Venezuela under emergency decree amid economic crisis and claims of US sabotage


Supporters of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro rally in Caracas
"I love you Maduro" A divided Venezuela in political chaos.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has announced a sweeping crackdown under a new emergency decree, ordering the seizure of paralysed factories, the arrest of their owners and military exercises to counter alleged foreign threats.
The embattled leader is struggling to contain a raging economic crisis that has led to food shortages, soaring prices, riots, looting and vigilante justice, pushing Venezuela to the brink of collapse.
He accused the United States of destabilizing the country at the behest of the "fascist Venezuelan right", prompting him to declare a state of emergency.
Washington has had a rocky relationship with Caracas since Mr Maduro's late predecessor and mentor, Hugo Chavez, came to power in 1999.
Addressing his supporters at a rally in central Caracas on Saturday, Mr Maduro announced some of the actions to be taken under the decree, which has not yet been published.
"We must take all measures to recover productive capacity, which is being paralysed by the bourgeoisie," he told the cheering, red-clad crowd.
He suggested those who wanted to halt production "to sabotage the country" should leave or face imprisonment.
The move came after the largest food and beverage company in Venezuela, the Polar Group, halted production of beer on April 30, saying government mismanagement meant it was no longer able to import barley.
The company's owner, billionaire businessman Lorenzo Mendoza, is a vocal opponent of Mr Maduro, and the president has accused him of conspiring against his government.

Opposition warns of 'ticking time bomb'

Opposition leaders accused Mr Maduro of using the emergency decree to destabilize the country and block them from organising a referendum on removing him from office.
The Opposition said it had collected 1.8 million signatures in favour of a recall vote, but authorities were stalling.
At a rival rally on the east side of the capital, Opposition Leader Henrique Capriles warned the President was pursuing a dangerous strategy.
"Venezuela is a bomb that could explode any minute," he told some 1,000 protesters decked out in the red, yellow and blue of the Venezuelan flag.
"If you block the democratic path, we don't know what could happen."
Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves, but is mired in a crippling recession exacerbated by an electricity crisis that has forced the Government to decree daily power cuts across most of the country, close schools on Fridays and reduce the workweek to two days for Government employees.
Source: http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-15/state-of-emergency-declared-in-venezuela/7415504