This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Venezuela's opposition leader Leopoldo López has handed himself in to the authorities after coming out of hiding to attend a rally of supporters in Caracas.

After the protests that left three people dead last week, there was relief on the streets that a violent repeat might be avoided. Lopéz's defiance in recent days appears to have raised his profile as a figurehead of the resistance to President Nicolás Maduro.

The Harvard-educated politician has been accused of terrorism for encouraging the anti-government protests in several cities that saw fierce clashes between opposition demonstrators, police and colectivo militia groups loyal to the government.

But in a speech to several thousand supporters dressed in white, López denied the charges and said he was turning himself in to a corrupt justice system as a means of promoting non-violent reform.

"I have nothing to hide. They want to jail Venezuelans who want peaceful, democratic change," he said from a plinth for the statue of 19th century Cuban independence hero José Marti in Plaza Brion de Chacaíto. "This is the first step in the construction of the road for change and it must, by necessity, be a peaceful process."

Flanked by members of his Popular Will party, he walked towards a barricade where he was escorted away by police and national guardsmen.

Despite the peaceful rhetoric, the spectre of violence again raised its head elsewhere in Venezuela as government forces moved in on demonstrations. In the town of Carupano a student was reported to have been hit by a car and killed during protests, the Reuters news agency said, while the Associated Press said 11 protesters were wounded by gunfire at a demonstration in the city of Valencia. The reports cited residents and local officials.

In Caracas, his supporters said they had turned out despite fears of fresh clashes. "I am afraid because of the violence I have seen, but I am more afraid of the course my country has taken," said López supporter Ingrid Lopez, an accountant. "I am here today to tell the government it is unfit to lead this country."

When police helicopters buzzed overhead, the crowd shouted their defiance and waved their hands to show that nobody was armed.

Watched by heavily-armed security forces and blocked by barriers, the protesters were prevented from reaching their final destination.

Although the ruling bloc notched up impressive support during municipal elections last December, discontent about the government's handling of the economy and public security is high. Inflation is running above 56% – the highest rate in the world.

There are shortages of many essential commodities, such as toilet paper and milk. Caracas has one of the highest murder rates in the world.

"I am not sure how we will wake up tomorrow," said Jorge Farias a motor-taxi driver from Petare, a shanty town in western Caracas.

"This country can't stand this much longer – this insecurity in the streets, and these food shortages."

Tensions and suspicions are still running high in the capital after funerals were held last week for the dead, who included Juan "Juancho" Montoya, a colectivo leader from the 23 de enero (23 January) neighbourhood of Caracas.

Underlining the tension, officials said on Monday that a 17-year-old youth, Jose Ernesto Mendez, was killed by a truck during a protest in Carupano, part of an ongoing wave of demonstrations, particularly by students.

López has emerged as the most radical voice of the opposition, whose leader Henrique Capriles has adopted a less confrontational and more pragmatic approach in dealing with a government that controls parliament, the courts, the media and the military.

Maduro now faces a tricky political decision. If the case goes to trial, it could create a platform for López. If he is jailed, the opposition would have a powerful new cause célèbre.

The government blamed the US for stirring up trouble in the oil-rich nation. On Monday three US diplomats were ordered to leave within 48 hours because of their alleged involvement in the disturbances.

The foreign minister, Elias Jaua, said the expelled diplomats had met student activists at private universities "for training, financing and creating youth organisations through which violence is promoted in Venezuela". The US government denies this.