Q&A: Venezuela under state of emergency

A state of emergency is in force across Venezuela that boosts the powers of security forces and allows authorities to seize control of companies producing essential food and goods.

The decree has infuriated the opposition, which controls congress and which has organized nationwide marches on Wednesday to push for a recall referendum against President Nicolas Maduro.

What is the state of emergency?

The decree broadens the powers of the military and other security forces to keep order domestically and to defend against foreign aggression.

The state can also take control of the sources of essential supplies and energy to counter shortages, opening the way to the expropriation of food companies.

The state of emergency is to last 60 days, to July 14, and can be renewed for the same period of time. Maduro has said it may last through next year.

The president has also ordered military exercises next weekend.

What will happen during the marches?

Last week, before the state of emergency, the opposition tried to hold a similar march in Caracas, but it was stopped by riot police firing tear gas.

This time could see a more muscular response from soldiers and police under their broadened powers.

But so far there has been no open, prolonged conflict in the streets.

Venezuela's opposition leader, Henrique Capriles, has said the country's army has to choose whether it is "with the constitution or with Maduro."

Is Maduro's head on the block?

There are no signs that Venezuela's military -- from which Maduro's charismatic predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez, hailed -- is faltering in its support of the current president.

Maduro is unpopular with the public, however. He has the support of about one in four citizens, according to a March survey by the Datanalisis firm. Seventy percent want a change of government.

The leader has dismissed the opposition's recall referendum push, and the country's supreme court and electoral commission have thrown up obstacles to the process.

Maduro insists he will see out his current term, which runs until January 2019.

The United States is not so sure. Last week, two senior intelligence officers stressed the mounting volatility and said public revolt was a possibility.

How bad is the economy?

Projections of inflation this year range up to 700 percent -- the highest in the world. The economy shrank 5.7 percent last year and will contract by around eight percent this year. Basic food items and medicine are increasingly scarce. Government-mandated blackouts occur in some areas outside of the capital to conserve energy.

The situation is all the more unsettling given that Venezuela is the country with the biggest proven oil reserves in the world.

But with oil prices languishing at just a third of what they were a couple years ago and Venezuela's revenues almost entirely dependent on the black stuff, cash is running out.

The country is still making its debt repayments, but expectation is high that it could default soon.