Caracas: Venezuela's opposition protested Wednesday to demand electoral authorities allow a referendum on removing President Nicolas Maduro from power, a day after the government moved to outlaw their coalition.
Tightly guarded by riot police, hundreds of opposition supporters shouting "Recall now" marched toward the headquarters of the National Electoral Council (CNE) in Caracas.
The police were out in force, laying bare the tension gripping the country as it lurches through an economic crisis marked by severe food shortages and hyperinflation.
"The government is desperate. They're afraid of the people's vote. They'll use every trick they can" to avoid a recall vote, said the speaker of the opposition-majority legislature, Henry Ramos Allup.
The opposition is hoping pressure from Venezuelans fed up with recession, shortages and mounting chaos will force the government to allow a recall referendum against Maduro.
But the leftist leader's camp made clear it was not going without a fight on Tuesday, when it asked the electoral authority to ban the opposition coalition, the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD).
The move came just as the opposition was hoping to get a green light to proceed to the next stage of the lengthy referendum process.
Jorge Rodriguez, Maduro's designated aide to monitor the recall process, instead accused the opposition of "the worst vote fraud in the country's history."
He said they had included the names of thousands of dead people, convicts and minors in a petition submitted in May with 1.8 million signatures requesting a recall vote.
Electoral law expert Eugenio Martinez said the allegations had "no practical substance."
"But they could be useful (to Maduro's camp) as a political strategy to delay the recall referendum process. The deadlines are starting to get dangerously close," he told AFP.
Maduro's opponents are racing to force a recall vote by January 10, the cutoff to trigger new elections.
After that date -- four years into the president's six-year term -- a successful recall vote would simply transfer power to Maduro's hand-picked vice president.
Tuesday was the final day for the electoral authorities to rule whether the opposition successfully collected at least 200,000 valid signatures, the first stage of the process.
Near the end of the day, the CNE said it would only meet Monday to examine its auditors' report on the petition.
It did not say when it would announce its ruling.
- 'Pressure cooker' -
MUD, a fractious center-right coalition, has struggled to rally mass demos in recent months.
Security fears and the opposition's own internal divisions have likely kept many Venezuelans away, along with the fact that many are too busy standing in line for scarce food and basic goods.
But opposition leaders warn the country could explode into violence if Maduro refuses to allow a recall vote in line with the constitution.
"Venezuela is a pressure cooker, a volcano. And the government is doing nothing. We are depending on our right to vote to end this chaos," said opposition lawmaker Julio Borges.
Venezuela has sunk into crisis as global prices for its main export, oil, have collapsed.
The economy is set to shrink eight percent this year, its third year of recession, a UN panel forecast Tuesday.
- Maduro fighting to survive -
A recent poll found 64 percent of Venezuelans would vote to remove Maduro, who has declared a state of emergency and given his military sweeping powers over food production and distribution.
But even if electoral authorities validate the initial recall petition, the opposition will still have to collect another four million signatures, or 20 percent of the electorate, in just three days.
If those signatures are accepted, it would force a recall referendum. To win it, Maduro's opponents would need more votes than he won the election with in 2013 -- around 7.5 million.
Venezuela's economic tailspin is threatening 17 years of socialist rule under Maduro and his late predecessor, Hugo Chavez.
The opposition's referendum push comes after it won legislative elections in December, only to find its power stymied by the Supreme Court.
Maduro's opponents allege he controls both the high court and the electoral authority.
AFP
