Mass protests against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro turned into violent riots this week as government security forces fired tear gas and blocked roadways in Venezuela's capital city of Caracas, where demonstrators took to the streets demanding new elections.
The demonstrations on Monday drew thousands of participants calling for new elections in Venezuela, which is in the midst of a massive economic crisis, after the government took steps they view as bringing the country closer to authoritarian rule, the Associated Press reported.
Security forces blocked roadways and fired tear gas into the crowds that gathered. Some of the protesters threw rocks back at the security forces.
The protests began on April 1 when the Supreme Court stripped Venezuela's congress of the last traces of its power. The court later reversed its decision, but concerns remain among many in the opposition that the country is moving closer to being an authoritarian state.
Venezuela has been embroiled in an economic crisis under the leadership of Maduro, head of the United Socialist Party who has governed the country with socialist policies since assuming office in 2013. Inflation has skyrocketed and food and medicine have become scarce. Many Venezuelans have taken to looking for food in the trash.
The dire economic situation, which has threatened the country's political and social functions, came to a head last year when an opposition campaign formed to demand a referendum vote on Maduro's rule.
Maduro resisted the effort and used state authorities to put down the opposition movement. Gubernatorial elections were supposed to take place in 2016, but no date has been set for them yet, the AP noted.
On Sunday, Maduro, who has accused the opposition of conspiring with international actors to create unrest in Venezuela, called for a return to dialogue and said he wants regional elections to take place.
But opposition leaders are not taking Maduro at his word, keeping up the pressure on the embattled president until a full schedule for elections is created.
"That's the only way there will be peace in Venezuela," Julio Borges, president of the National Assembly, told the AP.
A spokesman for the State Department said on Monday that the U.S. urges "demonstrators to express themselves non-violently and call[s] on government security forces to protect peaceful protest, not prevent it."