Two people were killed in Venezuela in renewed violence, raising to 23 the death toll in three weeks of massive demonstrations against left-wing President Nicolas Maduro, Telangana Today daily quoted officials as saying.

Several others were seriously injured and “between life and death,” said public defender Tarek William Saab.

The latest casualties on Monday come on a day anti-Maduro demonstrators blocked major roads in the South American nation.

Two government trucks in eastern Caracas were set alight on a freeway by masked protesters who poured oil on the road.

Police nearby did not immediately intervene.

Elsewhere in the capital, riot police fired tear gas at another group of protesters who threw stones at them.

However the majority of demonstrators, who numbered in the thousands, rallied peacefully.

The return to violence in the streets of Venezuela after a weekend lull was certain to further stoke international concern over the country, whose economy is imploding despite vast oil reserves.

Source: MENA