CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela has arrested several opposition activists accused of plotting violence during an anti-government rally scheduled for Thursday, President Nicolas Maduro said on Tuesday, and opposition leaders slammed the arrests as intimidation.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro (R) attends a pro-government gathering in Caracas, Venezuela August 30, 2016. Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS

The opposition is calling on sympathizers from across the country to march in the capital of Caracas to push for a recall referendum against Maduro, who calls the rally a plot to stir up violence and set the stage for a coup.

The upcoming march follows months of tensions between Maduro and the opposition-controlled legislature, exacerbated by triple-digit inflation, Soviet-style product shortages and a severe economic recession.

“We must win the battle against the coup - before, during, and after the dates announced by these fascists,” Maduro said in a televised broadcast. “We’ve captured a group of people carrying important equipment, C4 explosives. We’re trying to capture a number of them in real time.”

Maduro called opposition party Popular Will “the party of violence that is mixed up in the coup of Sept. 1.” He accused opposition leaders of seeking to stage a putsch similar to one that briefly toppled late socialist leader Hugo Chavez in 2002.

Intelligence agents on Tuesday raided Popular Will’s offices and arrested long-time street activist Carlos Melo, opposition parties said. Popular Will activist Yon Goicoechea was arrested on Monday on charges of carrying explosives.

Another Popular Will leader, jailed former mayor Daniel Ceballos, was transferred to prison from house arrest on Saturday. He was accused of trying to escape his home to plot violence during the march.

Opposition leaders have accused elections authorities of intentionally stalling the recall vote. Maduro’s approval rating in July fell to a nine-month low of 21 percent, according to pollster Datanalisis.

“We denounce the pathetic way in which the government is seeking to demobilize and intimidate the democratic leadership,” said Jesus Torrealba, leader of the Democratic Unity coalition.

Opposition sympathizers have been walking from far-flung corners of the country to join the Caracas march.Popular Will was founded by Leopoldo Lopez, a former mayor jailed for leading the 2014 anti-government protests. The opposition describes him as a political prisoner, and rights groups across the world have pressured Venezuela to release him.

The issue of jailed opposition leaders helped scuttle a brief 2015 rapprochement between Venezuela and the United States, its main ideological adversary.

Maduro insists his government does not hold political prisoners and described Lopez as a dangerous criminal.</s>Why did this happen?

Please make sure your browser supports JavaScript and cookies and that you are not blocking them from loading. For more information you can review our Terms of Service and Cookie Policy.</s>Opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro who are unhappy with the slow pace of a recall petition will demonstrate Thursday in the capital Caracas in what organizers hope will be a massive show of support for political change.

Arrests of several opposition figures have been reported as Maduro tries to discourage turnout for the event that protest leaders have dubbed the “Conquest of Caracas.” Even as Maduro has threatened crack down on marchers, organizers said they expected hundreds of thousands of people from across the country

The protesters blame Maduro for triple digit inflation, scarcity of basic food items and medicine and rising violent crime. Maduro, who was elected to a six-year term in April 2013, has tried to portray his foes as coup proponents.

Among the opposition leaders reportedly detained this week is Yon Goicochea, the high-profile student activist who heads the Popular Will opposition political party. He was arrested Monday in the Prados del Este section of Caracas and has since been held incommunicado, his wife told reporters.

“I denounce the Popular Will party as the party of violence and coups,” Maduro said Tuesday during a public event in downtown Caracas. No matter if they “whine, cry or scream, they will be arrested.”

Jesus Torrealba, a director of the Unity Table coalition of anti-Maduro parties pushing the recall measure, said the march will be peaceful and remain far from the Miraflores presidential palace.

“When we go to Miraflores, it will be to stay, with the votes of the people,” Torrealba told a television interviewer on Tuesday.

Shortly after opposition parties took control of the National Assembly in January, leaders launched a presidential recall campaign that gathered 1.8 million signatures, which were submitted to the electoral commission in March. But Maduro controls the commission, which has moved slowly.

Although it confirmed that enough signatures were collected to validate the process, the commission has set no firm timeline for the process. Opposition officials are concerned that the recall effort may be dismissed for not passing various milestones before certain deadlines.

