Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Thursday he would ask the Supreme Court to strike down an amnesty law passed by opposition lawmakers to free those they describe as political prisoners.
The leftist leader, who is fighting off the ascendant opposition's bid to force him from power, told a crowd of thousands of red-clad supporters he had decided to ask the court to invalidate the "criminal" amnesty bill.
Maduro accused the opposition of trying to sow divisions by passing the bill, in a nationally televised speech punctuated by shouts of "Justice!" from supporters outside the presidential palace.
"If this law is approved, Venezuela will enter into a cycle of civil war. We cannot allow it. Division and hatred will not reign in Venezuela. For there to be peace, there must be justice," Maduro said.
The president had until Saturday to sign the bill, send it back to the legislature for changes or challenge it before the Supreme Court.
Earlier Thursday, Maduro supporters and opposition activists clashed in a rock-hurling brawl triggered by an opposition campaign to organize a recall vote to oust the president before the end of his term in 2019.
Maduro and the National Assembly have been at each other's throats since the opposition took control of the legislature in January.
Fed up with a deep recession, severe shortages and violent crime, Venezuelans gave the opposition a landslide victory in legislative elections, the biggest challenge yet to the "revolution" launched in 1999 by Maduro's late predecessor and mentor, Hugo Chavez.
One of the touchiest issues is some 75 opposition figures the amnesty bill describes as political prisoners, including figures like protest leader Leopoldo Lopez.
Lopez was sentenced to 14 years in September on charges of inciting violence at anti-government protests that shook the country in 2014 and left 43 people dead.
His jailing has drawn international condemnation.
But Maduro, who accuses his opponents of seeking to oust him in a coup, said the bill, which was passed on March 29, aimed to free criminals.
He announced he would instead launch a "truth, justice and reparations commission" to deal with jailed opposition activists' cases.
- Clashes at recall rally -
The tensions come against the backdrop of a deep economic morass exacerbated by the crash in the price of oil, which long funded Chavez and Maduro's lavish social spending.
Despite holding the world's largest crude reserves Venezuela's economy contracted 5.7 percent last year, its second year of recession.
Maduro's popularity has plummeted amid the crisis, but he retains de facto control of the courts and the military.
He also threatened in his speech that if the National Assembly passes a law to shorten his term -- one of the opposition's strategies to unseat him -- he will consider cutting short the legislative term.
"I will evaluate it, in absolute seriousness. I promise the country. If I see the possibility of clearing out coup-mongering and the use of the National Assembly, I will myself activate it if the people are with me. I promise you that," he said.
Violence erupted earlier in the day when about 150 people, including 30 lawmakers, marched toward the National Election Council to obtain forms for collecting signatures needed for a recall referendum.
About 50 government supporters blocked their path, and as both sides traded insults rocks began to fly.
National Guard troops briefly separated the groups, but the government supporters broke through the cordon and forced their opponents to disperse.
Authorities were not immediately able to confirm casualties, but opposition deputy Tomas Guanipa said several people, including a fellow lawmaker, were injured in the melee.
