Two dead in Venezuela violence as protests drag on

CARACAS, (Reuters) – A Venezuelan soldier and a motorcyclist died in a confused melee sparked by the opposition’s barricading of a Caracas street, officials said yesterday, boosting the death toll from nearly a month of violence to 20. Demonstrators have for weeks staged rallies and set up barricades to demand the resignation of President Nicolas Maduro, leading to clashes with security forces and government supporters. Motorcycle drivers clearing a barricade in the middle-class neighborhood of Los Ruices were attacked by residents from nearby buildings who threw rocks and later shot at them, National Guard Gen. Manuel Quevedo told Reuters.