Army must choose Constitution or President Nicolas -Venezuela opposition leader Capriles

President Maduro has announced a 60-day emergency, giving soldiers and police wider powers to deal with the country’s spiralling economic crisis.

The state of emergency is in place for 60 days and can be renewed for another 60.

Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles has urged the army to choose whether it is “with the constitution or with (President Nicolas) Maduro”, after a state of emergency was declared.

Mr Capriles said the decree gave the president unconstitutional powers. The decree was rejected by the opposition-held National Assembly late on Tuesday, but Mr Maduro had indicated that he would not abide by their decision.

He called on Venezuelans to ignore it and take to the streets on Wednesday.

“We, Venezuelans, will not accept this decree. This is Maduro putting himself above the constitution,” Mr Capriles told journalists.

“And I tell the armed forces: The hour of truth is coming, to decide whether you are with the constitution or with Maduro,” he said.

Mr Capriles said the opposition was not calling for a military coup, but instead seeking a legal and constitutional way of ousting Mr Maduro through a recall referendum.

At a press conference with foreign journalists in Caracas, Mr Maduro said the National Assembly had “lost political validity.

“It’s a matter of time before it disappears,” he added.