A demonstrator holds a sign the reads in Spanish "We are hungry" during clashes with the Bolivarian National Guard, at El Hatillo municipality outside Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, May 2, 2017. The confrontation grew increasingly violent, with anti-government protesters setting an officer's motorbike on fire.
"We will be joined by unions, homemakers, and lawmakers".
The proposed USA legislation, written before Mr Maduro's latest move, is co-sponsored by Sen Ben Cardin, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Sen Marco Rubio, the author of earlier sanctions legislation on Venezuela.
"Maduro's attempt to change the constitution could open up an opportunity for many moderates and Chavistas who don't support the government to rally around the project of defending the constitution, thus further eroding Maduro's support base", Torino Capital chief economist Francisco Rodriguez said in an emailed note on May 2. Maduro made the move to diffuse high-running political tensions in the South American country.
Two people were killed overnight when the bus they were traveling in flipped when it tried to avoid a barricade set up by protesters, according to opposition activists who live near the accident site in Carabobo state.
Protesters have begun showing up for demonstrations with medical masks and bandanas to protect from the clouds of tear gas that police often deploy without warning.
Opposition supporters attend a rally against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas.
The government-leaning elections council has indefinitely postponed a vote for state governors that was due to take place previous year.
A demonstrator throwing back a tear gas grenade at riot police.
Mr Maduro has rejected their calls and issued a presidential decree creating a 500-member "constituent assembly" to rewrite the constitution, a step that would bypass the opposition-controlled Congress.
His centre-right opponents and some global powers said the move is an attempt to dodge local elections this year and a presidential poll set for late 2018.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called for a new constitution on Monday as he fights to quell a crisis that has led to more than a month of protests against him and deadly street violence.
Theresa May: Conservatives must not take local election results for granted
Independence Party failed to hold a single seat in early counting, as voters switched to the Conservatives. By 5.15pm, the Tories had won 164 new council seats, while Labour lost 112.
His center-right opponents and some global powers said that was a way of dodging elections.
Cuba, the sole one-party communist regime in the Americas, is Maduro's closest ally.
Political analyst Nicmer Evans said that with his new proposal Maduro is "playing for time at all cost, in order to stay in power".
And Ms Ortega told the Wall Street Journal that the government should ensure people's right to demonstrate freely, without arbitrary arrests.
"We can't demand peaceful and legal behavior from citizens if the state takes decisions that don't accord with the law", the Journal quoted her as saying on Wednesday.
The current Venezuelan Constitution has been in place since 1999, when late dictator Hugo Chávez approved its adoption.
"[But] again, we will be talking with other members in other countries in the region as well about coordinated sanctions, to the extent possible", Fitzpatrick said.
"We want to be free, to have food, medicine and public safety".
The opposition has accused authorities of violently repressing protests.
Caracas' once-vibrant nightlife has died due to fears of violence and looting.
Venezuela has seen three attempted military coups since 1992. Maduro was expected to later give more details about his plan, which is likely to ratchet up tensions even more in a country already on edge.
In remarks to U.S. State Department employees about the Trump administration's foreign policies, Secretary Rex Tillerson called the situation in Venezuela "a real tragedy" and spoke of coordinated efforts to help restore democracy there.
Comments