Sick of crisis, weary people line up to recall President Maduro

Venezuelans lined up on Wednesday to seek a recall referendum against President Nicolas Maduro, exasperated with a grinding crisis that has paralyzed government offices five days a week and triggered rolling blackouts.

A day after Maduro announced his latest drastic measures to tackle power shortages in the recession-hit country, the opposition was gathering signatures for an official petition to launch a referendum.

Citizens queued up to sign, voicing anger at Maduro over a crisis that has led to power outages for four hours a day in most of the country, exacerbating an already disastrous economic implosion.

"I came to sign it to end this anarchy," said Miriam Leal, 54, in eastern Caracas. "We are lacking medicine, work, education, and on top of that there is the electricity problem."

The International Monetary Fund issued a stark warning on the state of Venezuela's oil-dependent economy, hit hard by the collapse in global crude prices. It warned the economy would shrink 8 percent this year and inflation would exceed 700 percent.

The crisis is taking an increasingly heavy toll on weary Venezuelans.

After daily power-cuts were imposed on Monday, looting was reported in several places including the country's second-biggest city, Maracaibo.

"The situation is very tense. There are areas that have been nearly 10 hours without electricity and that has made people even more annoyed," said Doris Falcon, a Maracaibo resident.

Isolated incidents were also reported in the capital Caracas.

Maduro on Tuesday announced enforced leave for public sector employees three workdays a week for at least two weeks in a bid to slash electricity use.

Vice-President Aristobulo Isturiz also said primary and high schools would be closed on Fridays. That followed the start of daily four-hour electricity blackouts in several states on Monday, which Maduro said would last 40 days.

Electricity shortages have compounded an economic crisis that has left Venezuelans queuing for hours in shops to buy scarce goods.

Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves.

But the government has resisted using crude to generate electricity, calling it inefficient. Neither has it built more generating plants with other technologies, such as nuclear.