Four dead in clashes ahead of Venezuela protests

CARACAS: At least four people have died following overnight clashes ahead of Wednesday’s rival protests in Venezuela by supporters and opponents of President Nicolas Maduro, police and a non-governmental organization said.

A 16-year-old was among the dead, having suffered "a firearm injury during a demonstration" in the capital Caracas, the Social Conflict Observatory said. Police said the other three deaths occurred during looting in Bolivar City in the southeastern Bolivar State that borders Brazil.

A statue of iconic socialist revolutionary leader Hugo Chavez, Maduro’s predecessor, was torched by dozens of protesters in the town of San Felix, Bolivar State. Tensions have been running high in the country since Monday when a group of soldiers took over a command post in the north of the capital and rose up against Maduro, publishing a video calling on people to come out into the streets in support.