More than 20 hurt, 39 detained at Venezuela protests

More than 20 people were injured and 39 were detained at anti-government protests in Venezuela on Wednesday, the head of a local rights group said.

According to AFP news agency, who a man named Alfredo Romero, the injuries included three people who were shot in the north-western city of Maracaibo on a day of nationwide protests against leftist President Nicolas Maduro's handling of a devastating economic crisis.

Venezuela's increasingly militant opposition has stepped up its push to oust Maduro with protests that drew hundreds of thousands. The protest saw unrest, which is what lead to dozens of injuries and arrests.

Opposition leaders have called a 12-hour general strike for Friday and vowed to use their legislative majority to issue a declaration holding the elected socialist accountable for his handling of a severe economic crisis.

"We are going to notify Nicolas Maduro that the Venezuelan people declare that he has abandoned his post," the speaker of the National Assembly, Henry Ramos Allup, said to cheers from hordes of protesters in Caracas.