CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The Latest on protests in Venezuela against President Nicolas Maduro’s bid to rewrite the constitution (all times local):
4:20 p.m.
A young violinist who became a symbol of anti-government protest in Venezuela has apparently been injured at a demonstration.
Images broadcast on local television show emergency response workers tending to Wuilly Arteaga as he bleeds from his nose. His shirt and baseball cap with the colors of the Venezuelan flag are also stained with blood.
Arteaga posted a brief video of himself Saturday on Twitter with a swollen lip and bandaged face, vowing to be back on the streets tomorrow.
It was not immediately clear what happened to him.
Arteaga has been a fixture at demonstrations against President Nicolas Maduro, playing the national anthem on his violin as authorities launch tear gas in his direction.
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3:25 p.m.
National guard troops in Venezuela’s capital have launched tear gas at protesters opposing President Nicolas Maduro’s bid to rewrite the constitution.
Clouds of white gas and rows of officers on motorcycles are blocking the demonstrators in Caracas.
Saturday’s protest drew thousands but appeared to be smaller than previous anti-government demonstrations.
Venezuelan authorities have routinely responded to nearly four months of street protests by using tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators.
At least 97 people have died in the unrest, and thousands more have been injured or detained.
Opposition lawmaker Jose Manuel Olivares says frustrated Venezuelans will remain in the streets.
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1:05 p.m.
Thousands are gathering in the Venezuelan capital for a march toward the embattled nation’s Supreme Court in an escalating push to stop President Nicolas Maduro from proceeding with his plans to rewrite the constitution.
The opposition is calling on frustrated Venezuelans to take to the streets to support a slate of Supreme Court judges appointed by the National Assembly on Friday but quickly rejected by the government-stacked court.
Organizers hope Saturday’s protest in Caracas will be one of the largest before a scheduled July 30 election for a special assembly to rewrite Venezuela’s charter. Maduro is facing mounting international pressure to cancel the controversial vote.
Nearly four months of anti-government protests have left at least 97 people dead, and thousands more have been injured or detained.
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