For the editors of Venezuela's oldest newspaper, going web-only is not a commercial strategy to reflect dwindling circulation figures. El Impulso halved its print edition from four sections to two in October, and on Friday it will be reduced to one – because the regional daily is simply running out of paper.

The lack of newsprint comes amid a wave of shortages in Venezuela over the past year that have left people scrambling to find anything from toilet paper to cooking oil and car parts.

The shortages have been blamed on strict currency controls put in place more than a decade ago to prevent the flight of capital. Experts say the controls have crippled the economy and led to inflation reaching 56%, the highest in the world.

"We have been circulating for 110 years. We will not die for lack of paper," said José Angel Ocanto, editor-in-chief at El Impulso. "We will come out every day even if we are down to one page."

But not every newspaper has survived the newsprint shortage. According to the Institute for Press and Society, six local newspapers have shut down entirely and nearly 30 have been obliged to reduce their sizes or eliminate weekend editions and magazines.

Even some of the leading newspapers have warned they are weeks away from halting publication.

El Nacional, one of the two largest dailies and a critic of the administration of President Nicolás Maduro, said that since last May it had not received any foreign currency that would allow it to import printing paper. It had enough newsprint to last only until the end of February.

In an editorial on Tuesday, the paper accused the government of funding pro-government newspapers while slowly strangling those that had adopted a critical stance towards the government.

"Those small regional newspapers that try to inform citizens about what happens around them, but without the partisan venom, have only received from this government the aggression of their military, the insults of armed groups and the economic measures designed so they vanish and perish," the editorial said.

The editorial coincided with protests in which several hundred newspaper employees and members of other media organisations took to the streets for a third week in a row to demand access to foreign currency that would allow paper imports to resume.

Several media watchdogs have said the government's failure to disburse currency might be a way to silence its detractors. Claudio Paolillo, regional director of the Interamerican Press Committee, said the obstacles to importing newsprint, as well as recent crackdowns on the reporting of Venezuela's food shortages and rampant violence, were part of the government's strategy to punish independent media.

"Maduro tends to admit it in his statements … when he says he will strengthen the control of media, justifying the action with the argument that it instigates violence with anti-government propaganda," Paolillo said.

Last week, Maduro threatened to impose severe sanctions on media outlets reporting on the escalating violence in the country.

At least two people were shot dead on Wednesday during anti-government protests in Caracas, escalating the worst bout of unrest in Venezuela since turmoil after Maduro's election last year.

The deaths illustrated the deep political divide and volatility almost a year after the death of former socialist leader Hugo Chavez.

Government officials said a Maduro supporter and one other person were killed amid chaotic scenes as a march against Maduro's government and a rally to support the president ended just a few blocks apart in the city center.

Last night, the director of News channel NTN24 said their channel was taken off air in an effort to censor their coverage of today´s violent protests.Under the banner "The Exit," meaning Maduro's departure, hardline opposition groups have been holding mostly small protests around the country for the last two weeks, to complain about rampant crime, corruption and economic hardships.

Some have degenerated into rock-throwing skirmishes with security forces in the first sustained trouble since last year's post-election riots that killed half a dozen people.

"We're staying in the streets until this government falls," said student Jose Jimenez, 22, protesting in Chacao with a shirt tied round his face to protect him from tear gas.

Maduro, a 51-year-old former bus driver and union activist who has pinned his presidency on maintaining the legacy of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez, says right-wing "fascists" are seeking to destabilize his government and topple him.

"A Nazi-fascist current has emerged again in Venezuela, they want to lead our nation to violence and chaos," Maduro told pro-government demonstrators clad in the red colors of the ruling Socialist Party at their rally before the violence broke out.