At least one person was killed in political unrest in Venezuela on Monday as anti-government protests entered a fourth week with mass "sit-ins" to press demands for early elections, Reuters reported.
A local government worker was shot dead in the Andean state of Merida at a counter-protest rally in favor of the socialist government, while another man there was wounded by a bullet and left fighting "between life and death", state ombudsman Tarek Saab said.
The confirmed death would bring to 11 the number killed in a month of unrest that has seen politically-motivated shootings and daily clashes between security forces armed with rubber bullets and tear gas and protesters wielding rocks and Molotov cocktails.
At least 10 people have also died during night-time looting.
There was also an unconfirmed report on Monday, from a regional opposition party official, of two more fatalities during protests in the western agricultural state of Barinas.
President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government accuses foes of seeking a violent coup with U.S. connivance, while the opposition says he is a dictator repressing peaceful protest.
The opposition's main demands are for elections, the release of jailed activists and autonomy for the opposition-led congress. But protests are also fueled by the crippling economic crisis in the oil-rich nation of 30 million people.
"I have an empty stomach because I can't find food," said Jeannette Canozo, a 66-year-old homemaker, who said police used rubber bullets against protesters blocking a Caracas avenue with trash and bathtubs in the early morning.
Demonstrators wore the yellow, blue and red colors of Venezuela's flag and held signs denouncing shortages, inflation and violent crime as they chanted: "This government has fallen!"