A PREGNANT woman was shot dead near the capital Caracas and a soldier was killed in the western state of Merida, bringing the death toll from weeks of anti-government protests in Venezuela to 36.
Supporters of both sides and members of the security forces have died in the nation's worst unrest in a decade, sparked by protests against socialist President Nicolas Maduro that began last month.
Francisco Garces, mayor of Guaicaipuro municipality near the capital and a member of the ruling Socialist Party, said the 28-year-old pregnant woman was shot dead on Sunday during a protest.
The state prosecutor's office said the woman, named as Adriana Urquiola, was shot after getting off a public bus halted by a makeshift barricade put up by protesters.
In the western state of Merida, a National Guard sergeant died on Monday after being shot in the neck during clashes.
General Padrino Lopez, head of the armed forces' strategic operational command, said the soldier, Sergeant Miguel Parra, and Ms Urquiola were "assassinated at the barricades of terror".
The street barriers are flashpoints for violence between radical supporters of both sides, who are sometimes armed.
Members of the security forces have also come under fire from nearby buildings as they try to dismantle the barricades.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article