Venezuela opposition escalates protests against Maduro 'dictatorship'

By Andrew Cawthorne and Diego Oré CARACAS (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters rallied across Venezuela on Wednesday against socialist President Nicolas Maduro, whom they accuse of becoming a dictator by blocking a plebiscite to remove him. Escalating its anti-Maduro campaign, the opposition Democratic Unity coalition also called for a national strike for Friday and a march to the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas next week, activists and local media said. Th