AFP interviewed five of the human faces of the crisis: ordinary citizens whose lives have been thrown into chaos.

Elizabeth Arana chokes on her tears as she sits in the morgue where her brother Roswill's body lies.

The 28-year-old policeman was shot dead, one of thousands of victims of deadly violence in Venezuela.

He left behind a four-year-old son. Media reports suggested he was killed for his motorbike. But his sister reckons it was a targeted assassination.

"I've got a pain in my insides," from the grief, she sobs.

The Venezuelan Violence Observatory, an NGO, estimates there were 90 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants last year — some 28,000 killings overall including killings during police operations.

Authorities said five people were killed during protests and looting in June.