Venezuelan Legislature Appeals for International Help

Venezuela's opposition-controlled legislature resolved Thursday to ask the Organization of American States to intervene in its standoff with President Nicolas Maduro and the judiciary.

Tension in the recession-racked oil giant has reached the boiling point since the opposition won control of the National Assembly in December, dealing a severe blow to the socialist "revolution" launched by Maduro's late mentor Hugo Chavez in 1999.

Since then, the Supreme Court has repeatedly stymied the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), which has vowed to use its landslide election win to force Maduro from power before his term ends in 2019.

The legislature said recent events had "seriously affected democracy" in Venezuela, and invoked article 20 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, which provides for the OAS to take measures aimed at restoring democracy in the event of an "unconstitutional alteration of the constitutional regime" in any member state.

The opposition earlier postponed its planned announcement of its strategy to oust Maduro, saying the latest Supreme Court ruling had forced the delay.

It did not set a new date for the announcement.

The opposition is seeking to dislodge Maduro by constitutional means, after mass protests in 2014 swept the country and left 43 people dead but failed to oust him.

The two most obvious options -- a recall referendum or a constitutional amendment reducing the presidential term from six years to four -- face likely rejection by the Supreme Court or the National Electoral Council, both of which the opposition accuses Maduro of packing with allies.

The opposition has been locked in a power struggle with the high court since its landmark election win.

The court first reduced MUD's powerful two-thirds majority, ruling that three of its lawmakers could not take their seats because of a pending case over alleged electoral fraud.

Then on Tuesday the court stripped the legislature's power to remove justices from the bench, voiding MUD's bid to review the recent appointment of 34 Supreme Court judges -- passed by the previous legislature in an 11th-hour session on the eve of the opposition takeover.

The institutional power struggle comes against the backdrop of a crippling economic crisis exacerbated by the crash in the price of oil, which long funded Chavez and Maduro's lavish social spending and subsidies.

Despite holding the world's largest oil reserves, Venezuela's economy contracted 5.7 percent last year, its second year of recession.

MUD, a motley coalition that spans the political spectrum but is dominated by the center-right, is united mainly by its shared hatred of Maduro.

It has been divided over the best strategy to pursue his ouster.

Radical opposition leaders sought to force him from power with street protests in 2014, but the main figures, such as Leopoldo Lopez, were jailed, and the protests eventually fizzled out after descending into deadly clashes with police and counter-demonstrators.

The Supreme Court is meanwhile likely to reject any constitutional maneuvers to oust the president -- which could also include convening a constitutional assembly to draft a new charter or declaring Maduro in breach of duty.

Moderate opposition leader Henrique Capriles, MUD's candidate in the past two presidential elections, said Wednesday he favors the option of a recall referendum, which enables voters to remove elected officials midway through their terms.

But that would have to be validated by the National Electoral Council, which like the Supreme Court has been less than friendly to the opposition.

Highlighting the tension gripping the country, violence broke out Wednesday at a protest over the recent Supreme Court ruling in the western city of San Cristobal, the cradle of the 2014 protests.

Students threw Molotov cocktails and stones at police, authorities said, with at least two protesters injured in the clashes, according to an AFP reporter.