CARACAS, VENEZUELA: Opponents of President Nicolas Maduro have vowed huge protests on Wednesday in what they hope could be a tipping point for Venezuela's economic and political crisis.
Here are five key steps that have led us to this point:
2013: Chavez dies
The father of Venezuela's "socialist revolution," Hugo Chavez, a critic of the United States, died of cancer on March 5, 2013.
His vice-president Nicolas Maduro narrowly won the election to succeed him, beating center-right leader Henrique Capriles.
2014: Oil falls
Chavez had spent Venezuela's oil revenues on social welfare and vowed to defend the poor, winning the hearts of many.
But from mid-2014 world oil prices tumbled, slashing the country's revenues and imports and causing shortages of food and medicine.
2015: Opposition gains
As the economy worsened, the center right-led opposition won control of the legislature in elections in December 2015.
That set the stage for an intensifying political struggle as Maduro resisted lawmakers' efforts to legislate against him.
2016: Referendum fails
Maduro resisted opposition efforts to hold a referendum in time to remove him from power before the end of his term.
Vatican-mediated negotiations also broke down with the sides accusing each other of bad faith.
2017: Protests swell
Moves by authorities to seize power from the legislature and ban Capriles from politics have sparked angry street protests.
Five people have been killed in protests this month, with the biggest rally yet planned on Wednesday.
"Social dynamics could very well be nearing a tipping point," analysts at the Eurasia group consultancy wrote in a note Monday.
Venezuela suffered its last major wave of unrest in 2014, when 43 people were killed in anti-government riots.