Venezuelan assembly declares 'coup' by Maduro govt

CARACAS: Venezuela's opposition-majority legislature declared that President Nicolas Maduro's government had committed a coup d'etat by blocking a referendum on removing him from power, vowing mass protests and international pressure.

Furious over the electoral authorities' decision to suspend the process of organizing a recall vote, opposition lawmakers passed a resolution declaring "the breakdown of constitutional order" and "a coup d'etat committed by the Nicolas Maduro regime."