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The President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro , was pelted with eggs while riding a caravan to a military event in the country.

The event was attended by protesters who threw objects - which South American media are claiming were eggs - towards the President as he waved goodbye.

State television footage showed a crowd mobbing his vehicle before his security team was scrambled and the state broadcaster suddenly halted the transmission.

The event in Bolivar yesterday was in honour of the Chavista movement founded by Maduro's revolutionary predecessor and mentor, the late Hugo Chavez.

(Image: AFP)

It comes after many claim Maduro is turning Venezuela into a dictatorship, with food and medicine shortages sparking 'the worst humanitarian crisis in the country's history'.

Opposition lawmaker Francisco Sucre said on Twitter: "The DICTATOR only needs to leave Miraflores (presidential palace) to see how the people repudiate him!

"They cannot give a standing ovation to the man responsible for the worst humanitarian crisis in our history!"

Venezuela's state prosecutor's office also said on Tuesday a 20-year old man had been fatally shot in the neck on Monday night while he was at a protest in the city of Valencia, the second confirmed death in anti-government unrest in the last week.

Opposition lawmakers said Daniel Queliz was killed by security forces while he was protesting. The prosecutor's office said in a statement it was investigating the incident.

His death comes on the heels of the killing of 19-year-old Jairo Ortiz on the outskirts of Caracas on Thursday in the area of an opposition protest. A police officer has been arrested.

(Image: REUTERS)

The deaths come as demonstrations against unpopular leftist President Nicolas Maduro escalate amid a gruelling economic crisis and what critics say is his transformation into a dictator.

Maduro counters that under a veneer of pacifism, the opposition is actually encouraging violent protests in a bid to topple his government.

(Image: AFP PHOTO/CUBADEBATE.CU)

Venezuelans have been suffering food and medicine shortages for months, leading many to skip meals or go without crucial treatment.

But after years of protesting with little results, street action had ebbed until a Supreme Court decision in late March to assume the functions of the opposition-led congress sparked outcry.

The court quickly overturned the most controversial part of its decision but the move triggered condemnation at home and abroad. News that the national comptroller on Friday had banned high-profile opposition leaders Henrique Capriles from office for 15 years also drew broad criticism.