CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuelan opposition leaders called Monday for a 24-hour nationwide strike to increase pressure on the socialist government after more than 7 million people rejected a plan to rewrite the constitution and consolidate the ruling party's power over the country, which has been stricken by shortages and inflation and riven by more than 100 days of clashes between protesters and police.
The opposition also said the country's National Assembly, which it controls, would name new members to the government-dominated Supreme Court, setting up a showdown with President Nicolas Maduro, whose party controls nearly all other state institutions. Opposition parties also plan to sign a declaration calling for the formation of an alternative "government of national unity," a step toward total rejection of government authority.
"Overall the package is pretty radical, especially the idea of a parallel government," said David Smilde, a Tulane University expert on Venezuela. "I think it could lead to real chaos within the government."
He noted, however, the opposition moves were to be implemented in phases over the next week, starting with the nationwide strike Thursday, giving both sides the opportunity to negotiate possible concessions.
Earlier in the day, opposition parties had floated the idea of escalating more than three months of street protests, which have left at least 93 people dead and 1,500 wounded. More than 500 protesters and government opponents have been jailed.
"Right now we have to escalate and deepen this street movement," National Assembly President Julio Borges told local radio station Exitos ahead of Monday's opposition announcement, which was delayed for hours as government opponents discussed their next steps behind closed doors.
Speaking at an afternoon news conference, opposition leader Freddy Guevara made little mention of more protests, however, a sign the opposition had decided to change tactics in the wake of Sunday's vote.
"We call on the whole country to launch a 24-hour national strike this Thursday, a massive, non-violent protest, as a way to pressure the government and to prepare for the final steps, which will be next week, to confront this fraud and to restore constitutional order," he said. He didn't say what the final steps would be.
The opposition said 7,186,170 Venezuelans participated in Sunday's symbolic referendum rejecting Maduro's plans for the July 30 election of an assembly that would remake the country's political system. Maduro's allies have called on the assembly to impose executive branch authority over the few remaining institutions outside the control of Venezuela's socialist ruling party.