Venezuelan security forces fired rubber bullets into the air Wednesday to break up a crowd of activists following the largest protests against President Nicolas Maduro’s government since he was re-elected almost a year ago. Five people were killed during standoffs including a police officer, two student demonstrators and a member of militant community groups known as “colectivos,” according to local media. Twenty-five people have been injured during the protests. The fatalities came at the end of rival demonstrations to support and denounce Maduro’s government. Under the banner “The Exit,” meaning Maduro’s departure, hard line opposition groups have been holding protests around the country for the past two weeks, to complain about rampant crime, corruption and economic hardships. “All of these problems — shortages, inflation, insecurity, the lack of opportunities — have a single culprit: the government,” Leopoldo Lopez, a Harvard University-trained former mayor, told a crowd of about 10,000 […]