Venezuela's opposition took to the streets on Wednesday to protest corruption and crime, according to Reuters. The protests, pushed by a campaign from opposition leader Leopoldo López, fielded thousands of participants across several cities, who chanted "We don't want a Cuban dictatorship" and "You need therapy to live in Venezuela!"
The political tension in Venezuela has increased in the past two weeks as students organized protests against the leftwing government, according to Venezuelan daily El Universal.
"We ask for reinforced security in universities and the country," said student leader Juan Requesens, according to the newspaper. "Rather than chasing scoundrels, they go after students."
The protests started peacefully, but by the end of the afternoon both the opposition and the government reported deaths. Diosdado Cabello, President of the National Assembly, said one victim was the leader of a pro-government group, according to Fox News Latino.
Venezuelan opposition leader, María Corina Machado, appeared on Colombian broadcaster NTN24 saying two student protestors from the opposition were killed, according to Reuters.
"Here we have two Venezuelans killed for raising their voices," Machado said.
Many protestors -- distrustful of the news media in a country where the government has been criticized for imposing restrictions on the press -- took to social media to document what was going on.
See images of the protests below:
Tachira dice prensente en la protesta #12F pic.twitter.com/73JW5UCJFM vía @EdgarJRamirez
— EUTV (@eutvnet) February 12, 2014