People march with a banner of Venezuela's late former president Hugo Chavez, in support of President Nicolas Maduro, in downtown in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, October 25, 2017. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)





Jose Bestilleiro, 83, from Spain, performs for tips at an street intersection in downtown Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, October 29, 2017. Bestilleiro said he's been performing every day for the past 15 years, and brings in at least 5,000 Bolivars a day, which on the black market is 11 cents and is the price of a cheap “arepa” sandwich. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)





People salsa dance at a club in the financial district of Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, October 26, 2017. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)





Children play in an inflatable swimming pool in the working class 23 de Enero neighborhood as it rains lightly in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)





A statue of a tiger stands under heavy rain in El Tigre, Venezuela, Tuesday, October 31, 2017. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)





People wager money on “Los Animalitos” (or the Little Animals) betting game on the outskirts of Caracas, Venezuela, October 9, 2017. (Photo by Ricardo Moraes/Reuters)





Competitors take part in a horserace, with a slum or “barrio” in the background at La Rinconada Hippodrome, Caracas, Venezuela, October 8, 2017. (Photo by Ricardo Moraes/Reuters)





A demonstrator shouts slogans in front of police officers during a women's march to protest against President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela May 6, 2017. The women's marches, which took place in most major cities around the country, were the latest in five weeks of sustained protests against Maduro. In Caracas, marchers sang the national anthem and shouted 'We want elections!'. They were halted at various points by lines of policewomen and National Guard troops with armoured cars. Carlos Garcia Rawlins: “Unlike most of the previous protests, after many hours the protesters decided to leave and there were no violent clashes”. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





A demonstrator is detained at a rally during a strike called to protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela, July 27, 2017. Ueslei Marcelino: “As the young protestor realised that he was being arrested he began to shout his name. I think that he hoped he could warn his relatives through people who were there and maybe through the press”. (Photo by Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters)





Volunteer members of a primary care response team, huddle together during clashes with security forces at a rally against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, April 26, 2017. In Caracas, around 120 medicine students, doctors, and volunteers have revived a primary care response team first created during 2014's bout of anti-government protests. While they wear white helmets with a green cross, none wear flak jackets and some resort to wearing goggles to protect themselves from tear gas. Their equipment has nearly all been donated or bought by the volunteers themselves, and they've had to create makeshift neck braces from shoes, belts, and hats. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





Demonstrators scuffle with security forces during an opposition rally in Caracas, Venezuela, April 4, 2017. Venezuelan security forces quelled masked protesters with tear gas, water cannons and pepper spray in Caracas after blocking an opposition rally against socialist President Nicolas Maduro. The clashes began after authorities closed subway stations, set up checkpoints and cordoned off a square where opponents had planned their latest protest against the government and the crippling economic crisis. Carlos Garcia Rawlins: “For me that was the day that made a difference, never before had I seen the protesters and police clashing men-to-men and struggling back and forward. From then, the strategy of the police changed and they never faced the protesters so close again”. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





Demonstrators fall on the ground after being hit by a riot police armoured vehicle while clashing with the riot police during a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, May 3, 2017. Marco Bello: “In that moment, demonstrators attacked a couple of National Guards when they fell off a bike during clashes. Then another National Guard driving an armoured vehicle ran over the motorbike, trying to intimidate demonstrators and to rescue their fellow guards. The reaction of the crowd was to attack, throwing rocks and molotov cocktails and trying to jump over the truck. In the midst of confrontation and confusion, the driver drove back hitting people”. (Photo by Marco Bello/Reuters)





A demonstrator jumps away from a jet of water released from a riot security forces vehicle during a rally against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, May 26, 2017. Carlos Barria: “Weeks into protests against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, I landed in Caracas to reinforce our Reuters team coving the chaos. The protests had fallen into a routine. Every day around 10am – 11am protesters gathered around Altamira Plaza and started to march towards the downtown area where a cluster of government buildings are located. Protesters walked along a main highway and riot police would intercept them to contain the crowd. Clashes erupted when they met, with tear gas and water cannons were used to disperse the protesters. On May 26, a young student walked towards a water cannon wearing a backpack, as if he had just come out of class. As he got closer, the riot police turned the water canon directly on him. Then, the student began jumping and dodging, trying to avoid the blast of water. He looked almost as if he were dancing in the rain”. (Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters)





Riot security forces take up positions while clashing with demonstrators rallying against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela, July 28, 2017. Venezuelans have been protesting against Maduro to demand him to respect the opposition-led Congress and resolve chronic food and medicine shortages that have fuelled malnutrition and health problems. Carlos Garcia Rawlins: “Security forces, often angry and frustrated, began firing directly at protesters”. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





Demonstrators ride on a truck while rallying against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela, June 29, 2017. Ivan Alvarado: “This was one of the last really big rallies, and the number of protestors coming out on the streets started to decrease. The protesters used trucks to make barricades and block the streets in the Altamira area. This truck was being driven quite slowly, and I shot the image at a slow shutter speed panning to capture the sense of movement of the truck. I like the man standing on the top of the truck who looks like he is urging the group onto action”. (Photo by Ivan Alvarado/Reuters)





Demonstrators use a giant slingshot while clashing with security forces during a rally against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, May 20, 2017. Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets on Saturday to mark 50 days of protests against the government of President Nicolas Maduro, with unrest gaining momentum despite a rising death toll and chaotic scenes of nighttime looting. Carlos Garcia Rawlins: “While the days of battle in the street passed, it was evident that little by little, “The Resistance”, the group that was always at the forefront of opposition protests, had developed new strategies to confront the sophisticated riot control equipment of the police”. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





