Venezuela troops block opposition leader from parliament

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan troops dispersed opposition demonstrators with tear gas on Tuesday and blocked anti-government activist Maria Corina Machado, recently stripped of her seat in the National Assembly, from reaching the legislature.

National Guard soldiers surrounded a rally of opposition sympathizers who had planned to march into downtown Caracas to protest at Machado's expulsion from Congress, preventing them from leaving and clearing the square with tear gas.