VENEZUELAN right-wing protests degenerated into violence on Wednesday with paramilitary veterans of 2014’s deadly Guarimba riots leading the charge.

The marches, including one of thousands to the National Electoral Council (CNE) in the capital Caracas, were organised by the Democratic Unity Roundtable (Mud) coalition of opposition parties.

Protesters demanded that the CNE’s validation of signatures for the recall referendum process against United Socialist Party President Nicolas Maduro be fast-tracked.

They breached a police cordon around the CNE offices in Venezuela Square, attacking officers with poles, stones and fists.

Telesur TV captured the mob surrounding and assaulting a female civil servant until someone intervened and calmed the attackers.

Meanwhile, female police officer Dubraska Alvarez was struck with sticks and metal pipes by demonstrators on Libertador Avenue in the capital.

In the city’s Chacao suburb, seven protesters were arrested, including Jheremy Bastardo and other  known participants in the 2014 street violence that left 43 people dead.

His accomplice Romer Moreno admitted under interrogation that a group of youths had received funding from a right-wing MP’s chief of security “to participate in violent acts,” said Justice and Peace Minister Gustavo Gonzalez.

The referendum is one component of the Mud’s three-pronged “roadmap” to topple Mr Maduro.The Mud has so far submitted under half the required four million names for the recall petition, which the CNE is closely scrutinising for fraudulent signatories.

The other two prongs are a constitutional amendment to shorten the presidential term from six to four years — already ruled out by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice — and a repeat of 2014’s riots.

Henrique Capriles, leader of Justice First — a member of the Mud —  called on the armed forces on Tuesday to join the Mud’s attempts to overthrow the government.

In response to the Mud aggression and Venezuela’s economic crisis — which the government blames on black marketeers and economic warfare from within and without — the government declared a 60-day dual state of emergency and exception on Friday.

Mr Maduro also called Organisation of American States secretary-general Luis Almagro a “CIA agent,” prompting an angry letter of protest on Wednesday.

Opposition resort to recruiting corpses in bid to beat deadline

EVEN the dead want Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro out of office by next year, if the right-wing opposition is to be believed.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) revealed on Monday that of the 1.85 million signatures submitted by the Democratic Unity Roundtable (Mud) coalition for a recall referendum, around 190,000 — more than 10 per cent — were in fact deceased.

The Mud needs four million signatures — a fifth of the registered electorate — to trigger a recall vote, which if successful could spark a new election.

But Mr Maduro’s opponents are desperate for the referendum to take place before the halfway mark in his six-year term on January 10.

After that, Vice-President Aristobulo Isturiz, an ex-leader of teaching union Suma, would automatically assume office, foiling Mud’s plan for a presidential election.

CNE officials have been going through the petition forms with a fine-tooth comb to make sure everyone is registered to vote — and not six feet under.