Venezuela: Maduro threatens to ban CNN

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has accused US President Barack Obama of inciting protests in his country and supporting the opposition "responsible for violence".

Maduro demanded that the US explain its motives for "funding, encouraging and defending members of the opposition who incite violence against his country."

He also criticized Obama's announcement about the situation in Venezuela, calling it "huge interference in the internal affairs" of his country, Russia today reported.

Maduro also threatened to ban the broadcasting of the American CNN (CNN) because they "broadcast the American propaganda war", AFP reported.

The protests are spreading

Members of special units have been sent to the border area of ​​Venezuela where clashes between the police and anti-government protesters are taking place, the Ministry of the Interior in Caracas announced.

Opponents of President Nicolas Maduro claim that he has engaged the army, police and civilian militias against all those who criticize him for the difficult situation in the country.

Demonstrators on the streets of San Cristobal (photo: Reuters)

Venezuela is rich in oil, but is plagued by inflation and a high crime rate.

Violence across Venezuela has escalated since an opposition rally on February 12 in Caracas, which was followed by clashes between younger activists and members of the National Guard.

Three people were killed then, and in the meantime at least three more people were killed, and several dozen were injured.

Opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who organized the mass protest, is in custody and is facing charges of arson and inciting a crime.

The unrest is greatest in the state of Tachira, on Venezuela's western border with Colombia, which has disrupted life in the capital, San Cristobal.

The AFP agency states that the government has sent additional forces to San Cristobal because, according to the government, Colombians are crossing the border to "carry out a paramilitary mission" in Venezuela.

The deputy mayor of San Cristobal, Sergio Vergara, who is a member of the opposition Will of the People party, said that the situation in the city is extremely tense.

"Parts of the city have been without public transportation and the Internet for several days, and the presence of 3.000 soldiers in the city of 600.000 is "part of the repression that the authorities are carrying out across the country," Vergara said.

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