Venezuela nears showdown

By Grace Livingstone
BBC correspondent in Caracas

The leaders of the Venezuelan Congress have declared a ruling by the Supreme Court unacceptable, bringing the country to the brink of a constitutional crisis.

The court said on Monday that if congress did not appoint an electoral authority within 10 days, the court itself would appoint one.

Chavez's political alliances infuriate his opponents

Selecting an electoral authority is the first step towards holding a referendum on revoking the mandate of President Hugo Chavez.

Venezuela's constitution states that a referendum may be held midway through a president's term of office.

Mr Chavez reaches his mid-term in two weeks' time. But no steps have been taken to organise a referendum because the deeply divided Venezuelan congress has been unable to agree, in four months of debate, who should sit on the electoral council.

Call to the streets

On Monday the Supreme Court stepped in to speed things up.

In a head-on clash with the highest court in the land, the president of congress and his two deputies issued a statement saying this would be an "unacceptable disfigurement" of the political process which would jeopardise the "governability and stability" of the country.

Nicolas Maduro, the MP who heads the pro-government faction in congress, went further, telling the BBC that pro-Chavez MPs would simply not accept an electoral authority chosen by the Supreme Court.

He said he would call people out onto the streets in protest, further exacerbating what is becoming a grave constitutional crisis.