Venezuela's Maduro says ready if opposition presses for recall

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Tuesday he would be prepared to battle with opposition lawmakers if they decide to call for a presidential recall.

"If they choose to attempt a recall, we will fight and the people will decide. We will have truth on our side... We will build a new and powerful majority," said Maduro during his weekly broadcast.

In Sunday's parliamentary elections, Venezuela's opposition coalition, the MUD, won a landslide victory by securing 112 seats in the 167-member National Assembly.

With the overwhelming-majority status in the parliament, the MUD will be able to choose leaders of the parliament, as well as to call for referendums or propose impeachment proceedings against the country's president.

"They will try and we have to be prepared and we will prepare ourselves to face any situation," said Maduro.

The president also accused the opposition of planning to destroy Venezuela's cooperation agreements with the Caribbean oil alliance Petrocaribe and the Bolivarian Alliance for the People of Our America (ALBA), among others.

"They want to end (the agreements) with Petrocaribe and ALBA. We are going through a difficult time ... If Petrocaribe was destroyed, the strongest humanitarian crisis ever experienced in the region would be upon us," added Maduro.

Venezuela witnessed a presidential recall in 2004, when the parliament took to a vote to decide whether to remove Hugo Chavez (1999-2013) from the post. Chavez survived the recall attempt as 59.1 percent voted in his favor. Endi