A National Guard soldier and a pregnant woman have been killed
in the latest protest-related violence in Venezuela.
The head of Venezuela’s congress said on Monday
that a top opposition politician had lost her seat and is no longer
immune from prosecution for allegedly fomenting violence in the
anti-government protests.
A series of protests against the government of President Nicolas
Maduro began five weeks ago, less than a year after Maduro
succeeded the late Hugo Chavez.32 people are currently dead amid this protest.
The National Guard member, Sergeant Miguel Antonio Parra, died
on Monday during a street demonstration in Merida, said the
southwestern city’s mayor, Carlos Garcia.
The opposition politician said Parra was shot when he and two
other National Guard soldiers were trying to clear the roadways
and were confronted by protesters.
The woman who was killed, 28-year-old Adriana Urquiola, died
Sunday night in Guaicaipuro, said the mayor of the municipality
just outside the capital of Caracas.
Five months pregnant, Urquiola was shot after she left a bus that
was stuck in traffic because of a barricade built by anti-
government protesters.
She had begun walking toward the road block but did not appear
to have been participating in the protest. It was unclear when she
was fired upon.
General Padrino Lopez, head of the armed forces’ strategic
operational command, said Parra and Urquiola were “assassinated
at the barricades of terror.” Street
barriers have become flashpoints for violence during the protests.
Supporters of both sides and members of the security forces have
been among those killed in the country’s worst unrest in a decade.
The demonstrators are demanding political change and an end to
high inflation, shortages of basic foods, and one of the highest
rates of violent crime in the world.
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