Venezuela delays Nicolas Maduro recall referendum

Meeting to decide whether to hold a vote to remove the president cancelled as protesters clash with police in Caracas.

 

Venezuela's opposition has appealed for calm after electoral authorities cancelled a meeting on whether they could go ahead with efforts to remove President Nicolas Maduro in a referendum.

Maduro's opponents say Venezuela faces severe unrest in the referendum's absence

The National Electoral Board (CNE) had been due to deliver its ruling on whether it accepted or rejected an initial petition with 1.8 million signatures endorsing a recall vote against Maduro.

Thursday's protests in Caracas were driven mostly by people who form the core of Maduro's suppor

Maduro's opponents say the country faces an explosion of unrest if authorities do not allow the recall referendum this year.

 But just after their meeting with the CNE was due to start on Thursday, Jesus Torrealba, opposition spokesperson, said the electoral authorities had postponed it indefinitely.

 

"We are going to announce to the nation the steps we will take in the face of this unprecedented situation," Torrealba said. "We call on the Venezuelan people to remain calm."

Venezuela's economy is forecast to contract eight percent this year, with inflation of 700 percent. The economic crisis has made daily life increasingly difficult for Venezuelans, who face hyperinflation, shortages of food and medicine, daily power outages, the near-paralysis of government offices and violent crime.

On Thursday, protesters demanding food made a run for the presidential palace in an apparently spontaneous outburst of anger within the heart of Caracas. More than 100 people charged down the main thoroughfare in central Caracas chanting "No more talk. We want food".