A demonstrator throws back a tear gas canister while clashing with security forces on July 20 in Caracas, Venezuela. (Photo: Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters)
A new round of deadly protests engulfed Venezuela on Sunday, as the government held internationally criticized elections for a new political body that will have the power to rewrite the country’s constitution.
Demonstrators and police met in a series of clashes, resulting in the deaths of at least 10 people.
Protesters set up barricades as they defied a ban on rallies, with barbed wire and burning tires blocking streets. In one incident captured on video, a roadside bomb detonated near a group of police on motorcycles in the capital of Caracas and left several officers injured.
Opponents of the vote, which has been deemed as illegitimate by the U.S. and a host of countries in South America, view the election as embattled President Nicolas Maduro’s attempt to consolidate power and remove his political opposition from office. The new Constituent Assembly has extremely far-reaching powers to reshape the country’s political institutions and potentially dissolve the opposition-led National Assembly.
In response to the election, the U.S. announced that it would be issuing sanctions on Maduro and accused him of undermining democracy in the hemisphere.
Despite the international condemnation, reports of low turnout and public opposition, Maduro on Sunday declared the result a huge victory and plans to go ahead with establishing the Constituent Assembly. The opposition, meanwhile, called for fresh protests on Monday amid fears that the crisis will continue to spiral.
Venezuela’s political turmoil is occurring amid a crippling economic crisis that has led to shortages of basic necessities and long lines to buy whatever food is available.
Although Sunday was one of the deadliest days in Venezuela’s ongoing political and economic crisis, there have been months of protests and violent confrontations. Thousands have been injured in the demonstrations and at least 113 people killed.
Photojournalists in the country have captured scenes of fiery melees, injured demonstrators and a polarized country that is increasingly being plunged into unrest and uncertainty.
A demonstrator catches fire during clashes with riot police on May 3, 2017. Protests against the government of beleaguered leftist President Nicolas Maduro have wracked Venezuela for months.
An anti-government demonstrator stands next to a national flag during an opposition protest blocking the Francisco Fajardo highway on May 27.
Medical staff carry a boy suffering from the effects of tear gas on May 30.
Opposition supporters affected by tear gas huddle together near members of the government's security forces on July 9.
A truck set ablaze by opposition activists blocks a street on July 18.
Opposition activists clash with riot police on April 26.
An opposition activist wearing a helmet and gas mask stands near a burning motorbike on May 31.
Anti-government demonstrators celebrate after an attack on the administration headquarters of Venezuela's Supreme Court of Justice on June 12.
An opposition activist throws an object at riot police on May 1.
A demonstrator throws back a tear gas canister while clashing with security forces on July 20.
A National Guardsman fires a weapon at opposition demonstrators on July 26.
A wounded journalist is helped by volunteer medics during clashes between opposition demonstrators and riot police on July 26.
A boy runs under a Venezuelan flag during a protest o June 27 against attacks on journalists.
A demonstrator jumps away from a jet of water released from a security forces vehicle on May 26.
A demonstrator is hit by the jet from a riot police water cannon on May 10.
Cardboard crosses with the name of demonstrators killed during protests against the government are attached on a fence on July 20.
An injured opposition supporter is helped by volunteer members of a primary care response team on June 22.
A demonstrator flees from tear gas on July 20.
Flames erupt as clashes break out while the Constituent Assembly election was held on July 30.
Demonstrators gather in front of an Air Force base during a rally against the government on June 24.
A demonstrator runs away from security forces on July 26.
An anti-government activist prepares to throw a Molotov cocktail at members of the National Guard during a 48-hour general strike called by the opposition on July 24.
Security forces pass through a roadblock on July 26.
Opposition supporters attend a rally on July 24 to pay tribute to victims of violence during protests.
Protesters take a rest on June 26 next to the names of victims of the ongoing unrest.
Also on HuffPost
A man shouts during a protest over food shortage and against Venezuela's government in Caracas, Venezuela, on June 14, 2016.
An opposition supporter carrying a banner that reads "There is not food" shouts to members of the Venezuelan National Guard during clashes in a rally to demand a referendum to remove President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on May 18, 2016.
A woman shows a flour package outside a supermarket as they shout slogans over food shortage in Caracas on June 11, 2016.
People queue next to a fence to try to buy food and staple items outside a supermarket in Caracas on May 17, 2016.
A worker prepares to throw a shoe at a mango tree to try to dislodge the fruits during his lunch break in Caracas on June 17, 2016.
A man carries a carton of eggs across a river in the border town of Boca del Grita in Venezuela on Sept. 8, 2015. Driven by a deepening economic crisis, smuggling across Venezuela's land and maritime borders -- as well as illicit domestic trading -- has accelerated to unprecedented levels and is transforming society. Although smuggling has a centuries-old history here, the socialist government's generous subsidies and a currency collapse have given it a dramatic new impetus.
People wait to try to buy basic food items outside a supermarket in Caracas on April 22, 2016.
Four arepas (food made with corn) for a family are pictured in the kitchen of a house in the poor neighborhood of Gramoven, Caracas, on June 2, 2016. Shortages of basic goods have fueled looting, violent crime and vigilante justice. At least 94 looting sprees broke out in the first four months of the year, according to the Venezuelan Observatory for Social Conflict. Venezuela, home to the world's largest oil reserves, has been hit hard by the collapse in global crude prices over the past two years.
People protest against the severe food and medicine shortages near Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas on June 2, 2016. Venezuelans face long lines at supermarkets tightly guarded by nervous soldiers, bare shelves and soaring prices inside, a dysfunctional health care system short on basic medications and supplies, daily power cuts of four hours across most of the country, and a government that only operates two days a week to save electricity.
Protesters clash with riot police during a demonstration in Caracas on June 10, 2016.
Police keep watch as people line up to buy in a supermarket in the Petare neighborhood in Caracas, on June 1, 2016. More than 80 percent of basic consumer products including food and medicine are now in short supply in Venezuela, a poll says. / AFP / JUAN BARRETO (Photo credit should read JUAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images)
Riot policemen take cover next to burning tires during clashes with Venezuelan protesters during a demonstration over food shortage and against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela, June 10, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
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