thousands of women protest in streets of venezuela

Thousands of people are once again taking to the streets of Caracas, as the Venezuelan capital braces for another day of rival protests amid escalating tensions over the country's political crisis.

Opposition leaders called for women to march on Saturday dressed in white, a traditional show of defiance, against what they brand a repressive government led by President Nicolas Maduro. 

 Lucia Newman, reporting from Caracas, said the march had started in the eastern part of the city and was heading towards the foreign ministry.

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"There is no doubt that they will never make it [to the ministry]," Newman said.

"Riot police are out in force, already armed with water cannons and tear gas to make sure that the opposition march could not got from eastern Caracas to the western part."

In contrast, the government announced it would be organising its own women's march in the western part of the capital, a traditional pro-Socialist stronghold.

Speaking from Caracas, Phil Gunson, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera that the situation on the ground is a "battle of resistance", with neither side seeming to give in at this point.

Deadly protests

At least 37 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in more than a month of anti-government protests, with demonstrators blaming Maduro for growing food shortage and the world's highest inflation rate.

The state prosecutor's office, which keeps an official count of deaths since protests began in early April, confirmed that a 20-year-old protester had died after being in a protest on Friday.