Venezuela braced for rival demonstrations on Wednesday for and against President Nicolas Maduro, whose moves to tighten his grip on power have triggered deadly unrest and escalated the country’s political and economic crisis.
Maduro’s opponents are vowing to stage the “mother of all protests” calling for his ouster, after two weeks of violent demos that have left five people dead and dozens wounded.
Sowing fears of more violence, Maduro is in turn urging his supporters, the military and civilian militias to defend the leftist “revolution” launched by his late predecessor Hugo Chavez in 1999.