Venezuelan lawmakers got into a shoving match on the floor of the National Assembly during a heated debate that ended with a vote to open a political trial against President Nicolas Maduro.
Opposing sides began scuffling shortly after the President of the National Assembly Henry Ramos Allup lashed out at Venezuela's Defence Minister for criticising congress and accusing the President's foes of seeking "foreign intervention".
Tensions have been running high after the government shut down an opposition push to remove President Maduro last week by holding a referendum.
The move has seen the president accused of veering towards dictatorship.
But since the opposition holds a majority in Venezuela's National Assembly, MPs have used the latest session to call for President Maduro to be put on trial.
"It should be pointed out that the ones opening this political hearing is not us, the 167 deputies," opposition MP Juan Miguel Matheus said at the start of the session. "I want to be very clear that what's happening today is the people themselves are standing up.
"Through us, their representatives, they've come to declare the political responsibility for the breaking of constitutional order and for the economic chaos and the hunger we are seeing in Venezuela."
Maduro's approval rating slumps
Nicolas Maduro became President of Venezuela in 2013 following the death of his charismatic and widely popular predecessor, Hugo Chavez.
Since then the country been in the grip of a recession, resulting in widespread food shortages and soaring prices.
Recent polls show more than 75 per cent of Venezuelans disapprove of President Maduro, and his opponents insist he must leave office before the crisis worsens.
But in a televised address, Venezuela's defence minister, Vladimir Padrino Lopez, accused the opposition of trying to destabilise the country.
"The true purpose [of the National Assembly] is for nothing else but to affect the institution in a serious manner by using chaos and anarchy to ultimately overthrow the legitimate government of Nicolas Maduro," he said.
"As far as we're concerned [Maduro] is not just a politician but rather the Constitutional President and Commander in Chief of the Bolivarian Armed Forces."
That prompted an angry response from the National Assembly's President, who called Venezuela's armed forces a group that "nobody wants, nobody is afraid of and nobody respects".
Hector Rodriguez, a spokesman for the Government, fired back with this stinging rebuke that set off the parliamentary scuffle.
"You speak with a bit of a loud voice, but with all due respect I don't think you have the strength or the balls to back up what you just said," Rodriguez taunted. "I speak in the name of all of the Bolivarian soldiers... and demand they be respected."
President remains defiant
Unlike neighbouring Brazil, which recently impeached and removed its President Dilma Rousseff, a trial against Mr Maduro is unlikely to gain traction.
In the past, the government and the Supreme Court have declared congress illegitimate.
Speaking at a pro-government rally in Caracas, President Maduro accused the Assembly of trying to damage the country.
"Let me tell you that we will not allow a parliamentary coup of any kind who don't know about the law here," he said.
Venezuela's government claimed it's the victim of an international conspiracy against socialism led by the United States, which has been fanned by servile foreign media.
But the crisis is threatening to jeopardise Venezuela's standing on the world stage.
Argentina's President Mauricio Macri is calling for Venezuela to be removed from the Mercosur, a sub-regional customs and trading bloc made up of several South American countries.
"We're very worried about how bad things are getting," he said.
"Clearly the recent declaration by the Venezuelan Congress has been offensive and brings us closer to confirmation that Venezuela cannot be part of Mercosur.
"It needs to be condemned by all the nations of the Americas and the whole world because, as I have said many times, they are not respecting human rights in Venezuela."
The opposition is calling for nationwide protests to take place in the coming days.
