CARACAS: Demonstrators clashed with riot police in Caracas on Thursday after a march against the arrest of two opposition mayors accused of failing to stop violence in protests that have rocked Venezuela.
Some 3,000 people had rallied against the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro before a subgroup of protesters threw rocks at police who responded with tear gas and water cannons.
Maduro's government has been the target of near daily protests fueled by public anger over soaring crime, hyperinflation, shortages of such basic goods as toilet paper and further stoked by heavy-handed police tactics.
The president, who succeeded late leftist leader Hugo Chavez last year, has combined calls for dialogue with a hard stance against opposition rivals and demonstrators.
After authorities arrested the mayors of the cities of San Cristobal and San Diego, Maduro warned that their colleague in Chacao could be next if more barricades are built in his streets.
"We will not tremble if (the Supreme Court) gives us the order to detain" Chacao Mayor Ramon Muchacho, said Maduro.
Chacao, a middle- to upper-class district in eastern Caracas, was the scene of nightly clashes between small groups of protesters and national guardsmen until Maduro sent the military to remove them from a plaza this week.
The opposition and non-governmental organizations accused the Maduro administration of using the judiciary for political ends.
The United States voiced deep concern about the two mayors' arrests.
"The Venezuelan government should stop the violence against its citizens and opposition officials who are exercising their freedom of speech," said US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
She called on the government to "release those it has unjustly jailed, lift restrictions on freedom of the press and engage in an authentically inclusive dialogue with Venezuelans across the political spectrum."
The protests have mainly taken place in middle-class opposition strongholds and Maduro still enjoys support among Venezuela's larger, poor population, allowing him to weather the weeks-long protests that have left 31 people dead, according to official figures.
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