CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) – Venezuela’s opposition on Thursday kept pressure on beleaguered President Nicolas Maduro after protests demanding his ouster amid a mounting political and economic crisis.

The opposition-controlled congress held a session to lambaste the leftwing leader, who has introduced a state of emergency he warned could be bolstered if “violent” acts against his government occurred.

The opposition has rejected the decree and called on the army to swap sides to be “with the constitution.”

Henrique Capriles, a top opposition leader, tweeted that Maduro “is considered void and nobody should respect him.”

On Wednesday, around 1,000 protesters tried to march in Caracas to demand electoral authorities respect a petition for a recall referendum against Maduro, one of two dozen opposition rallies across the country.

But they were blocked by hundreds of riot police, some of whom fired tear gas. A few demonstrators threw rocks and bottles.

Maduro’s United Socialist Party said seven police officers were hurt in the capital. Thirty people were arrested in the various protests across the country, according to the opposition and rights groups.

The confrontations exacerbated international concern over oil-dependent Venezuela, whose economy is being torn apart by a brutal recession, hyperinflation and food and electric power shortages.