The march is expected to be the biggest in turnout since February 2014, when nationwide protests turned violent and left 45 dead and hundreds injured.

Daniel Ceballos, the former mayor of San Cristobal in western Tachira state who was serving a sentence of house arrest for inciting violence in the aftermath of those protests, was reportedly taken from his home Saturday and moved to a prison in Guarico state.

Also reported detained was Carlos Melo, a board member of the Advanced Progressive party. Lara state Gov. Henri Falcon, a Maduro opponent, said that “comrade” Melo is being held in police intelligence headquarters in Caracas.

Nestor Reverol, the minister of interior, justice and peace, said on Wednesday that Ceballos was arrested because he was planning to flee the country and that Melo and Goicochea were implicated in the plan. None of the accused has been allowed to speak publicly since their arrests.

“Now we will show a firm hand, with the constitution on our side,” Maduro said Tuesday.

Henrique Capriles, a former presidential candidate who lost to Maduro in 2013 and is now Miranda state governor, described the arrests as “desperation” moves by the government.

“They can arrest all the political leaders, but that won’t stop people from taking to the streets on Sept. 1,” he said. “They can’t avoid the fact that we Venezuelans continue to seek respect for the constitution and that there be a recall vote.”

After National Assembly President Henry Ramos Allup said the opposition would launch drones to fly over the march to record possible abuses of protesters by the government, Maduro declared the use of drones to be illegal through Sept. 6.

Special correspondents Mogollon and Kraul reported from Caracas and Bogota respectively.</s>Chanting “this government will fall!” Venezuelan opposition supporters descended on Caracas on Thursday to press for a recall referendum this year against unpopular Socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

With thousands of protesters arriving from the Amazon jungle to the western Andes, the opposition coalition was hoping for one million people at rallies across the capital to show anger at Maduro and Venezuela’s deep economic crisis.

The president’s ratings have halved to under 25 per cent as falling oil prices and the failing state-led economy have left the OPEC nation in turmoil.

Triple-digit inflation, a third year of recession, shortages of basics, and long lines at shops have exasperated Venezuelans and underpinned a resounding opposition election win in a December legislative vote.

Maduro, 53, says the opposition-dubbed ‘Takeover of Caracas’ disguises a US-fomented coup plan, akin to a short-lived 2002 putsch against his mentor and predecessor, Hugo Chavez.

On-edge authorities arrested some well-known activists in the run-up, with 13 opposition campaigners and supporters still in custody, according to a local rights group.

Extra police and troops were positioned around Caracas, and opposition supporters said there were roadblocks on all major routes, with buses being blocked and traffic crawling.

Fearing violence, especially given 43 deaths around anti-Maduro protests in 2014, many businesses closed and parts of Caracas were deserted in the early morning.

“We have to come out and fight for a free Venezuela! We can’t take this any more,” said Elizabeth De Baron, 69, a secretary traveling 40km from the town of Guarenas.

Dozens of indigenous people marched hundreds of miles from their home state of Amazonas.

Swearing loyalty to Chavez’s legacy and calling opposition leaders a wealthy elite intent on controlling Venezuela’s oil, red-shirted government supporters gathered for counter-rallies.

“I’m ready for everything … we will not allow a coup,” Maduro said in a speech late on Wednesday, saying various people had been arrested while planning to place explosives and kill fellow opposition supporters to discredit the government and create chaos.

Maduro narrowly won election after Chavez died from cancer in 2013, but is seen to have failed to replicate his charismatic leadership.

Despite the country’s ills, the opposition has struggled to consolidate support among ‘Chavistas’ and even its own base, disillusioned with the failure of past street action.

With a compliant Supreme Court vetoing every major measure that congress passes, the opposition wants to activate a plebiscite on Maduro as allowed in the constitution halfway through his term.

