Anti-government marches took place in Venezuela on Friday, marking nearly a month of anti-government demonstrations against President Nicolas Maduro.
In the city of Maracaibo, in the western state of Zulia, protesters set up barricades and stopped traffic.
Zulia state lawmaker Lester Toledo joined the protest in Maracaibo.
"They say Leopoldo Lopez (jailed opposition leader) should be tried for making a non-violent call to come out on the streets, but who is to judge Nicolas Maduro?" he said, addressing the crowd of anti-government protesters.
Meanwhile, government television showed on Friday a huge crowd of government supporters at a rally in Maracaibo, where people waved the Venezuelan flag and pledged support for Maduro.
Venezuela is coming under increasing international scrutiny amid mounting violence that most recently killed a National Guardsman and a civilian in a clash at a protest barricade in the capital Caracas.
On Friday in the capital another anti-government march took place, led by students who set up barricades and held banners denouncing Maduro.
"I am marching for freedom and justice and to get rid of this corrupt government that has given away oil and money to other countries while disgracefully in Venezuela we are hungry and living in poverty," said anti-government protester Juan Luis Oropeza.
Venezuelans fed up with food shortages and unchecked violence have been staging nearly daily street protests since mid-February, snarling traffic with barricades of rubbish, furniture and burning tyres.
At least 21 people have been killed in related violence, by government count, in the country's worst unrest in years.
Maduro's administration shows no signs of crumbling from several weeks of nearly daily demonstrations, but the country appears in a stalemate. Protesters are mostly from the middle and upper classes although they do include poorer Venezuelans who don't protest in their home districts for fear of pro-government paramilitaries.