CARACAS, Venezuela — The political showdown convulsing Venezuela escalated into deadly violence at the Brazil border on Friday, as security forces fired on Venezuelans protesting the government’s determination to block humanitarian aid deliveries from outside the country.

Witnesses and local officials reported the confrontation a day after President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela, facing the biggest challenge of his political career, ordered all crossings at the Brazil border closed.

At least two civilians were killed and more than a dozen wounded in the confrontation with security forces in the Gran Sabana area, along Venezuela’s southeast border with Brazil, according to Americo de Grazia, an opposition lawmaker from the state of Bolivar.

The Venezuelans were protesting the government’s determination to halt all deliveries of emergency food and medical aid into the country, which is suffering increasingly severe shortages.

In videos posted on Friday from Santa Elena de Uairen, a border crossing town in the Gran Sabana region, dozens of military police holding shields could be seen blocking the roadway. A small crowd of protesters gathered, singing Venezuela’s national anthem and chanting “They are killing us with hunger.”

The political opposition, led by Juan Guaidó, the head of the National Assembly who declared himself president last month, has vowed to forcibly bring in aid this weekend. He has the backing of foreign allies, led by the United States.

Mr. Maduro has said Venezuela is not a country of “beggars,” does not need the aid, and has called Mr. Guaidó a stooge of the Trump administration.

But once-prosperous Venezuela is reeling from its worst economic crisis ever, with deep-seated hunger, shortages and hyperinflation that Mr. Maduro’s opponents have blamed on corruption and mismanagement. More than three million Venezuelans have fled in recent years.

The biggest potential flash point is the bridge at Cúcuta, Colombia, a major border crossing where the Venezuelan authorities have laid semitrailers and fencing across the lanes. The United States and other foreign powers have been stockpiling goods on the Colombian side of the bridge.

Nicholas Casey contributed reporting from Cúcuta, Colombia, Megan Specia and Rick Gladstone contributed reporting from New York.

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