Young man is 9th fatality in Venezuela protests this month

The deaths occurred in the capital's southwestern El Valle district, the ministry said in a statement, adding six people were also wounded. As well, a maternity hospital was forced to evacuate mothers and their newborns after the area was saturated with tear gas.

The government said "armed gangs hired by the opposition" had attacked the hospital. The former opposition candidate for president Henrique Capriles refuted the allegations, saying "We reject and do not accept those irresponsible declarations".

Opponents of the Venezuelan government converged on downtown Caracas for a second day Thursday, pledging to sustain peaceful pressure on leftist President Nicolás Maduro to restore democracy in the crisis-ridden country. However the crowds were smaller than the hundreds of thousands who protested in Caracas and elsewhere the previous day.

March 30: The Supreme Court takes over legislative powers, after ruling the opposition-majority National Assembly is in contempt of court in an ongoing power struggle with Maduro. The court, stacked with appointees of Maduro and Chavez, reversed its position in the wake of domestic and global outcries about an attempted power grab.

Meanwhile, the country is now fighting claims of illegal asset seizures at a World Bank-sponsored arbitration panel from more than 25 companies.

Food imports to Venezuela dropped 50% past year, according to trade statistics.

Triple-digit inflation and shortages of supplies mean long lines and bare shelves at stores across the country. "It is scandalous that Venezuela, facing such a crisis, would make those donations to the inauguration of a USA president, who at least in theory is ideologically confronted with the revolution". This is not the first time that Venezuela Government seized the factories of any company.

BBC reported that a Venezuela state-owned oil company donated $500,000 to Trump's inauguration, which triggered even more disdain toward the government considering their economic woes.

The OPEC nation's economy has been in free-fall since the collapse of oil prices in 2014. Equally part of the socialist's legacy was mismanagement. GM sold just more than 583,000 vehicles in the region past year, but that was only about 6 percent of its total sales.

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It was 19 seconds. "It is great to know we have a strong auto and be able to fight for wins", the four-time champion said. However, as his later sets of tyres were pressured correctly, Bottas is unsure why the rest of his race was so hard .

The opposition has urged the military - a pillar of Maduro's power - to abandon him.

In poor neighbourhoods traditionally loyal to Maduro, some protesters cited hunger as their reason for joining calls for his ouster.

Maduro has delayed elections, and mass public resistance against his government has strengthened. Capriles had been at the forefront of demands for a referendum on Maduro. Last year, GM lost $400 million before taxes in South America, but overall it made a pretax profit of $12.5 billion. Maduro's camp said a soldier outside Caracas was also killed.

The protests culminated in the April 19 slayings of three people. The EU expressed concern over the escalating tensions and called on all parties to find common ground and end the violence.

That sets the stage for prolonged disruption in volatile Venezuela, where security forces have been blocking rallies this month and protests have dissolved into clashes with rock-throwing youth.

Opponents are pushing for Maduro's removal through early elections and the release of scores of political prisoners.

Cristina says for young people, protesting is the "ideal" way to push back against what they see as governmental abuse. On Wednesday alone, 565 protesters were arrested nationwide, according to Penal Forum, a local group that provides legal assistance to detainees.

There was a heavy security presence Friday on the streets of Caracas, as residents and workers cleaned up the destruction left by the clashes as well as by bouts of looting.

Venezuelan authorities have called on the OAS to condemn the violence perpetrated by the opposition but to no avail.