Facing a recall referendum, Venezuela's president has called for a delay until next year. Opposition politicians warn this could create a "zone of turbulence."
Image: Reuters/I. Alvarado
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The Venezuelan opposition party, Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), has warned that postponing a pending presidential recall referendum could have dire consequences.
The party's executive secretary Jesus Torrealba said pushing the referendum to next year – a proposal submitted to the Supreme Court by President Nicolas Maduro – could bring the country into "a zone of turbulence."
Venezuelan opposition groups have led a nationwide campaign to force Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro out of office, collecting over 1.8 million signatures to formally start the recall process.
Since he took office in 2013, the South American nation has suffered an economic implosion resulting in severe shortages of food, electricity, medicine and other basic products.
However, citing a number of collected signatures that have been deemed invalid by the National Elections Council (CNE), Maduro has vowed to push the referendum back to next year if all legal requirements are met, a move which would allow his vice president to assume the presidency. However, a vote this year would automatically prompt new elections.
MUD has accused Maduro of colluding with the CNE to postpone or even block the referendum entirely.
US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday called for the Venezuelan government to "honor its own constitutional mechanisms" by allowing a "fair and timely recall referendum."
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez shot back at Kerry's comments during the general assembly, saying: "Venezuela's internal matters will be settled by Venezuelans."
"I see now this is ordered by Washington. I know they are on Washington's payroll to meddle in the domestic affairs of Venezuela," Rodriguez said, in an apparent reference to opposition lawmakers.
mz/kl (dpa, EFE)
Scarcity, riots and drought: Venezuela is in trouble
Lufthansa has canceled service to Caracas as Venezuela's economic turmoil worsens. The country is one of the world's largest oil producers, but plunging prices have brought inflation to 180 percent in the past year.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/EFE/M. Gutiérrez
Hyperinflation bites into economy
Hyperinflation has made doing business in Venezuela untenable for many domestic and foreign firms. With the currency dropping, the government has made it difficult to convert bolivars into US dollars.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/G. Ismar
Food shortages
Food shortages have become pervasive, spurred on by hyperinflation. Empty store shelves have become all too common across Venezuela.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Barreto
Queuing up to buy food
Food shortages mean that people have to wait in line to buy essential food items at select locations. Here people line up outside a supermarket in the poor neighborhood of Lidice, in Caracas.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/R. Schemidt
Gathering signatures
Opposition leaders launched a petition drive to collect signatures for a recall referendum. They needed 200,000 signatures, or 1 percent of the electorate, but they got 1.8 million voters to sign.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gutierrez
Green light for petition
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles shows journalists that the National Election Council has given permission for the referendum to go ahead. But President Nicolas Maduro's government is trying to delay the vote.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gutierrez
Pushing for referendum
Protesters have taken to the streets, demanding that the referendum go forward.
Image: Reuters/M. Bello
Students protest
Students have also taken to the streets to demonstrate. They are protesting both the overall economic stagnation and also the government's efforts to delay the referendum.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/R. Schemidt
Severe drought
A devastating drought has exacerbated Venezuela's problems. What was once a vast reservoir, held back by a hydroelectric dam, is now little more than a series of mud puddles.
Image: Reuters/C.G. Rawlins
Drought wreaks havoc
The country depends on the Guri Dam - one of the world's largest - for a significant portion of its electricity. While the reservoir is turning to desert, citizens endure daily black outs, and government offices open just two days a week to save electricity.
Image: Reuters/C.G. Rawlins
Health care suffers
Oliver Sanchez, 8, holds a sign that reads "I want to heal, peace, health" during a protest against the shortage of medicines in Caracas. Oliver has Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, but the medicine he needs is no longer available.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/A. Cubillos
Maduro under fire
Venezuela's economic dip is largely the result of oil prices that have plunged more than 50 percent in the past two years. But a severe drought is crimping electricity supplies, and focusing people's ire on Maduro.
