Venezuela security forces fire tear gas at anti-Maduro demo

CARACAS: Venezuelan soldiers and police fired tear gas Thursday to break up a protest against President Nicolas Maduro outside the presidential palace, AFP correspondents said.

Hundreds of national guardsmen and police cracked down on the small protest by dozens of demonstrators, as the country awaited a key ruling from electoral authorities on whether the leftist leader's opponents can go ahead with efforts to call a referendum on removing him from office.