Anti-government protests continue in Venezuela for a fourth week

Opposition activists in Venezuela.
(Image credit: Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images)

A local government worker was shot and killed Monday in the Venezuelan state of Merida, as anti-government protests in the country entered a fourth week.

Another person was shot and seriously injured. The shooting brings the death toll up to 11 people killed since the unrest began a month ago. The protests started when the Supreme Court, supportive of President Nicolas Maduro and his socialist government, took over the powers of the opposition-led congress. After public outrage, they rescinded their ruling, but protesters still took to the streets and are holding sit-ins to force early elections and autonomy for congress.

Maduro has accused the protesters of wanting a violent coup, while they say Maduro is silencing peaceful protesters. Venezuela was already facing an economic crisis and food and medicine shortages when the protests began. Over the past month, more than 1,400 people have been detained during the protests.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.