Venezuela Crisis 2017: 'Mother Of All Protests' Planned Against President Nicolas Maduro

Protests against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro escalated in recent days, culminating in a plan to stage the “mother of all protests” Wednesday. Maduro’s opponents called for elections and new leadership amid the country’s severe economic and political crisis.

Demonstrators planned to march inward from 26 areas toward central Caracas, where the government’s headquarters are located, Agence France-Presse News reported Wednesday. Organizers urged protesters to remain peaceful, though recent demonstrations have resulted in clashes with riot police firing tear gas and rubber bullets.

Read: Starving Children Abandoned In Venezuela Amid Food Shortages

Maduro hit back by pledging to send his troops into the streets alongside the protesters. The president also called for the “Zamora Plan” to be put into effect Tuesday, a plan that combines military, police and civilian forces to fight a coup attempt.

“The hour of combat has arrived,” Maduro said Tuesday. “We are at a crucial moment in the destiny of our nation.”

The past two weeks of demonstrations left at least five people dead and dozens wounded, which Maduro’s government blamed on opposition forces who wanted to upend the government’s control. United States officials issued a statement last week calling for the government to listen to the opposition.

“We note the largest public demonstration of the year on Saturday, as well as protests today, and echo the Venezuelan people’s calls for prompt elections, respect for the constitution and the National Assembly and freedom for political prisoners,” the U.S. State Department said in the statement.

Turmoil in Venezuela reached crisis proportions in recent years due to the falling price of oil—the nation’s primary export—combined with inadequate economic policies. Shortages of food, medicine and other necessities were seen throughout the nation. Reports emerged in December that Venezuelan families were giving up their children because they could no longer feed them.

The country has just $10.5 billion left in foreign reserves as a result of exorbitant overspending and plummeting oil prices, CNN reported in March, and still had $7.2 billion in outstanding debt payments to make in 2017.