Venezuela arrests 242 protesters

Caracas - Venezuela's opposition charged on Saturday that 242 people have been arrested in noise-making protests since President Nicolas Maduro was proclaimed the narrow winner in snap elections.

Delsa Solorzano, a Venezuelan deputy to the Latin American Parliament, said about 100 government workers have complained of harassment on the job because of suspicions they did not vote for Maduro.

Solorzano said the arrests had been made in at least five states during nightly pot-banging protests called by the opposition after Maduro was declared the winner of the elections to replace the late Hugo Chavez as president.

"All these people detained across the length and breadth of the country committed the crime, according to the government, of illicit possession of pots," said Solorzano, accusing the government of outlawing dissent.

Maduro was sworn in as president on Friday after the country's election authorities announced they were expanding an audit of the vote in response to opposition demands for a recount.

The official results gave Maduro a 1.8% margin of victory over opposition candidate Henrique Capriles.