But the election board has dragged its feet on the process, making the vote unlikely this year. Should it happen in 2017 and were he to lose, Maduro’s vice president would take over, keeping the ruling Socialist Party in power, rather than there being a new presidential election.</s>CARACAS, Sept 1 (Reuters) - White-clad opposition supporters from all corners of Venezuela were descending on Caracas on Thursday for rallies intended to press for a recall referendum this year against unpopular socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

With protesters coming in from the Amazon jungle to the western Andes, the opposition coalition hopes a million people will gather in a show of anger at Maduro and Venezuela's deep economic crisis.

Maduro, 53, says the opposition-dubbed 'Takeover of Caracas' disguises a U.S.-fomented coup plan, akin to a short-lived 2002 putsch against his mentor and predecessor Hugo Chavez.

Edgy authorities arrested some well-known activists in the run-up, with 13 opposition campaigners and supporters still in custody, according to a local rights group.

Extra police and troops were being positioned across the chaotic city, and roadblocks were expected.

Fearing violence, especially given 43 deaths around anti-Maduro protests in 2014, many businesses planned to close.

"We have to come out and fight for a free Venezuela! We can't take this any more," said Elizabeth De Baron, 69, a secretary planning to leave Guarenas town before dawn to drive the roughly 25 miles (40 km) into Caracas.

Dozens of indigenous people marched hundreds of miles from their home state of Amazonas for the events.

Swearing loyalty to Chavez's legacy and calling opposition leaders a wealthy elite intent on controlling Venezuela's oil, red-shirted government supporters were preparing counter-rallies.

"I will never give up!" Maduro told them this week.

He narrowly won election after Chavez died from cancer in 2013, but has failed to replicate his charismatic leadership.

The president's ratings have halved to under 25 percent as falling oil prices and the failing state-led economy leave the OPEC nation in turmoil.

Triple-digit inflation, a third year of recession, shortages of basics, and long lines at shops have exasperated Venezuelans and underpinned a resounding opposition election win at a December legislative vote.

Despite the country's ills, the opposition struggles to consolidate support among 'Chavistas' and even its own base, disillusioned with the failure of past street action.

With a compliant Supreme Court vetoing every major measure congress takes, the opposition wants to activate a plebiscite on Maduro as allowed in the constitution halfway through his term.

But the election board has dragged its feet on the process, making the vote unlikely this year. Should it happen in 2017 and were he to lose, Maduro's vice-president would take over, keeping the ruling Socialist Party in power, rather than there being a new presidential election. (Additional reporting by Brian Ellsworth and Corina Pons; Editing by Girish Gupta and Bill Rigby)</s>The march called the “taking of Caracas” aims to pressure electoral authorities to allow a recall referendum against Maduro this year.

The buildup to the protest has been tense, with Maduro’s government jailing several prominent activists, deploying security forces across the city and warning of bloodshed.

Maduro this week repeatedly accused his opponents of plotting violence during the march to pave the way for a coup such as the one that briefly toppled his late predecessor Hugo Chavez in 2002. He said authorities had arrested people possessing military fatigues and C4 explosives, and who had plans to fire upon the crowds dressed as national guard members. He didn’t say who he believed was behind the alleged coup plan.

“If they’re coming with coups, ambushes and political violence, the revolutionary will provide an uncommon and overwhelming response,” Maduro told supporters on Tuesday.

Rather than dampening Venezuelans’ enthusiasm, the “war-like” rhetoric appears to be energizing the opposition, said Dimitris Pantoulas, a political analyst from Caracas.

Had the government minimized the protest’s importance it would have likely failed to garner much support, he said. Better-off Venezuelans who are the opposition’s political bedrock are on summer vacation and those less privileged are too busy standing in long lines for food and coping with the oil economy’s collapse to engage in the heady ideological street battles of the kind that marked the early days of Chavez’s rule 16 years ago.

“The government made a big mistake by throwing fuel onto the flames,” said Pantoulas.

Shortly after dawn Thursday, a few hundred people dressed in the yellow, red and blue colors of Venezuela’s flag began walking toward the three large avenues in eastern Caracas where demonstrators were to concentrate after midday.

Some held signs saying “I revoke,” a terse way of expressing support for the move to end Maduro’s mandate as president.

Among those taking part in the march, which organizers are hoping will draw 1 million people, are some 100 members of the Piaroa and Jiwi indigenous tribes. They arrived in Caracas on Wednesday for the protest after travelling more than 375 miles — by foot, canoe and bus — from the Amazon rainforest.

