Venezuela army must choose side in crisis

Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles has urged the army to choose whether it is "with the constitution or with (President Nicolas) Maduro", after a state of emergency was declared.

Maduro's 60-day state of emergency was imposed Monday to tackle what Maduro said were threats to domestic and external security, as well as critical food and energy shortages. Maduro claims the adversity he is facing is fueled by US interference working with Venezuela's "fascist" right.

Capriles said the decree gave the president unconstitutional powers. He called on Venezuelans to ignore it and take to the streets. "We, Venezuelans, will not accept this decree. This is Maduro putting himself above the constitution," Capriles told journalists.

"To impose this, he'd better start preparing to deploy the war tanks and military jets," he added.

"And I tell the armed forces: The hour of truth is coming, to decide whether you are with the constitution or with Maduro," he said.

Capriles said the opposition was not calling for a military coup, but instead seeking a legal and constitutional way of ousting Maduro through a recall referendum.

At a press conference with foreign journalists in Caracas, Maduro said the National Assembly had "lost political validity. "It's a matter of time before it disappears," he added.

Riot police firing tear gas blocked a 1,000-strong anti-government protest in the center of Caracas yesterday, one of several opposition rallies across crisis-hit Venezuela venting fury at the president.

The demonstrations were the first major test of a state of emergency the unpopular Maduro imposed this week that gives broad powers to security forces to maintain public order.

The protesters were demanding authorities stop stalling over a recall referendum called for by a petition of 1.8 million signatures.

In a stinging rebuke to Maduro's dismissal of the referendum as "not viable" and his increasing authoritarianism, the head of the Organization of American States called the Venezuelan president a "traitor" to his people.