In Venezuela, gunmen shot and killed a judge Wednesday night at a Caracas checkpoint set up by opposition protesters hoping to topple the government of President Nicolás Maduro. Local media reported Judge Nelson Moncada may have been targeted for assassination because he sentenced opposition leader Leopoldo López to nearly 14 years in prison for inciting violence during mass protests three years ago. This is Venezuela’s interior minister, Néstor Reverol.

Néstor Reverol: “We have not ruled out that this was done by an assassin, a hit man contracted by right-wing terrorists, aimed at creating more terror.”

With the killing, the death toll from two months of clashes between security forces and antigovernment protesters rose to 62. On Thursday, President Nicolás Maduro said he would hold a national referendum on his plan to create a new constituent assembly that would have the power to rewrite Venezuela’s constitution.