VENEZUELAN President Nicolas Maduro was set to meet defence chiefs yesterday as the opposition accelerated its regime change plan.

Mr Maduro called a meeting of the National Defence Council (Codena) after flying in from his diplomatic tour of Opec nations on Tuesday.

The country was braced for protests yesterday by the right-wing, US-backed Democratic Unity Roundtable (Mud) coalition, ominously dubbed the “Taking of Venezuela.”

The Mud majority in the National Assembly voted on Tuesday to put Mr Maduro on trial for “breaking the constitutional order.”

The move was over the decision by the National Electoral Council (CNE) to postpone Mud’s signature collection this week for a presidential recall referendum after courts in five states ruled an earlier drive fraudulent.

The vote had no constitutional basis, but is likely intended to undermine the legitimate authority of the executive government. Furthermore, Vice-President Aristobulo Isturiz pointed out that the Supreme Justice Tribunal had already ruled the assembly’s sitting illegitimate after it defied a ruling halting the swearing-in of three members whose elections in December were allegedly fraudulent — nullifying all decisions.

In addition to the executive government, Mud has challenged the authority of the judiciary and the CNE.

The CNE office in Barquisimeto in north-western Lara state was attacked with explosives yesterday by unknown assailants.

The right also tried to resurrect unsubstantiated allegations from 2013 that Mr Maduro was born in Colombia, making him ineligible to serve as president.

Mud MP Juan Miguel Matheus said: “If Maduro has dual nationality, he has no constitutional right to govern Venezuela.”

But Colombian authorities debunked the claims at the time.

Speaking at a mass rally of supporters in Caracas on Tuesday, Mr Maduro said Mud MPs of acting like members of a “circus” and attempting a “parliamentary coup.”

He said: “The National Assembly has been transformed into a bastion of evil and bitterness, it is useless to the interests of our country and our people.

“It has a single goal: to damage Venezuela.”

He also lashed out at President Barack Obama.

“Obama is going and before he leaves he wants to cause Venezuela damage,” he said. “This is Obama swiping his tail before he leaves.”

Defence Minister General Vladimir Padrino urged citizens to exercise “prudence and good sense.

“We reject the incitements to violence by some opposition sectors who had even called for an international intervention in Venezuela, ignoring the despicable consequences that such things would bring — chaos and anarchy,” he said.