Venezuela Protests Escalate As Barricades Set Up

Protesters have put up barricades and burned tyres in cities across Venezuela as weeks of protests that have left at least 14 dead rumble on.

Some of the worst demonstrations since the unrest against President Nicolas Maduro began three weeks ago saw riot police use tear gas to break up crowds in San Cristobal, near the Colombian border.

The latest reported death involved a student who fell from a rooftop terrace onto the street below as police were breaking up a crowd. 

"Maduro we are going for you" reads the graffiti behind these protesters

Tear gas was also used to disperse around 50 protesters in the capital, Caracas, after they blocked streets in the district of Chacao.

Those taking to the streets are angry about shortages of basic goods and high inflation.

Mr Maduro, who succeeded Hugo Chavez following his death from cancer, has said what is happening in the oil-rich country is a US-inspired coup attempt to "justify foreign intervention".

Speaking at a rally of motorcycle-riding supporters on Monday, Mr Maduro said the blockades had prevented sick people from getting to the hospital.

Bikers at a rally in support of President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas

He also told reporters that a "mercenary from the Middle East" had been arrested in Aragua state for allegedly plotting to set off car bombs.

State governor Tareck El Aissami wrote on Twitter that the suspect, identified in US media reports as Florida businessman Jayssam Mokded Mokded, was held in Maracay with an armed car and carrying US and Colombian communications equipment.

Forty-five people remain under arrest following the protests and in a rare public split among Mr Maduro's ranks, a party governor called for the release of all imprisoned protesters.

Bikers and students blocking a street were involved in clashes

Jose Gregorio Vielma Mora, the governor of the western state of Tachira, said the government's use of the military was a "grave error" and an "unacceptable excess".

Meanwhile, a meeting of local and state officials went ahead without the main opposition figure, Henrique Capriles.

The opposition candidate in the last two presidential elections said: "I am not going to make Nicolas Maduro look good ... That is what they want, that I go there as if the country was absolutely normal."

Mr Maduro has called for a "national peace conference" to be held on Wednesday, featuring "all social, political, union and religious groups".

The National Assembly will be asked to form a Truth Commission to investigate the protests, he added.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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