Venezuela's opposition coalition said Sunday that it won't participate in a convention called by President Nicolas Maduro to write a new constitution, calling the process "fraudulent."
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles said Maduro's assembly goes against the Venezuela's charter, which requires approval of the nation's voters to change the constitution. Instead, opposition leaders said they're planning a protest Monday at the Education Ministry to present arguments against the assembly, and are staging marches across the nation.
"An absolutely fraudulent process could go wrong for us," Capriles said, according to a statement provided by the opposition alliance known as the Unidad Democratica. If the government "continues with this madness," Venezuela will be ungovernable, he said.
Maduro called for the convention assembly last week in a new attempt to consolidate his hold on the nation as hundreds of thousands of demonstrators poured into the streets. Triple-digit inflation and widespread hunger after two decades of socialist rule have led to protests and street battles, and dozens have been killed in clashes over the past month.
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(Cattan reported from Mexico City.)
