
A 20-year-old Venezuelan protester died on Friday after being shot in the head, authorities said, taking fatalities from a month of anti-government unrest to at least 40 as the opposition geared up for more demonstrations. Hecder Lugo was hurt during fighting between demonstrators and security forces in Valencia on Thursday that also injured four others, the local opposition Mayor Enzo Scarano said in a series of tweets.

Street protests in Venezuela claimed at least two more fatalities on Wednesday, bringing the total number of people killed to more than 30 in several weeks of unrest. Thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets as president Nicolas Maduro began the process of overhauling the country's constitution -- a move that has raised the stakes in a bitter standoff between Maduro's government and a growing opposition.

Following through on its threat, Venezuela's government announced on Wednesday it is quitting the Organization of American States, accusing the regional body of meddling in its internal affairs over weeks of political unrest. The step was taken just hours after violent clashes in Caracas between security forces and protesters during yet another march against the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro.

Twelve more Venezuelans lost their lives on Friday in violence associated with a wave of anti-government demonstrations, including eight who died electrocuted when they came in contact with a 220 kV cable while looting a bakery. This brings up to 21 the number of fatalities since the new wave of protest started in early April.

Venezuela has donated US$500,000 to US President Donald Trump's inauguration, newly released records show. Citgo Petroleum, a US-based subsidiary of the Venezuelan state-owned oil company, is named in papers filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Venezuela's opposition renewed nationwide protests on Thursday to pressure President Nicolas Maduro to hold elections and improve a collapsing economy, and vowed to keep up pressure by staging three more protests in the next four days.

Two Venezuelan students died on Wednesday after being shot during protests against unpopular populist President Nicolas Maduro, increasing turmoil in the volatile nation amid a crippling economic crisis. Opposition supporters protested in Caracas and other cities in what they called the mother of all marches, denouncing Maduro for eroding democracy and plunging the oil-rich economy into chaos.

As Venezuela’s center-right opposition prepares to stage the mother of all marches this Wednesday to protest President Nicolas Maduro’s efforts to consolidate power, the besieged leader has called for a countermarch and declared plans to expand the country’s civilian militias.

Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro seems to have blown up the last bridge to Mercosur when he launched a barrage of accusations against Uruguay's foreign minister which triggered an immediate reaction from president Tabare Vazquez, who demanded evidence of the charges or a public retraction from the embattled Maduro. But the conflict has also openly exposed the deep rift inside the Uruguayan ruling coalition regarding the Bolivarian revolution “anti imperialist” regime.

Venezuelan Supreme Court reversal decision to take over the opposition-led congress seems to have yielded to domestic and international pressure, but it still gives embattled populist President Nicolas Maduro broad new powers over the country´s vast oil wealth, which now appears to have been his true target.