MOSCOW, June 20. /TASS/. At least 27 people were injured as authorities dispersed protests on Monday in Altamira, a neighborhood in Venezuela’s capital Caracas, a local official told reporters.
A 17-year-old protester died of a gunshot wound, the head of Chacao municipality, Ramon Muchacho said. Four other protesters also received gunshot wounds, but their life is not in danger now.
The politician has called on the Prosecutor-General’s Office to investigate the incident, accusing authorities of using arms against peaceful demonstrators.
Venezuela has been hit by large-scale anti-government protests for three months already. Some 70 people, including several law enforcement officials, have been killed and 1,300 others have been injured. According to human rights activists, some 3,200 people have been detained and around 1,300 of them still remain in custody.
The protests, caused by a complex economic situation and the confrontation between the parliament and the government, gained strength after the Supreme Court had decided to expand the president’s powers and limit those of the parliament, while President Nicolas Maduro had come up with an initiative to convene the Constitutional Assembly to change the Constitution.