Venezuela

Latest updates from the ground

By Paula Newton, Marilia Brocchetto and Patrick Gilllespie

Venezuela has allowed CNN correspondents in to the crisis-hit country ahead of Sunday's vote called by the government to elect a special assembly to rewrite the 1999 constitution.

Here is the latest:

Death toll up to 106
A man has died after being injured in protests Wednesday, Venezuela's attorney general's office says. That raises the number of people who have died in incidents relating to the country's political unrest since April to 106.

The latest to die, Enderson Caldera, was injured in a protest in the town of Timotes, close to the northwestern city of Merida.

Caldera is the third person to die in protest-related incidents since a 48-hour general strike began Wednesday morning.

48-hour protest enters second day
Venezuelans are rallying for a second day Thursday against Maduro's regime as it prepares for a national vote next week. CNN's Paula Newton speaks to a mother who says her son is protesting because he wants a better future.

The political crisis, explained
Venezuelans have been summoned to the polls on Sunday to vote for a new lawmaking body, to be known as the Constituent Assembly. The newly elected body would rewrite the 1999 constitution. President Nicolas Maduro has said the role of the new body will be to "perfect" the current constitution and promises that the changes will help the oil-rich nation climb out of its crippling economic crisis. The implications are wide ranging.