Venezuela soldiers guard Chavez symbols in seething heartland

A motorcyclist rides past a mural depicting Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez in Sabaneta, Venezuela June 13, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Eduardo Ramirez

SABANETA, Venezuela (Reuters) - In the dozy agricultural town of Hugo Chavez's birth, soldiers guard an immense statue of the former Venezuelan leader while nearby opposition activists dream of pulling it down.

The Russian-donated sculpture of a fist-clenched Chavez, in a square of Sabaneta near where he was born in a mud hut, has withstood nearly three months of anti-government unrest that has convulsed Venezuela since April and killed more than 70 people.