Residents awoke Monday morning to find barricades of pipes, trash and branches burning in the streets and the sound of banging of pots and pans in support of the protest movement against socialist President Nicolas Maduro, according to the Associated Press.
"We're fighting for our liberty," said Yesenia Alvarado, a 29-year-old architect, the AP reported. "This is brutal but we've got to paralyze the city. Sadly, we have to use these techniques to overthrow the government."
Traffic came to a halt Monday in parts of the Venezuelan capital as opposition protesters continued their campaign of nearly two weeks to demand changes to address rampant crime, food shortages and few jobs, according to the AP.
A motorcycle rally was to take place at the presidential palace in support of Maduro, who was to meet with the nation's governors in the afternoon to find a way out of the unrest, the AP reported.
There were no reports of major violence as police began dismantling the roadblocks, according to the AP. Similar blockades were reported in the provincial cities of Maracaibo and Valencia.
Since February 12, opponents of Maduro have been staging countrywide protests, the AP reported. Several protesters have been killed by gunfire that the government blames on the protests.
Maduro called out the army over the weekend to quell massive protests of students in the eastern part of the country, where Venezuelans say Maduro's authoritarian policies have led to shortages of basic goods and inflation above 50%, among the world's highest, despite the country's vast oil reserves, according to the AP.
Maduro, who came to power 10 months ago after the death of longtime president Hugo Chavez, has called the protesters "Nazi fascists," the AP reported.
In the city's Plaza Altamira, a focal point for opposition unrest, the driver of a pickup was not pleased with the protests, according to the AP.
Drivers of motorcycle taxis and others were also wanting to work but relented to the protesters who replaced the barricade, the AP reported.
Opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez remained behind bars while the head of the largest opposition party to Maduro, Henrique Capriles, said he may meet with Maduro for talks in the country's Miraflores presidential palace, according to the AP.
Capriles posted on Twitter that the world was beginning to use the word "genocide" to describe Maduro's actions, the AP reported.
Meanwhile, one of Maduro's most outspoken critics continued his armed standoff with security forces Monday, according to the AP. Retired army general Angel Vivas sported a flak jacket, assault rifle and handgun as he defiantly addressed dozens of neighbors from the balcony of his home in eastern Caracas on Sunday.
Maduro ordered Vivas' arrest for allegedly encouraging students to stretch wire across streets where they've set up barricades in recent weeks, the AP reported.
"I'm not going to surrender," Vivas, 57, yelled to a crowd of cheering followers, the AP reported.
Supporters rushed to Vivas' defense after he announced to his 100,000-plus followers on Twitter that a group of "Cuban and Venezuelan henchmen" had come looking for him, according to the AP. The officers withdrew after the crowd built barricades outside Vivas' house.
Vivas, one of the government's fiercest critics in the frequently vicious world of Venezuelan social media, rose to prominence in 2007 when he resigned as head of the Defense Ministry's engineering department rather than order his subalterns to swear to the Cuban-inspired oath "Fatherland, socialism or death," the AP reported.
