Two dead in clashes with Venezuelan police on borders with Brazil

Many indigenous people have been injured

An indigenous woman was shot dead and dozens were injured on the borders between Brazil and Venezuela when Venezuelan police forces opened fire on a group of civilians attempting to keep a passage on the borderline open in an effort to facilitate the arrival of humanitarian aid scheduled for Saturday from the US and other countries opposing the Maduro regime.

Another man, who was among the four seriously injured and taken to hospital, was pronounced dead.
Emilio Gonzalez, a mayor from the Gran Sabana region, said Zoraida Rodriguez was killed when members of her Pemon ethnic group confronted the Venezuelan National Guard and army, who were moving tanks to the border.
A day earlier, President Nicolas Maduro ordered the border closed as the opposition made plans to bring in humanitarian aid from Brazil and two other neighbouring countries on Saturday.
Some members of the Pemon tribe had previously vowed to help aid enter the country, even if that meant confronting Venezuelan forces.
Mr Gonzalez said the soldiers fired rubber bullets and tear gas and the injured people were taken for medical treatment.
But other reports suggested that Venezuelan forces fired live rounds. Doctors and relatives of those injured told a Reuters witness at the medical centre where they were being treated that they had suffered gunshot wounds.
The clashes will heighten fears of a violent showdown over the attempt to bring in aid, which self-declared interim president Juan Guaido has called on Venezuelan soldiers to facilitate.

read more at telegraph.co.uk