VENEZUELA’s opposition are calling for mass marches this week in an attempt to force President Nicolas Maduro to abort Sunday’s elections for a new congress.

The Democratic Unity Roundtable (Mud) coalition has sent social media messages — seen by the Morning Star — urging Venezuelans to protest at polling stations this morning to try to disrupt the constitutional assembly elections.

The opposition views the assembly as an attempt to bypass the Mud-controlled parliament.

Rallies in the capital Caracas and across the country are planned today in remembrance of over 100 people who have died in three months of violent protests incited by the opposition.

Wednesday will see a repeat of last Thursday’s “civic strike” — a bosses’ lock-out — while on Friday the Mud has called for the “Taking of Caracas.”

But on Saturday afternoon just a few thousand Mud supporters turned out for a march on the supreme court.

The new congress will have over 1,000 representatives — 545 of them elected by the whole population and the rest from “sectors” including workers, students, pensioners, the disabled and business.

Mr Maduro promised a “new economic model” on Friday to end food and medical supplies shortages caused by reliance on oil exports and imports of other commodities — one of the tasks of the congress.

“We Venezuelans are going to astonish the world with the new economic model that we are going to create,” he declared.

He said the country would develop a powerful export economy in alliance with Russia, China and India.

The Caracas vigil will be in Libertador Avenue, where 17-year-old Neomar Lander was killed in June.

The Mud claim he was struck by a tear gas canister fired by security forces, but authorities say a home-made grenade he was about to throw went off by his chest.