Nicolas Maduro pledges to crush looming strike in Venezuela

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has sought to outflank his opponents in their bid to drive him from power, vowing to crush a threatened general strike.

The socialist leader is resisting growing pressure from the opposition, which blames him for the South American oil-rich country's plunge into economic chaos.

He said authorities would seize control of companies that join in a general strike called for by the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD).

"If a company stops, it will be taken over," he said yesterday in a televised speech.

At the same time, he moved to placate hard-up citizens by promising to raise the minimum wage by 40 per cent.

Maduro was on the counterattack a day after the opposition staged anti-government protests that drew hundreds of thousands of people across Venezuela.

The president and the opposition have accused each other of mounting a "coup."

Opposition leaders sharpened their tone after authorities infuriated them last week by halting procedures to hold a referendum on removing Maduro.

The MUD coalition called a 12-hour general strike for today and vowed to march in protest to the presidential palace on November 3.

Maduro called on his own supporters to mobilise to "defeat the parliamentary coup."

A crowd of his followers rallied yesterday outside the National Assembly legislature, where the MUD has held a majority since January.

Opposition lawmakers were inside hearing declarations from civil groups about the crisis.

Maduro's supporters yelled angrily and scuffled with riot police guarding the assembly.

Clashes broke out at some of Wednesday's protests.

The government said a police officer was killed in the northern state of Miranda.

Maduro blamed that on his rivals. He called opposition leader Henrique Capriles a "murderer" and accused him of plotting an "attack" on the presidential palace.

The opposition's vow to march on the palace next week raised the tone in the power struggle.

The palace was the scene of a short-lived opposition coup attempt in 2002 against Maduro's late mentor, Hugo Chavez.

The current head of the military and defense minister, Vladimir Padrino, has declared loyalty to Maduro.