Anti-government protesters have shut down main roads and highways across the Venezuelan capital Caracas, leading to confrontations with security forces. Opposition activists claimed they were shot with pellets and have reported injuries.
A special police division, the DCDO, was dispatched to the La California area of the city on Monday, where protesters blocked the Francisco de Miranda Avenue with makeshift barriers of garbage and debris, according to El Nacional.
Tear gas was reportedly fired on protesters next to the Lider shopping center, and opposition activists on social media also claimed that demonstrators were shot at with pellets, leading to a number of injuries.
Elsewhere, protesters also blocked the Francisco Fajardo highway, one of the most important transport hubs in Caracas.
Rival demonstrations are being held by both anti-government and pro-government groups. In Delta Amacuro, just outside Caracas, scuffles broke out.
Anti-government protesters are heeding a call by the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) – a coalition of opposition parties – to block the main roads in the country in protest against the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro.
Protests have been ongoing in Venezuela since March 29 after the Supreme Court ruled to take over the duties of the National Assembly, a ruling many saw as undemocratic.