Venezuelan forces take control of protest plaza in Caracas

Security forces on Monday took control of a Caracas plaza that has been at the heart of anti-government protests that have shaken Venezuela for a month.

Clusters of National Guardsmen patrolled Plaza Altamira and the principal streets extending from it while dozens of green-vested workers swept up debris that protesters used to block streets in the middle- and upper-class neighborhoods of eastern Caracas.

Another branch of the National Guard patrolled surrounding neighborhoods on motorcycles, and officials were making the takeover public relations event. At least four Venezuelan government ministers were present giving interviews about the plaza's "liberation."

"We're deployed since 3 a.m. in the entire municipality," Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres said in an interview with state television from the plaza. "We're re-establishing the right of thousands of citizens of Chacao who have been forced to stay inside their homes by violent actions."

It was not immediately clear if the crackdown would stifle the student-led protests in the capital or if it might shift them elsewhere.

Air Canada suspends flights

The civil unrest hasprompted Air Canada tosuspendits flightsto and from Venezuela.In a statement posted on its website Monday, the airline says itcan no longer ensure the safety of its operation in Venezuela,

The airline's last flight left Caracas on Sunday. It is offeringrefunds to those who have purchased tickets for flights after that.

Demonstrations have erupted in numerous parts of the country and the capital, though the graceful, sloping Plaza Altamira in the capital's Chacao borough has become a focal point. Peaceful daily protests have devolved each afternoon into violent clashes with tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannons and Molotov cocktails.

Only a small segment of the demonstrators stick around for the skirmishes, but the damage wreaked by an even smaller subgroup has been highly publicized on state television.

President Nicols Maduro has used the disorder for weeks to jab at opposition Mayor Ramon Muchacho for not having control of his area.

In a speech Saturday, Maduro warned protesters that they had only hours to clear Plaza Altamira or security forces would enter. Maduro referred to the demonstrators as "los Chuckys," a reference to a diabolical doll in a U.S horror film series.

There were clashes on the plaza Saturday and Sunday night as usual, but early Monday morning security forces entered the plaza with the apparent intention of staying.

Mayor accuses state of excessive force

Muchacho, who supports the peaceful protests, has maintained that public order is the responsibility of the state, not the municipality, and has blamed the National Guard and National Police for excessive force in putting down the demonstrations. He began holding community meetings asking residents to keep the protests peaceful and to not block streets.

Muchacho said via his Twitter account Monday that Chacao awoke "militarized."

"The militarization doesn't resolve the crisis or the discontent," the mayor wrote.

With this situation, we assure that every day the plaza is going to stay this way calm, in peace.- Gen. ManuelQuevedo

General Manuel Quevedo, the National Guard's regional head in the capital, blamed a small group for trying to impose itself on the majority of people who want to live in peace in the area.

"With this situation, we assure that every day the plaza is going to stay this way calm, in peace," Quevedo said in a television interview from the plaza.

The protests initiated by students have been joined by tens of thousands of Venezuelans, mostly from the middle class, who are fed up with inflation that hit 56 per cent last year, soaring violent crime and shortages of basic necessities such as corn flour and cooking oil.

Early Monday, Aragua state GovernorTareck El Aissami announced via his Twitter account that National Guard Capt. Jose Guillen Araque was shot in the head Sunday night during violence in the city about 125 kilometers southwest of Caracas. El Aissami gave no details, but said the captain was "killed by fascist groups," phrasing officials often apply to protesters.

Prior to Araque's death, the government had identified 25 deaths related to more than a month of protests in Venezuela. He would be the fourth National Guardsmen killed.

Air Canada says it has suspended its flights to and from Venezuela due to civil unrest.

In a statement posted on its website Monday, the airline says it can no longer ensure the safety of its operation in Venezuela, which has been roiled by daily street protests over crime and a deteriorating economy for more than a month.

The airline's last flight left Caracas on Sunday. It is offering refunds to those who have purchased tickets for flights after that.

Foreign airlines have struggled under a $3.3 billion debt owed by the Venezuelan government.

President Nicolas Maduro said Friday any airline that reduced or suspended flights in and out of Venezuela would face severe measures. He said any airline that leaves won't be allowed back while he is in power.