A protester dressed in a jacket with the national colours stands next to a burning roadblock during a rally against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela, June 26, 2017. Ivan Alvarado: “The street was open and empty a little while before I took this picture. The man wearing the Venezuelan flag jacket brought the tyres to the middle of the highway and set them alight. For me the highway in this image acts like a imaginary border that divides two realities in Caracas – behind me was the chaos and tear gas at the rally and across the other side of the road a quiet scene of the houses stacked up on the hill”. (Photo by Ivan Alvarado/Reuters)





Supporters of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro demonstrate outside Palacio Federal Legislativo with a picture of Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez during the National Constituent Assembly's first session, in Caracas, Venezuela, August 4, 2017. Carlos Garcia Rawlins: “After winning a majority in the National Assembly in 2015, lawmakers of the opposition removed all images of the late President Hugo Chavez from the main building and gardens. This act was seen by Chavez's supporters as a huge offence and they promised that someday he would be returned and honoured again. As soon as the Government won the National Constituent Assembly election, the very day of the installation ceremony, elected members and their supporters gathered outside the building and brought images of Chavez back”. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





An injured opposition supporter is helped by volunteer members of a primary care response team during clashes with riot security forces at a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela, June 22, 2017. Ivan Alvarado: “This image was taken next to an airforce base where another protestor was fatally injured that day. I don't know how this man was injured, I first saw him as the first aid volunteers carried him out from the midst of the tear gas. You can really see the pain in his expression as he cries out. After I took the image the motorbike speeded off down the highway”. (Photo by Ivan Alvarado/Reuters)





Flames erupt as clashes break out while the Constituent Assembly election is being carried out in Caracas, Venezuela, July 30, 2017. Deadly protests rocked Venezuela as opposition voters boycotted an election for a constitutional super-body that unpopular leftist President Nicolas Maduro vowed would begin a 'new era of combat' in the crisis-stricken nation. Carlos Garcia Rawlins: “Suddenly, a bomb exploded in the capital during an opposition protest and wounded seven police officers in what seemed to be the spread of more aggressive tactics. We were taking photos from close by but the police panicked and chased everyone away, firing teargas, rubber bullets and pellets”. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





Riot security forces clash with demonstrators as a motorcycle is set on fire during a protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in San Cristobal, Venezuela, May 29, 2017. Carlos Eduardo Ramirez: “Security forces arrived to disperse demonstrators that already had burned two taxis and a bus, throwing tear gas and pellets and the demonstrators' response was to throw molotov cocktails and one of those petrol bombs reached a National Guard member, setting him and the motorbike on fire”. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





Riot security forces detain a demonstrator during a rally against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela, July 28, 2017. Rock-throwing Venezuelans braved tear gas and rainstorms, blocking streets in protest against a legislative super-body to be elected two days later that critics call an attempt by President Nicolas Maduro to create a dictatorship. Carlos Garcia Rawlins: “After many hours of very violent clashes between the demonstrators and security forces, the National Guard in an attempt to end the situation, suddenly advanced their line very quickly, even going beyond where I and other photographers were taking cover. All the protesters who did not react fast enough to leave the place were detained”. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





Opposition lawmaker Carlos Paparoni is hit by jets of water during riots at a march to the state ombudsman's office in Caracas, Venezuela, May 29, 2017. A group of young Venezuelan lawmakers has risen to prominence on the violent front line of anti-government marches that have shaken the South American country for three months, bringing 75 deaths. On the streets daily leading demonstrators, pushing at security barricades and sometimes picking up teargas canisters to hurl back at police and soldiers, the energetic National Assembly members are heroes to many opposition supporters. Carlos Garcia Rawlins: “I remember clearly how instants after I spotted Paparoni standing in front of “The Whale”, the common name of the water cannon armoured cars, he was flying through the air due to the unstoppable power of the water, as if he was a feather. Fellow protesters had to drag him out of the place, because from where I was, he seemed to have been unconscious”. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





The Petard district of Caracas, Venezuela is seen from a highway on Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)





A woman stands in front of graffiti depicting Venezuela's late former President Hugo Chavez, right, and revolutionary hero Simon Bolivar, in downtown Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, October 25, 2017. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)





In this May 20, 2017 file photo, Venezuelan state security forces detain a protester amid tear gas during a demonstration by opponents of President Nicolas Maduro blocking a major highway in Caracas, Venezuela. According to Human Rights Watch on Wednesday, November 29, 2017, state security forces systematically abused opposition protesters detained during months of deadly political unrest earlier this year, in what the rights group described as a level of repression “unseen in Venezuela in recent memory”. (Photo by Fernando Llano/AP Photo)





A girl plays amid the corridor between two building in a popular neighborhood in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, October 20, 2017. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)





A boy looks at a butcher's stand at a street market downtown in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)





A girl takes pictures of a macaw that flew inside a polling station during mayoral elections in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, December 10, 2017. Venezuelans will choose hundreds of mayors on Sunday in elections pitting candidates backed by President Nicolas Maduro against a fractured opposition still bruised by a poor showing in recent gubernatorial voting. (Photo by Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo)





In this Thursday, December 7, 2017 photo, supporters of opposition mayoral candidate Yon Goicoechea wait for the start of a campaign rally, in Caracas, Venezuela. Still bruising from a shock defeat in recent gubernatorial races, the opposition is limping into Sunday’s vote deeply divided, with three of the four biggest parties in the Democratic Unity coalition boycotting the race altogether. (Photo by Fernando Llano/AP Photo)