Streets closed in Caracas before opposition protest

In Caracas, the main streets are closed tonight as crowds of demonstrators in white shirts and homemade gas masks arrive, ahead of protests against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Several tens of thousands of people took to the streets, while the army closed access to the city center as well as a dozen subway stations, the AP agency reported. Venezuela's opposition has called for massive demonstrations today, promising to be the biggest since the start of a wave of protests against Maduro, who is being asked to resign.

"It's a way to remind the government that after 50 days of resistance, killed and imprisoned, we are still numerous and we will never surrender," said Fred Guevara, vice president of the parliament in which the opposition has a majority, AFP reported. Since the beginning of April, protests against Maduro's socialist government have been ongoing in Venezuela, during which 47 people have died so far, and which the authorities claim is an attempted coup organized in Washington.