Venezuelan students took to the streets of this capital Wednesday for the third consecutive day, marching in protest against Sunday's closure of Radio Caracas Television (RCTV).

The protestors demanded the People's Ombudsman secure the immediate release of 182 students arrested during previous protests in Caracas and other cities. Riot squads from the Metropolitan Police and National Guard officers watched the large demonstration.

The students rallied in Brion Square in the southern Caracas neighborhood of Chacaito.

At the same time, groups of students who backed the closure of RCTV staged a counter demonstration in front of the National Experimental Armed Forces University.

On air since 1953, RCTV was shut down Sunday night when its license expired. The government had refused to renew the license, saying the channel had backed a 2002 coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, which kept him out of power for 48 hours.

Source: Xinhua