CARACAS, March 9. /TASS/. The number of participants in the opposition rally held in Caracas’ Victoria Avenue has come to approximately 20,000, while a considerable police force has been deployed nearby for the first time since the current political crisis broke out, TASS reported from the scene on Saturday.

The police cordoned off the avenue with three lines of riot police officers wearing helmets and holding shields. The protesters are chanting insults against the government, but the situation remains calm. The people are not trying to clash with the police, which are showing no reaction to the crowd’s shouts and are not detaining anyone.

Among the protesters are opposition members of the National Assembly. They are calming down the crowd when tensions fly high. Their leader Juan Guaido is also present at the rally but is standing aside. Rally participants claim that they will not be breaking through the police cordons.

Mobile communication is not working at the scene. It is not clear whether it is blocked or the disruption is caused by the power outage.