Venezuelan authorities clash with students

ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)

Venezuelan authorities clashed with students on Monday (May 12) while they began gathering in a main square ahead of an anti-government march through Caracas.

Authorities moved to disperse the crowd of almost 1,000 students, using rubber bullets and tear gas. The protesters set rubbish ablaze in an attempt to block streets.

The clashes come one day after authorities had freed most of the 243 youth activists who had been arrested in raids last week on street camps set up to protest against President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government.

Although the government hoped the demolition of four camps in Caracas would snuff out a three-month protest movement, activists vowed the measure had only strengthened their resolve to demonstrate against Maduro.

The students had been camping for weeks outside U.N. offices on a major highway, and in several other public squares.

The Venezuelan public prosecutor's office said in a stat