“We came to see if they’ll free the political prisoners,” said Miguelina Caballero through an interpreter. She was referring to someone from her Piaroa tribe who had been jailed for alleged fraud during December’s congressional elections, a case the government used to disqualify three indigenous leaders from taking seats in the opposition-controlled legislature.

But delivering on their big promises won’t be easy for Maduro’s opponents.

The opposition has staged a half-dozen or so marches this year, some of which ended in clouds of tear gas as hard-core activists clashed with riot police, but posed no major risk to Maduro’s grip on power. Even the anti-government protests in 2014 that were blamed for more than 40 deaths failed to rally the huge numbers now sought for Thursday’s march by the hard-to-keep together Democratic Unity alliance.

The opposition hopes to force electoral authorities widely seen as pro-government to allow a recall vote this year. If Maduro loses, new elections would be held and polls indicate the opposition would win. But if a vote is delayed until after Jan. 10, and Maduro loses, his vice president would finish his term ending in 2019.

Electoral authorities have yet to set the date for the next stage of the complex process, in which the opposition must collect 4 million signatures over three days, with a referendum vote scheduled only once the signatures are validated.

The government plans a counter protest on Thursday, but Pantoulas said authorities will have a tougher time rallying supporters among the poor amid 700 percent inflation blamed for growing hunger and a collapse in wages.

“I don’t know that the poor will join opposition march, but they’re not going to partake in the counter-protest,” said Pantoulas. “The fact that the poor barrios won’t be supporting Chavismo is enough to damage the government.”

Also invigorating the opposition is a government crackdown.

Authorities over the weekend moved a prominent opposition leader, former San Cristobal Mayor Daniel Ceballos, from house arrest back to prison while he awaits trial on civil rebellion charges stemming from the 2014 protests. Authorities said he was plotting to flee and carry out violence during the protests.

Two other activists, Yon Goicoechea and Carlos Melo, were also detained this week, with a top socialist leader accusing Goicoechea of carrying explosives.

There have been more subtle threats as well. Government workers say they’ve suffered retaliation for signing petitions seeking Maduro’s removal and the opposition-leaning newspaper El Nacional said thugs threw excrement and Molotov cocktails at its building Tuesday.

The U.S. State Department accused Maduro of trying to bully Venezuelans from taking part in the march.</s>CARACAS, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Venezuelan authorities rounded up 25 opposition activists and supporters in the last two days amid plans for a massive protest against President Nicolas Maduro, a rights group said on Wednesday.

Opposition supporters around the country are descending on Caracas for rallies scheduled for Thursday to demand a recall referendum against the unpopular socialist leader. But Maduro, 53, says they are planning violence and a coup.

The local Penal Forum rights group said that of 25 people held in the last 48 hours, 12 had been released while 13 were still in custody by mid-afternoon Wednesday.

While Maduro accuses opposition parties of trying to reprise a 2002 putsch against Chavez, they say the government is carrying out a wave of repression to intimidate them before Thursday's marches that they have dubbed "Takeover of Caracas".

It was not clear if those still being held would be charged or if the detentions were preventive to stop them participating in Thursday's events. Authorities did not immediately respond to queries about the arrests. (Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Alexandra Ulmer and David Gregorio)</s>Caracas is braced for a day of protests against President Nicolás Maduro’s government, with soldiers and armoured cars patrolling the capital in the run-up to Thursday’s march.

The country has been tense amid a crackdown on opposition figures, but some are hopeful that the protest could herald a new stage in Venezuela’s political showdown.

Organisers of the protest, a coalition known as MUD, hope to draw hundreds of thousands of marchers from across the country of 30 million to what is being called the “Takeover of Caracas”, where they will demand a recall referendum before the end of the year, which would cut Maduro’s term short and trigger new elections.

The protests will test the strength of the opposition’s determination to oust the president and measure how far the government is willing to go to stay in power in the oil-rich state, which has been crippled by severe shortages of basic goods and medicines, rampant crime and surging inflation.

