Venezuelan opposition leaders condemned the government Thursday for its heavy-handed attempt to subdue a protest movement with nighttime sweeps that have turned many parts of the country into dangerous free-fire zones.
Police, National Guard troops and members of private militias have swarmed through the streets in the capital and elsewhere firing volleys, at times indiscriminately, in repeated spasms of nighttime violence in recent days.
Henrique Capriles, the two-time presidential candidate of an opposition coalition, said the government has engaged in "brutal repression" as it goes after students and other protesters, in some cases breaking into apartment buildings to arrest those it accuses of taking part in a an attempted coup.
"What does the government want, a civil war?" Capriles asked at a news conference.
David Smolansky, a mayor of a district in Caracas and member of the Popular Will party, said arrest of its leader, Leopoldo Lopez, and aggressive manhunt for two other party members are part of the harshest wave of political persecution in decades.
"If this isn't a totalitarian system then I don't know what can explain what is happening in this country," Smolansky said.
President Nicolas Maduro and his supporters, meanwhile, say the escalating protests against his socialist government in the oil-rich but economically struggling country are part of an attempted coup sponsored by right-wing and "fascist" opponents in Venezuela and abroad, particularly the United States.
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Maduro has vowed to crack down on the protests, particularly in Tachira, on the western border with Colombia, where the unrest has been particularly strong. The interior ministry said Thursday it would send a battalion of paratroopers there to the area restore order.
The announcement came hours after a judge ruled early Thursday that there is enough evidence to hold Lopez, who dramatically surrendered to authorities before thousands of cheering supporters this week, on charges that include arson and criminal incitement stemming from a massive Feb. 12 rally.
Prosecutors decided not to pursue more serious charges, including homicide and terrorism, when Lopez made a court appearance at a military base outside Caracas as violence flared across much of the country. The 42-year-old politician could face at least 10 years in prison.
In a message from his Twitter account, the opposition leader's wife, Lilian Tintori, urged his followers on as she confirmed that he would remain in jail. "Change is within us all," she wrote on his behalf. "Don't give up. I will not."
In the hours before the decision, Maduro had suggested in a nationally broadcast speech that Lopez would remain in custody and face criminal charges. "I won't allow him to challenge the people of Venezuela, the constitution," he said.
Throughout Wednesday night, anti-government protesters in Caracas and other cities set trash fires in streets and threw rocks at National Guard troops, who fired tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets.
Gunfire was heard in downtown Caracas while Maduro was on television and videos and photos on social media showed several people with serious injuries and unconscious, but the circumstances and conditions could not be verified.
The crackle of gunfire mixed with the roar of swarms of motorcycles, a combination of police and National Guard troops as well as the pro-government paramilitaries known as "colectivos."
In videos circulating on social media, police and guard troops can be seen pursuing protesters in the streets and firing weapons, the shots competing in the night with the sound of citizens banging pots outside their windows in protest and shouting insults.
The opposition is planning marches across the country Saturday to protest the jailing of Lopez as well as well as the rampant crime, shortages of consumer goods and inflation rate of more than 50 percent that has made life difficult for many in the country of nearly 30 million people.
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Associated Press writers Fabiola Sanchez and Andrew Rosati contributed to this report.
