Police officer killed during anti-Maduro protests in Venezuela
Opposition groups hold briefing andannounce they will carry on with their planned demonstrations in defiance of President Maduro's ban on protests ahead of Sunday's Constituent Assembly vote.
Skirmishes in the street between supporters of the opposition and the Maduro government have become commonplace. Volleys of tear gas, rubber bullets and homemade bombs arced through the air in the capital during the strike.
A police officer was killed by a gunshot wound to the head during protests against embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro that were part of a nationwide two-day strike, prosecutors said Friday.
The policeman was shot on Thursday in the town of Ejido in the northwest of the country as the strike drew to a close. The fatal shooting brought the death toll from four months of anti-Maduro protests to 113.
On Thursday, the United States ordered family members of employees at its embassy in Venezuela to leave the country as the political crisis deepened.
TRT World's Juan Carlos Lamas has more from Caracas.
Meanwhile, the United Nations raised doubts on Friday over the validity of Venezuela's controversial weekend vote to elect a body to rewrite the constitution, insisting that no one should be forced to participate.
The UN human rights office is "deeply concerned" about the "very tense and very difficult situation" in Venezuela, spokeswoman Liz Throssell told reporters in Geneva.
The Sunday vote pushed for by President Nicolas Maduro has escalated the deadly showdown between the government and opposition supporters who have dismissed the poll as illegitimate.
The opposition has called for nationwide demonstrations in defiance of the government ahead of Sunday's ballot. But Maduro says anyone who marches against the "Constituent Assembly" risks up to 10 years in prison.
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