Maduro slams Trump for violence in Venezuela

Caracas, May 22 (IANS) Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that his US counterpart Donald Trump is deeply involved in "terrorist" activities and the ongoing violence in his country is due to Washington trying to take "political control".

On Sunday, Maduro said on his weekly radio-television show that his country is facing an "attack by violent forces," "intolerance and generalized destruction," and that behind all this turmoil is "the imperialist hand of Donald Trump", Efe news reported.

"Trump has his hands infected and stuck deeply into this conspiracy and this attack that has as its objective taking political control in Venezuela, recolonizing Venezuela," Maduro claimed.

He also called on his supporters to stage a "great march for peace" on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Public Ministry reported the death of a 23-year-old man in western Trujillo state after he was allegedly shot in the chest during a demonstration on Saturday.

The ministry said that Trujillo prosecutor Jose Luis Molina had been instructed to investigate the death of Edy Alejandro Teran Aguilar during a demonstration in the city of Valera, adding that an 18-year-old man and a 50-year-old woman had been injured in the protest.

Authorities also said that on Saturday night "several armed people arrived at the site (of the protest) and fired ... at the group of demonstrators" and, minutes later, the victims were transported to a local hospital.

With Teran's death, the number of fatalities in the ongoing wave of protests in Venezuela stands at 47.

In another statement, the Attorney General's office said that it will investigate the incident in which another 23-year-old man was run over by a vehicle at a protest on Francisco de Miranda Avenue in eastern Caracas.

At least 120 people were injured on Saturday during protests staged in the Caracas metro area, and three of them are in "delicate condition," the Venezuelan opposition said, accusing state security officials of perpetrating the "violence."

Opposition lawmaker Jose Manuel Olivares said at a press conference that "yesterday (Saturday), just in ... Caracas, there were more than 90 people injured," adding that in the nearby town of San Antonio de los Altos there were "30 people injured in the demonstrations."

For almost two months, Venezuela has been experiencing a wave of popular protests against the Maduro government that, aside from the 47 deaths, have resulted in hundreds of people injured and arrested.