The protests began in early February 2014 in the western states of Tachira and Merida when students demanded increased security after a female student alleged she was the victim of an attempted rape.
Venezuela has the fifth highest murder rate in the world. Insecurity and crime are rife in many urban centres.
They also complained about record inflation (official figures suggest yearly inflation in December 2013 stood at 56.2%) and shortages of basic food items.
The protests in Tachira turned violent, triggering the arrest of several students.
At this point, two hardliners within Venezuela's opposition movement, Leopoldo Lopez and Maria Corina Machado, joined in the protests.
When the student movement organised a march in the capital, Caracas, Mr Lopez and Ms Machado used the hashtag #lasalida, which in Spanish means both "the exit" and "the solution", to call on their supporters to join in the demonstration.
The protests in Caracas started on February 12,2014 and quickly turned deadly when three people were shot by gunmen following a largely peaceful march that same day.
There have been daily demonstrations since then.
The elected leader of the opposition, Henrique Capriles, who narrowly lost to President Nicolas Maduro in April last year, was opposed to the initial marches.
After more than 500 people were arrested and more than a dozen killed, Henrique Capriles and a more moderate sector of the opposition also took to the streets asking for peaceful demonstrations.
The Venezuelan Govt accuses the opposition of trying to stage a coup with backing from the United States.
Several members of the government have warned of a "slow coup", in which protests slowly lead to increasing chaos until the situation boils over and the government is toppled.
The Venezuelan Govt has drawn parallels between the protests and a brief coup that took place against Hugo Chavez in 2002. President Maduro has called the protesters "fascists".
Human Rights Watch has condemned the "excessive and unlawful force against protesters on multiple occasions". Videos and photographs posted on the internet suggest protesters have been beaten up by members of the security forces
But the Venezuelan Govt denies such abuses
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