The government said what was being planned for 1 September was a “coup” by “the anti-democratic opposition and international right”, according to the foreign ministry.

Though the opposition does want to remove Maduro from power, it has said it will adhere to constitutional democratic means, and insists the protest will be peaceful.

But the fear of a crackdown is not unfounded. The sharp repression that followed weeks of protest in 2014 left 43 people dead. Several opposition figures were later prosecuted for their alleged role in inciting violence and Leopoldo López, the leader of what is considered a radical faction of the opposition, was sentenced to 17 years in prison by what human rights activists said was a kangaroo court.

Since then, and despite the increasingly critical food shortages, protests against the government have been muted. But Thursday could mark the beginning of a new stage in the political showdown, say analysts.

“This a real turning point,” said David Smilde, a Venezuela expert at the Washington Office for Latin America. “This will determine what the opposition’s strategy is and what the government looks like.”

So far the government’s strategy has been to preventatively crack down on the opposition, jailing several leaders on charges they were planning acts of violence during the protest. It has deployed soldiers on the streets of Caracas and began blocking some access to the capital last week. The government has also banned private aircraft and drones from flying over Venezuelan territory until 5 September. Opposition leaders said they would defy the rule and fly drones over the march.

Since taking office in 2013, Maduro has relied heavily on the military for support, promoting high-ranking officers to key positions in his government. To tackle the food shortage, last month Maduro appointed Venezuela’s top general, defence minister Vladimir Padrino López, to oversee the “grand mission of sovereign supply”, which aims to secure the supply of basic goods. Last week Padrino named one general for each of the most crucial goods.

“The gradual expansion of military powers in response to the regime’s loss of legitimacy is starting to resemble a slow-motion coup,” wrote Phil Gunson, analyst for the International Crisis Group thinktank.

Smilde said Maduro’s decision to involve generals in government was like “becoming blood-brothers with the military”. “Maduro has made the military a stakeholder in the government so when things go bad, it’s not that people will be rebelling against the government, they will be rebelling against the military, too,” he said.

However, Venezuela is under increasing international pressure and scrutiny. Last month, the US filed trafficking charges against the former head of the Venezuelan drugs agency, whom Maduro then promptly named interior minister. At the same time regional groups such as the Organisation of American States, and the Mercosur trading block have questioned the Venezuelan government’s democratic credentials.

“Since they know the world is watching, the military should respect the manifestation of the people and understand they want change,” says Luis Alberto Buttó, director of the Latin American Centre for Security Studies at the Simón Bolívar University in Caracas.

Maduro took office after narrowly winning an election to succeed the controversial and charismatic Hugo Chávez, who set his country on the path toward “21st-century socialism” with enormous popular support. Under Maduro, however, Venezuela has sunk into an ever-deepening economic and social crisis.

Many Venezuelans complain they are eating only once or twice a day amid chronic food shortages. Even standing in long queues for hours to enter supermarkets does not assure shoppers they will go home with anything. Medicines for life-threatening conditions are nearly impossible to come by. The economy is expected to contract by 8% this year after the GDP dropped 5.7% in 2015. Inflation hovers around 700% and violent crime is skyrocketing.

A poll by Venebarómetro found that 88% of “likely” voters in a recall referendum would choose to oust Maduro.

While the 1 September marches will be a show of force for the opposition, the protest is unlikely to sway electoral authorities – widely considered to do the government’s bidding – to move towards a recall referendum this year.

And timing is key. The opposition managed to collect enough signatures earlier this year to set in motion a series of steps to force a recall vote. They are now waiting for election authorities to set a definitive date to launch a second drive to get 3.9 million people – 20% of registered voters – to sign the recall petition in three days to formally trigger the referendum. Officials said the date would be at the end of October.

That, according to the opposition, would give officials enough time to organise the referendum on Maduro before he reaches the mid-point of his six-year term on 10 January 2017. A recall before that date would mean new elections. After that, his vice-president would simply take over and most likely continue the policies that critics say have brought the country to its knees.
Venezuelan officials arrest several opposition activists, including Popular Will Party leaders, just days before Thursday's scheduled national protest against the rule of President Nicolás Maduro.