Opposition students attend a rally against violence in Caracas (Photo: Reuters)
Venezuela released dozens of anti-government protesters and an Italian photographer on Sunday, but that did nothing to appease demonstrators set for more rallies against President Nicolas Maduro.
At least 18 people have been killed and 250 injured since a wave of nationwide protests began 4 February led by students angry about a soaring crime rate, spiraling inflation, the lack of basic goods in stores, and limited democratic rights in the oil-rich nation.
Students and the opposition have accused the leftist Maduro government of heavy handedness in dealing with protests that have roiled the capital Caracas on nearly a daily basis and also spread to other major cities.
Maduro, facing the biggest test of his presidency since narrowly winning last year's election to succeed socialist icon Hugo Chavez, has also been accused of targeting the domestic and foreign media, while hundreds of people -- including opposition leaders -- have been detained.
Among them was Italian photographer Francesca Commissari and about 40 protesters arrested on Friday in Caracas. Commissari declared her freedom on Twitter Sunday, thanking friends, the Italian consulate and her lawyer for getting her out.
Venezuela's journalist association SNTP confirmed the release of Commissari, who lives in Venezuela and works for the local El Nacional newspaper, and about 40 protesters.
A total of 863 people have been arrested since February 9, the NGO Foro Penal said, with 30 still behind bars.
There was rare calm on the Caracas streets Saturday, and the first time in nearly three weeks that security forces did not fire tear gas to disperse protesters.
"This is the first time that this has happened in the last 18 days," said Ramon Muchacho, mayor of the wealthy Caracas neighborhood of Chacao, an opposition stronghold and focus for many of the demonstrations in the capital.
Maduro says the protests are part of a Washington-backed coup plot supported by opposition figures aimed at toppling his nearly year-old government.
He called a six-day holiday to mark the beginning of Carnival, an annual celebration that normally sees many Venezuelans leave the cities and head to the beach.
Critics say the holiday was a blatant attempt to undermine the demonstrations.
But protesters have largely stayed put, and were busy gearing up for new demonstrations in Caracas on Sunday.
Juan Requesens, student leader at the Central University of Venezuela, said that students will depart from four points in the city and meet at the Plaza Brion to demand the release of detained activists.
"We honor the dead. No Carnival, there is nothing to celebrate," engineering student Argenis Arteaga told AFP.
Marco Ruiz, head of the SNTP, said the arrests of foreign reporters were part of a deliberate government policy to intimidate the overseas press in the same way they had already done with local media.
"The pattern of attacks that is repeating itself is now against international correspondents," Ruiz said.
Among those detained Friday, when protesters clashed with security forces who fired tear gas, were eight foreigners "held for international terrorism," state VTV television said in a brief statement.
They included US freelance reporter Andrew Rosati, who writes for the Miami Herald, a team of journalists from the US-based Associated Press and Commissari.
It was not immediately clear if all of them had been released.
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