State TV images showed red-shirted government loyalists on the rival march “to defend the homeland”.
Violence after anti-government march in Caracas – in pictures
But their numbers were far exceeded by the tens of thousands who joined protests across Venezuela to express their anger and frustration at an administration that has led the country with the planet’s biggest oil supplies into the world’s deepest economic recession.
Banners reading “No more dictatorship” highlighted the steady erosion of democracy. In the past month, the supreme court attempted to circumvent Congress’s legislative powers – a power grab which was subsequently reversed, while opposition figurehead Capriles was banned from running for office for 15 years.

Many targeted the Venezuelan president, who is blamed for high inflation and the chronic shortages of food, medicine and other basic goods. The chant
“Esta es la ruta para salir del hijueputa”
(“This is the way to oust the son of a bitch”) echoed repeatedly around the downtown district.
The protesters came from all walks of life. Some said they had previously supported the government under Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, but the worsening economic and social crisis had made them march for change.
 Demonstrators build a barricade while clashing with riot police during the so-called ‘mother of all marches’ in Caracas, Venezuela on Wednesday.
 Demonstrators build a barricade while clashing with riot police during the so-called ‘mother of all marches’ in Caracas, Venezuela, on Wednesday. Photograph: Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters
“We are desperate and tired of living in misery,” said Kelvyn Cava, a former Chavista from the eastern state of Zulia. “With Chávez our salaries were worth something. Now, if hunger doesn’t kill us, then crime will.”

A group of Catholic clergy were also among the crowd, although the Vatican has tried to adopt a neutral position in hosting talks between the two sides.
“I came with several priests because we have reached the breaking point for this regime of narcotraffickers and terrorists. We need peace and to reconstruct this country,” said Father José Palmar.
“We ask Pope Francis to do for Venezuela what Pope John Paul II did for Poland,” he add, referring to the role that the Catholic church played in overthrowing communism in eastern Europe during the Soviet era.
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