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CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A 20-year-old man from the opposition Popular Will Party on Sunday became the most recent person to die in a wave of anti-government protests held almost daily since the end of March, Venezuelan authorities said. A former military man died in a separate incident on Saturday when he was attacked by a group of people in another part of the country in a continuing wave of violence sparked by ongoing protests.
Officials said Sunday the young activist Cesar Pereira died earlier in the day in the eastern state of Anzoategui. He was gravely wounded when he was shot in the abdomen the day before in a community about 150 miles (240 km) east of the capital, Caracas.
President Nicolas Maduro said that retired National Guard member Danny Subero died shortly after he was attacked Saturday afternoon in the western state of Lara. The 34-year-old was struck with sharp objects and shot, the prosecutor's office said.
"This is among the most painful crimes to occur in these 60 days," Maduro said on his regular Sunday radio and television broadcast. Local media said Subero had been accused by local residents in the community of Palavecio of videotaping people who attended the funeral of a protester they believe was killed by National Guard members.
Protests against Maduro's government have left at least 60 people dead in the last two months. The opposition wants immediate presidential elections and the liberation of political prisoners.
Maduro has called for a Constitutional Assembly, which he says is the only path to peace.
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