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BEIJING, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- As foreign representatives gathered Tuesday on Margarita Island off Venezuela's northeastern coast to participate in the 17th Non-Aligned Movement Summit, President Nicolas Maduro's opponents did not ease pressure on him.
"We ask your governments to express solidarity with the Venezuelan people in these times of uncertainty and calamity," opposition leader Henrique Capriles said in an open letter to summit participants, urging them to speak out against Maduro.
Venezuela has been plagued by triple-digit inflation and a severe shortage of commodities for months amid a world oil price slump which has crippled the economy of the oil-rich country.
This has worsened Maduro's standing, as his government was seen as having failed to provide concrete responses to these problems, tumbling the president's approval ratings.
Against such a backdrop, parliamentary elections on Dec. 6, 2015 led to a sweeping victory for the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD)coalition, which took 56.2 percent of votes and won a super majority of 112 seats against 55 for Maduro's Great Patriotic Pole coalition.
The opposition said on Tuesday it had held two private meetings with government representatives in recent days to push for a recall referendum, but without giving details. Previous talks had failed to make significant progress.
Meanwhile, the opposition said authorities are cracking down on its members on Margarita Island, saying police searched the home of an opposition mayor Monday and called in several other people for questioning.
On Monday, the National Electoral Council (CNE) postponed the announcement of dates for the final stage of the opposition-led push to call a referendum on removing Maduro from power. The much-anticipated announcement was postponed from Tuesday to Friday, when the opposition will be allowed to collect the 4 million signatures needed to trigger a recall vote.
The opposition coalition has to collect the signatures -- 20 percent of the electorate -- in just three days. A new protest is expected on the day of the CNE announcement to keep up pressure on Maduro.
On the other hand, Maduro hailed the start on Tuesday of the summit as a success despite what he said was attempts to wreck the gathering in the crisis-stricken nation.
"Welcome to the delegations of over 105 countries that are already here, working despite pressure from the 'gringos,' despite a right-wing lobby, despite the threats - they can't keep us back!" he said during his weekly television program on Tuesday night.
Last Wednesday, forces for and against the government staged fresh demonstrations across the country after massive pro- and anti-government rallies were held on Sept. 1 when tens of thousands of people took to streets.
Anti-government protests in early 2014 turned violent, leading to more than 40 deaths and millions of dollars in losses as protesters vandalized public buildings and property.
