The opposition says Maduro made it clear to the world he was a dictator when the Supreme Court in late March assumed the functions of the opposition-led Congress.
Another mega march is set for Wednesday, and Maduro has called the army to patrol the streets. The oil-exporting country suffers from Soviet-style shortages of food and consumer goods and triple-digit inflation.
But with the military now on Maduro's side, it is hard to see a way that democracy can return to Venezuela through protest without further tragedy and bloodshed. Journalists covering the protests reported suffering harassment at the hands of security forces and pro-government supporters, and a TV cable channel that reported on the protests was taken off the air.
At least five deaths and hundreds of arrests have been blamed on the response to paralyzing protests that were triggered by the Supreme Court's shock decision three weeks ago to strip the opposition-controlled legislature of its last remaining powers.
The two persons killed during the protests were a 17-year-old boy in Caracas and a 23-year-old woman in Tachira state, the local media and the public prosecutor's office said.
At least 2 people have been shot dead in Venezuela in protests against the government. Thousands of people clashed with soldiers and riot police in the capital, with protesters building barricades and throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at security forces.
There aren't many reasons to sing and dance in Venezuela today.
Venezuelans in South Florida congregated in front of the emblematic Freedom Tower on Wednesday to show support for marches against Venezuela's president.
Facebook trying to augment your reality
So, what would be the second step? "I used to think glasses would be the first mainstream augmented reality platform", he said. Ever since Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel turned down Zuckerberg's attempt to buy his company, Facebook is on a copying spree.
The U.S. State Department said those who commit human rights abuses and undermine Venezuela's democratic institutions would be held accountable.
Demonstrators are converging from 26 different points spread across the capital to attempt to march downtown to the Ombudsman's office.
"We will advance towards the organization and training of one million organized militiamen, trained and armed to defend peace, sovereignty, and the independence of the nation", Maduro reportedly said. He was shot in the head, they said, and three security officials said he later died in a clinic after undergoing surgery.
"The opposition is trying to provoke a conflict but they aren't going to achieve their goal", said Marquez, wearing a shirt emblazoned with the eyes of Hugo Chavez, the country's deceased former president who is a symbol of revolutionary zeal throughout Venezuela.
"The new low in the percentage of Venezuelans whose ratings are thriving comes amid dramatic political and economic upheaval that continues to unfold in Latin America's fifth-largest country", Gallup said in a statement. The next biggest figure, Henrique Capriles, the current governor of Miranda and Maduro's challenger in 2013, learned on April 7 that the government had declared him ineligible to run in elections for the next 15 years.
"We're fed up. We want elections to get Maduro out, because he's destroyed this country", said protester Ingrid Chacon, a 54-year-old secretary.
Some unhappy Venezuelans also steer clear of protests, fearful of violence, cynical that marches can bring about change, or too busy looking for food amid the recession.
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