A protester retrieves a tear gas canister from security forces blocking an opposition march from reaching the National Electoral Council headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, May 24, 2017. Demonstrators contend Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government is quickly becoming a full-fledged authoritarian regime, and that his call to rewrite the constitution is one more attempt to consolidate his power. They are also decrying Venezuela's triple-digit inflation, soaring crime and vast food shortages. ((AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
A protester retrieves a tear gas canister from security forces blocking an opposition march from reaching the National Electoral Council headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, May 24, 2017. Demonstrators contend Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government is quickly becoming a full-fledged authoritarian regime, and that his call to rewrite the constitution is one more attempt to consolidate his power. They are also decrying Venezuela's triple-digit inflation, soaring crime and vast food shortages. ((AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) Credit: ap photograph

Caracas, Venezuela — The death toll from nearly eight weeks of Venezuelan street protests rose to 56 on Wednesday after three opponents of President Nicolas Maduro were reported killed by gunfire in Barinas state, the birthplace of the late President Hugo Chavez.

Violent clashes between demonstrators and police and national guardsmen trying to contain the protests have been reported across the country, with more than 1,000 reported injured and 2,700 arrested, according to the civil society group Penal Forum.

The rising toll and the use of firearms by armed forces in most of the killings provoked claims by Maduro opponents that the government is using excessive force.

With eight reported deaths since the demonstrations became almost a daily routine, Barinas state and its capital of the same name have become a focal point of ongoing violent clashes.

For Venezuelans, Barinas is fraught with symbolism. Chavez was born there in 1955, and Maduro has portrayed himself as perpetuating the vision of his highly popular socialist predecessor. Protests in Barinas undermine the narrative he’s crafted of being the leader capable of carrying out the political philosophy of chavismo.

Chavez remains popular in many parts of the country, but even his reputation is in tatters in some quarters. Five statues of Chavez, portraying him as the father of the revolution, have been reported pulled down and destroyed in recent days in Anzoategui, Lara, Zulia, Tachira and Falcon states. On Tuesday, protesters in the Baruta borough of metropolitan Caracas pulled down a billboard with Chavez’s image.

Demonstrators have taken to the streets to protest a series of actions taken by Maduro that, in their view, cripples the country’s democratic institutions. They include his plan to convene a new constitutional assembly this summer that in effect would cancel out the National Assembly elected in 2015 that is composed of two-thirds opposition legislators.

Increasingly unpopular since winning an April 2013 election to replace Chavez, Maduro has used a stacked supreme court to nullify new laws meant to limit his power, critics say. Maduro’s government also has disqualified several leading opposition leaders from opposing him in the election next year, including Henrique Capriles, the popular governor of Miranda state whom Maduro defeated in 2013’s presidential race.

Anti-Maduro protests also target his handling of the country’s worsening economic crisis. Store owners reported that food scarcities have become even more acute in recent days because blockades by protesters of many highways in Venezuela are inhibiting distribution of scare food and household items.

On Wednesday, several structure fires were reported in Barinas, including one that partially destroyed the National Electoral Council’s state headquarters as well as a National Guard headquarters building, according to local media.