AFP, Caracas :At least 41 people, including foreign reporters, were arrested in Caracas as security forces battled protesters angry at the policies of Venezuela’s leftist government.Late Friday, National Guard security forces blasted the student-led demonstrators with high-pressure water and fired tear gas canisters into the crowds in an attempt to break up the protest. Hooded protesters set up barricades and responded by hurling rocks and Molotov cocktails.The death toll from three-week street battles stood at 18, according to government figures.With no sign of a breakthrough in the political crisis gripping the oil-rich country, Washington urged President Nicolas Maduro to talk to the protesters.”They need to reach out and have a dialogue, and bring people together and resolve their problems,” Secretary of State John Kerry said in Washington, urging against “arrests and violence in the streets.”
