Venezuela's opposition plans to march tomorrow to downtown Caracas as part of its campaign to force fresh elections and restore the powers of the parliamentary branch it controls.
Opposition leader Juan Carlos Caldera, speaking at a news conference in Caracas, said the march would head to the Human Rights Ombudsman's office from the same 26 starting points used in an April 20 march that drew over a million supporters.
Opposition supporters occupied roadways around the country for much of yesterday amid only a limited response from security forces. Still, Public Prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz, who publicly split with ruling socialist party of President Nicolas Maduro after the Supreme Court tried to invalidate the National Assembly, said today that the death toll from clashes over the past month had risen to 26 after three more people were killed overnight.
"Everyone should tone done the rhetoric and try and elevate it," she said, renewing a call for fresh dialogue and adding that 1289 people had been detained over the past weeks of unrest. "No one desires a civil war."
The press office for opposition lawmaker Williams Davila, who represents Merida, alleged on Twitter that pro-government armed paramilitaries had fired shots at protests in that Andean state.
