the backdrop of a deep economic crisis, with Venezuelans suffering a fourth year of recession, widespread shortages of basic foods and medicines, the world's worst inflation, and long lines at supermarkets.

Having been impeded from reaching the National Assembly on Tuesday, lawmakers headed to the building in downtown Caracas from dawn on Wednesday, some still nursing head wounds or bandaged arms from clashes in recent days.

"We are going to keep fighting for change, opposing repression and dictatorship," lawmaker Juan Requesens, who had a gash on his head, said at 6:30 a.m. while en route to the session.

Often at the forefront of provocative demonstrations, Requesens received more than 50 stitches after being hit by a stone when pro-government supporters confronted protesters at the public ombudsman's office earlier this week.

The Caracas-based Penal Forum rights group said 18 people were still behind bars on Wednesday after detentions around the country, but mostly in Caracas. At least 20 people were injured on Tuesday, its head, Alfredo Romero, told Reuters.

There was particular outcry over a musician caught and slapped by police with riot shields while apparently on his way to practice, according to a video of the incident. State ombudsman Tarek Saab called for a probe into the "brutal aggression."

The head of the hemispheric Organization of American States and global rights group Amnesty International both condemned Venezuela for excessive repression.

But Interior Minister Nestor Reverol denied that, calling instead for one opposition leader, Henrique Capriles, to be prosecuted for blocking streets, including impeding an ambulance.

"The exemplary behavior, capacity and training of our citizens' security organs prevented the unpredictable consequences of these terrorist groups," Reverol added.

The oil-producing nation's political standoff took a new twist last week when the Supreme Court ruled that it was taking over the legislature's functions.

That touched off an international outcry, and the tribunal quickly scrubbed the offending clauses.

But dozens of previous rulings overturning National Assembly measures have left it powerless anyway, and opposition leaders say recent events have shown the world Maduro's autocratic face.

Lawmakers passed one motion on Wednesday denouncing the "rupture" of Venezuela's constitution and another asking for the removal of Supreme Court judges.

But that would be merely symbolic since congress requires the support of other institutions, which are behind Maduro, to dismiss the judges.

"Stop being ridiculous; you're carrying out a parliamentary 'coup,'" said Socialist Party lawmaker Hector Rodriguez, accusing opposition leaders of caring less about Venezuelans' problems than their own competing presidential ambitions.</s>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.
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.