Opposition: ‘Venezuelan agents seize two more court appointees’

Two more people named to an alternative Supreme Court in defiance of President Nicolas Maduro's government were arrested by Venezuelan intelligence agents during a fast-escalating political showdown, the opposition has said.

Jesus Rojas and Zuleima Gonzalez were seized in central Anzoategui state, after another appointee Angel Zerpa's arrest at the weekend, they say.

Venezuela's majority-backed opposition is demanding Maduro abandon a Sunday election to create a controversial congress with powers to rewrite the country's constitution and override all other institutions.

Foes say that will institutionalise dictatorship by the ruling Socialist Party.

But Maduro insists it is the only way to empower the people and bring peace after four months of anti-government unrest that have killed more than 100 people.

"The Constituent Assembly will be a blank check for the executive to decide everything," state prosecutor Luisa Ortega, who has broken with Maduro this year, told a local paper.

The main business guild Fedecamaras also backed the opposition, issuing a statement on Wednesday that called the coming weekend vote "unconstitutional and unnecessary".

"We demand the executive branch abandon its intention to impose a new constitution," said the group, which is hated by government supporters for its central role in a short-lived 2002 coup against Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chavez.

‘Usurpers’

Facing intense foreign pressure including the threat of economic sanctions by US President Donald Trump, Maduro has vowed the vote will go ahead despite "imperial" pressure.

He has called for the arrest of the 13 people named by the opposition to an alternative Supreme Court last week, calling them "usurpers".

The existing Supreme Court has consistently backed Maduro and shot down all measures by the opposition-led National Assembly.

Venezuela's opposition has called for a two-day strike from Wednesday at 6 am local time to try and force Maduro to abandon the vote.

Millions took part in a one-day strike last week, where five people died in clashes.

Many Venezuelans were stocking up on food today in anticipation of closed shops and trouble, exacerbating already bulging lines at supermarkets and ATMS.

Venezuela is undergoing a major economic crisis, with many suffering food shortages and runaway inflation in a fourth year of sharp recession.