Venezuela's political crisis has intensified with the opposition demanding a recall referendum against President Nicolas Maduro, who has declared a state of emergency.
Here is a timeline of recent events in the major South American oil producer.
- January 5, 2016: The center-right opposition takes control of the legislature from the socialist leadership for the first time in more than 16 years after winning elections in December. Maduro's critics vow to drive him from office and rescue Venezuela from economic chaos driven by plunging oil prices.
- January 15: Faced with a situation he describes as catastrophic, Maduro decrees a 60-day state of "economic emergency." It allows the government to seize assets of private companies to obtain essential food and goods. Parliament later rejects the move, but the Supreme Court, seen as allied to Maduro, eventually pushes it through.
- February 18: Maduro raises the extremely low price of petrol, frozen for the past 20 years, from about $0.01 to $0.60 per liter. He devalues the Bolivar currency and increases the minimum wage.
- March 1: The top court passes a law to limit parliament's powers, stripping it of oversight of judicial, electoral and civil authorities.
- Recall referendum drive -
- March 8: The opposition launches two initiatives in a bid to drive Maduro from office: a recall referendum, and a Constitutional reform to reduce his term from six to four years, which is later dismissed by the Supreme Court.
- April 7: Maduro declares Fridays will be holidays for two months, in a bid to ease an energy crisis blamed on a drought.
- April 21: Maduro imposes electricity blackouts to last four hours a day for 40 days in several states.
- April 26: Electoral authorities authorize the opposition to collect signatures in the first step toward a referendum to oust Maduro.
- April 27: Maduro cuts the working week for public-sector employees to just two days to save electricity.
- May 1: Venezuela changes its time zone to save energy by lengthening daylight hours. Maduro announces a 30 percent increase in the minimum wage.
- May 3: The opposition presents electoral authorities with 1.85 million signatures demanding a recall referendum -- nearly ten times the number needed to proceed to the next stage.
- May 4: Maduro says he will allow the referendum drive to proceed if the electoral authorities validate the signatures. The electoral board says the next stage in the process will not be launched before June.
- May 12: Thousands of people join opposition demonstrations across the country.
- State of emergency -
- May 13: Maduro declares a fresh three-month state of emergency to face "threats from abroad," saying the measures might be extended through 2017. This broadens the scope of his January economic emergency decree. The government later says the measure will provide for security units to tackle food and energy shortages and public unrest.
- May 15: The government says there will not be a referendum, due to "fraud."
- May 17: Parliament rejects the emergency decree and urges Venezuelans, including the army, to defy it.
- May 18: Protests take place in Caracas and other cities calling for a referendum. Maduro says he is prepared to escalate the state of emergency.
Venezuela’s political crisis has intensified with the opposition demanding a recall referendum against President Nicolas Maduro, who has declared a state of emergency.
Here is a timeline of recent events in the major South American oil producer.
– January 5, 2016: The center-right opposition takes control of the legislature from the socialist leadership for the first time in more than 16 years after winning elections in December. Maduro’s critics vow to drive him from office and rescue Venezuela from economic chaos driven by plunging oil prices.
– January 15: Faced with a situation he describes as catastrophic, Maduro decrees a 60-day state of “economic emergency.” It allows the government to seize assets of private companies to obtain essential food and goods. Parliament later rejects the move, but the Supreme Court, seen as allied to Maduro, eventually pushes it through.
– February 18: Maduro raises the extremely low price of petrol, frozen for the past 20 years, from about $0.01 to $0.60 per liter. He devalues the Bolivar currency and increases the minimum wage.
– March 1: The top court passes a law to limit parliament’s powers, stripping it of oversight of judicial, electoral and civil authorities.
– Recall referendum drive –
– March 8: The opposition launches two initiatives in a bid to drive Maduro from office: a recall referendum, and a Constitutional reform to reduce his term from six to four years, which is later dismissed by the Supreme Court.
– April 7: Maduro declares Fridays will be holidays for two months, in a bid to ease an energy crisis blamed on a drought.
– April 21: Maduro imposes electricity blackouts to last four hours a day for 40 days in several states.
– April 26: Electoral authorities authorize the opposition to collect signatures in the first step toward a referendum to oust Maduro.
– April 27: Maduro cuts the working week for public-sector employees to just two days to save electricity.
– May 1: Venezuela changes its time zone to save energy by lengthening daylight hours. Maduro announces a 30 percent increase in the minimum wage.
– May 3: The opposition presents electoral authorities with 1.85 million signatures demanding a recall referendum — nearly ten times the number needed to proceed to the next stage.
– May 4: Maduro says he will allow the referendum drive to proceed if the electoral authorities validate the signatures. The electoral board says the next stage in the process will not be launched before June.
– May 12: Thousands of people join opposition demonstrations across the country.
– State of emergency –
– May 13: Maduro declares a fresh three-month state of emergency to face “threats from abroad,” saying the measures might be extended through 2017. This broadens the scope of his January economic emergency decree. The government later says the measure will provide for security units to tackle food and energy shortages and public unrest.
– May 15: The government says there will not be a referendum, due to “fraud.”
– May 17: Parliament rejects the emergency decree and urges Venezuelans, including the army, to defy it.
– May 18: Protests take place in Caracas and other cities calling for a referendum. Maduro says he is prepared to escalate the state of emergency.
