CARACAS, Venezuela -
At least 43 people have died in opposition protests against President Nicolas
Maduro that began in February, a non-government group said yesterday after a
student died from a bullet wound.
Alfredo Romero, who heads the Penal Forum group, said Josue
Farias died in the western city of Maracaibo from a gunshot injury sustained
during an anti-government protest nearly a month ago on May 29.
Farias was an
accounting student at a Zulia state university.
Demonstrators have taken to the streets to march against
rampant crime, runaway inflation and shortages of basic goods in the country
with the world’s largest proven oil reserves.
Government authorities have yet to add this latest death to
its own official count of those who died in the sometimes bloody protests.
- In their latest report on June 11, they counted 42 deaths and 873 people injured in the demonstrations that have decreased in intensity in recent weeks.
Efforts to resolve differences between the government and
opposition through dialogue have faltered in the wake of the arrest of more
than 200 students last month, when authorities demolished protest camps.
Venezuela, an Opec nation, is struggling with inflation near
60%, as well as rampant crime and shortages of goods as basic as toilet paper,
milk and sugar.
Most economic experts blame the South American country’s
problems on a decade of rigid currency and price controls, as well as rising
debt, dependence on imports and stagnant growth.
Source: Agencies
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