Mass demonstrations are expected in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas on Friday, the same day a government ban on protests goes into effect.
Tensions are building as a controversial vote called by President Nicolas Maduro approaches.
On Sunday, voters will elect representatives for a 545-seat special assembly that would have powers to rewrite the country’s 1999 constitution and dissolve state institutions.
Anti-government groups have planned a series of events to protest the election since last week, including a two-day general strike and Friday’s “Takeover of Venezuela,” a massive movement in Caracas.
But as candidates ended their campaigns Thursday, the government announced it was banning all protests “that might disturb the electoral process.”
From Friday through Tuesday, those who violate the ban could land prison sentences of five to 10 years, interior and justice minister Néstor Reverol said.
Protests could possibly interfere with preparations for Sunday’s election, including workers setting up polling stations.
Freddy Guevara, vice president of the National Assembly and leader of the opposition, said Thursday evening that protests will continue through Sunday.
“We will not kneel, we will not fail. We will fight,” he told reporters.
The opposition urged Venezuelans to take to the streets by noon Friday.
Deadly protests, campaign rally
Thursday’s events showed how divided Venezuela is.
Caracas and nearby towns were near-empty and businesses remained closed as some Venezuelans took part in a general strike.
“All of Caracas empty, showing firmness in its objective to reach freedom,” Guevara wrote on Twitter.
But not all of the capital was empty.
Demonstrators were out on the streets and some protests turned deadly. At least seven people died in incidents linked to protests Wednesday and Thursday, the nation’s attorney general’s office said.
As of Thursday, 111 people have been killed in Venezuela’s political unrest since April, the attorney general’s office said. More than 1,900 people have been injured.
Also on Thursday, hundreds of Maduro’s supporters filled up some streets in Caracas for a rally that marked the last day for candidates to campaign.
“We’re a united people, a sovereign country, the love of Chavez, and we walk towards victory with our President Nicolas Maduro,” a government minister, Rodolfo Marco Torres, tweeted.
Bloodshed and dire conditions
For months, violence has spiraled out of control as the struggle for food and medicine grows.
The political upheaval intensified in late March when the Venezuelan Supreme Court dissolved Parliament and transferred all legislative powers to itself. The opposition claimed Maduro was creating a dictatorship.
The decision was reversed three days later, but it triggered a series of bloody street protests that have lasted for months.
Two airlines will be suspending flights to Venezuela due to the country’s conditions.
Colombian airline Avianca said Thursday it has stopped flying to its South American neighbor indefinitely, saying Venezuela needs to improve its airport infrastructure.
Delta, meanwhile, has said it will suspend its lone, weekly route to Venezuela — a flight between Atlanta and Caracas — starting in mid-September, citing unstable market conditions. The airline drastically cut service to Venezuela three years ago because of a currency dispute with the government.
