Deadly protests take place as Venezuela votes in controversial election

(Image credit: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images)

As many as 14 people were killed Sunday in Venezuela during violent protests against President Nicolas Maduro's election to create a constitutional assembly.

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles said as many as 14 people died during demonstrations, while the prosecutor's office confirmed gunfire killed at least six people, including a national guardsman. Many Venezuelans stayed away from the polls, calling the election a sham. The assembly would rewrite the constitution and have nearly unlimited powers to dissolve institutions like the parliament, now controlled by the opposition. The opposition believes the assembly would turn the country into a dictatorship, and the election is being criticized by many foreign governments as being illegal.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.