Injuries at Venezuela protests against President Maduro

[Little Tich]

Source: BBC

More than 20 people have been injured and 39 detained during anti-government protests in Venezuela, a local rights group has said.

Images circulated on social media of injured people on the ground. There are reports at least three were shot.

Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to protest against President Nicolas Maduro's government.

It came after a recall referendum process - an attempt to remove Mr Maduro from power- was suspended.

Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-37783115

[Bacchus4.0]

1. Sounds like its getting tense

more here:

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/10/26/499491180/huge-crowds-rally-against-venezuelas-deeply-unpopular-president

Huge crowds of demonstrators rallied in the streets of Venezuela's capital and in cities across the country, after authorities halted a campaign to hold a recall election intended to oust the country's deeply unpopular president, Nicolas Maduro.

The demonstrators were protesting "what they call a sharp turn towards authoritarianism," as reporter John Otis tells our Newscast unit. "The Maduro government has jailed opposition leaders, stripped Congress of its powers and cracked down on the press," he says. Maduro, who was elected in 2013 after the death of Hugo Chavez, is also presiding over the country's current economic implosion.

The opposition was gearing up to gather signatures in order to trigger a recall election when the electoral council blocked the effort last week, citing alleged fraud, as The Two-Way has reported. "Basically, they're saying that they are not willing to give up power through constitutional means," Harold Trinkunas, a Venezuela expert at Stanford University, tells Otis.

Opposition leaders point out that the members of the council are aligned with Maduro. They say "their only alternative now is to take over the streets and convince President Maduro to resign," Otis adds.