CARACAS – A day after two lawmakers were hospitalized with head wounds they suffered during a protest in Venezuela, at least one person was shot and several more were injured on Tuesday.
Bernardo Sanchez told local reporters that he was shot when dozens of government supporters in motorcycles started to shoot in the air. Ramon Muchacho, a Caracas-area mayor, said a 19-year-woman had her leg crushed when a National Guardsman in a motorcycle ran her over.
Riot police officers in Caracas were using water cannons, pepper spray and tear gas. Protesters were making barricades and attacking the riot police with rocks and bottles.
National Assembly head Julio Borges was among the opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro who were attacked with pepper spray. Borges wants the Supreme Court magistrates who decided to take away power from the opposition-controlled congress last week to be removed.
Although the court retracted the ruling, protesters said previous court judgments were still limiting the powers of the National Assembly and they fear there are more to come. Unable to make it to the National Assembly on Tuesday, the congressional session was rescheduled for Wednesday.
While Maduro's opposition fears a dictatorship will worsen the economic crisis, members of the socialist party claim there is a U.S.-led plot that threatens sovereignty. Some socialists view Maduro's opposition lawmakers and their supporters as traitors and enemies of the state.