Venezuela on edge ahead of parliamentary elections

Demonstrations have wracked the country this year in even greater numbers than normal. A government prosecutor fled the country in October and claimed that the state pressured him to falsify evidence against the top opposition leader. And just last week, Luis Manuel Diaz, secretary of the opposition Democratic Action Party, was gunned down at an event in central Venezuela. Democratic Action Party leaders pinned blame on President Nicolas Maduro's United Socialist Party. The ruling party, in turn, has denied any involvement in the killing and blames gang elements. More…