'Socialist paradise' verges on COLLAPSE: Venezuela dictator holds onto power amid protests
A GROWING number of protests have rocked the South American socialist state which has been edging towards complete disorder.
Chaos in Caracas as anti-Maduro protestors clash with police
Nicolas Maduro has sent Venezuela into a chaotic spiral after a vicious crackdown on dissent and opposition parties.
Yesterday, the leading opposition leader Henrique Capriles was barred from public office for 15 years.
This comes after days of massive protests against the dictator's grip on power.
Venezuela dictator hurls country into chaos
Protesters were demonstrating against a decision by the Venezuelan Supreme Court to assume control of the opposition-led congress.
The police have responded with tear gas and water cannons, prompting chaos among highways where 10,000 protesters marched.
One of the biggest opposition protests yet is expected to take place later today in the country that has once lauded as a "socialist paradise".
However, experts believe the government-led crackdown could galvanise protests against the leftist government and upend a presidential election next year.
Maduro's government says a U.S.-backed business elite is responsible for Venezuela's economic fall
Venezuala has seen nearly daily protests
This is not one person's struggle, This is the Venezuelan people's struggle
Mr Capriles, a two-time presidential candidate, was seen as the opposition's best hope to defeat President Nicolas Maduro.
He called for an uprising after the ban was announced, adding: "You can shove your disqualification where the sun doesn't shine.
"This is not one person's struggle. This is the Venezuelan people's struggle."
Protesters believe that Maduro, who was handpicked by the late Hugo Chavez, is leading the country to a dictatorship.
Capriles, a two-time presidential candidate, was seen as the opposition's best hope
Maduro still retains the support of the armed forces
Venezuela's oil-dependent economy is suffering a brutal recession that has forced millions to ration meals because of inflation and low wages.
However, Maduro's government has blamed a U.S.-backed business elite for Venezuela's economic downturn.
He also refused to even confirm the existence of protests, claiming: "Venezuela is at peace, producing, working, with small flashpoints of violence.
"They were neutralised under constitutional authority, and they failed in their objective: to fill Caracas with violence."