Nicolas Maduro

More than 200,000 protesters took to the streets in Venezuela on May 20 on day 50 of an angry and sometimes deadly showdown with unpopular President Nicolas Maduro.

As with many of the previous marches in crisis-hit Venezuela, police fired tear gas as protesters in the capital of the oil rich country suffering from dire shortages of the most basic of goods.

"I am no Mussolini," insisted Venezuela's beleagured President Nicolas Maduro on television early this month, but if things go on this way he could end up like Mussolini. That would be very unfortunate for him, and also for Venezuela.

Thousands of babies died in Venezuela last year, new official data show, highlighting the tragic impact of the country's economic crisis as political tension heightened with deadly street clashes May 10. The health ministry said deaths of infants under the age of one soared by 30 percent in 2016, a year when hospitals and protesters complained of severe shortages of medical supplies.

Thousands of women dressed in white marched in Venezuela's capital on May 6 to keep pressure on President Nicolas Maduro, whose authority is being increasingly challenged by protests and deadly unrest.

Led by opposition leaders, lawmakers and Lilian Tintori - the wife of jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez - the crowd carried flowers and placards denouncing "repression."  

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called for a new constitution May 1 as he fights to quell a crisis that has led to more than a month of protests against him and deadly street violence.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro hiked wages and handed out hundreds of free homes on April 30 amid his efforts to counter a strengthening protest movement seeking his removal.

The entrenched and embattled presidents of Venezuela and Turkey may live worlds apart, but their tenures in office are acquiring striking similarities.

The Venezuelan foreign minister announced the country will withdraw from the Organization of American States (OAS) after it voted to call an emergency meeting of foreign ministers without Caracas' approval.

Twelve people were killed in Caracas overnight following two days of mass street protests against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s beleaguered government.
Six people were also injured in the escalating violence, the public ministry said in a statement on Friday. The latest figures raised the total number of deaths during growing protests to 20 over the past three weeks.

Venezuela's energized opposition is planning sit-ins on roads, silent marches in white to commemorate the dead and other nontraditional protests as it tries to build on the momentum of recent street demonstrations against President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government.