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AFP
CARACAS
ON one hand, red pro-government caps, on the other, the colors of the Venezuelan flag: sympathisers and opponents of President Nicolas Maduro hit the streets on Saturday in a tense standoff on the 50th day of violent protests.
Several thousand anti-government protesters gathered in the main Caracas avenues carrying signs that read"#We are millions against the dictatorship" and"#No more dictatorship!"
"It's been 50 days of protests. I'm here with my two children, I can't get any milk, I can't get any food," said Mariangel, a 24-year-old businesswoman. She had the red, blue and yellow colors of the Venezuelan flag painted on her face. Also present: young men carrying makeshift shields of wood and metal, and wearing hoods and gas masks.
"We have to stay in the streets 50 or 100 more days, whatever it takes for Maduro to accept early elections or for him to leave," said 21-year-old student Antonio Moreno.
He wore a safety helmet and carried a home-made shield for protection against tear gas canisters and blasts from water cannons.
"We're going to fight to get out of this dictatorship!" an angry woman screamed in a megaphone as she rallied protesters.
Maduro's opponents expressed confidence that the march on Caracas's main motorway will surpass that of April 19, the largest so far in seven weeks of demonstrations that have left 47 people dead, hundreds injured, 2,200 detained and some 161 imprisoned by military tribunals.
But Maduro has his supporters, too. On the other side of town pro-government workers sang and danced as they prepared to show their support for the president's controversial plan for a constitutional assembly. Maduro is set to welcome the workers at the Miraflores presidential palace.
Venezuela is bitterly divided, as locals bridle under chronic shortages of food and medicine, soaring inflation rates -- prices could rise by 720 percent this year, the IMF estimates -- and some of the world's highest crime rates.
As protests have turned violent an increasing number of gunshot wounds have been reported. Federal prosecutors said they are investigating the role of police and military personnel in the incidents.
