With hours to go until a deadline passes for Nicolas Maduro to call fresh elections or lose yet more support on the world stage, the Venezuelan leader has alluded to a possible civil war in comments to media.
No one can say with certainty what the risks are of such a scenario unfolding, he told the La Sexta broadcaster in an interview set to be broadcast on Sunday evening.
Excerpts of the interview were released in Spanish print media earlier in the day.
"Everything depends on the degree of insanity and aggressiveness of the northern imperialists [United States] and its Western allies," he said.
An eight-day deadline for Mr Maduro to declare fresh elections is set to run out on Sunday, after which eight EU countries have said they will recognise opposition leader Juan Guaido as president.
Mr Guaido, the leader of the National Assembly, declared himself interim head of state on January 23, a move which was immediately recognised by the US and numerous other countries.
"If by this evening Mr Maduro has not committed to organising presidential elections, we will consider that Mr Guaido has the legitimacy to organise them instead," France's Europe minister Nathalie Loiseau told RTL radio in Paris.
Loiseau rejected any suggestion of holding early parliamentary elections instead, saying Maduro wanted to "get rid of the president of the parliament, Mr Guaido, who has the support of the demonstrators".
Trump flags military intervention
US President Donald Trump says sending the military to Venezuela is "an option" and that he has turned down President Nicolas Maduro's request for a meeting.
"Certainly, it's something that's on the - it's an option," Trump said in an interview with CBS to be broadcast on Sunday.
Trump said Maduro requested a meeting months ago and he turned down the Venezuelan leader.
"I've turned it down because we're very far along in the process," he said in excerpts from a CBS Face the Nation interview.
"So, I think the process is playing out - very, very big tremendous protests."
Tens of thousands of people have thronged the streets to protest the Maduro government, wearing the yellow, red and blue of the Venezuelan flag.
As domestic and international pressure mounts on Maduro to step down, a senior air force general disavowed him in a video that circulated earlier on Saturday, expressing his allegiance to parliament head and self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido.
More EU countries threaten recognise Guido
Austria on Sunday became the eighth EU country, alongside Germany, France, Britain, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and Belgium, to threaten to recognise the opposition leader if Maduro failed to call elections.
Maduro has dismissed the ultimatum as an "impertinence", telling supporters at a rally on Saturday: "I am the true president of Venezuela."
Maduro, the successor to left-wing populist leader Hugo Chavez, won a second term in May in an election widely seen as undemocratic, and was inaugurated in January.
He has presided over an economic disaster, with millions of Venezuelans fleeing abroad to escape hyperinflation, and food and medicine shortages.
At least 35 people have died in protests since January and around 850 arrests have been made, according to media reports.
Though a high-ranking air force general on Saturday disavowed Maduro, the president enjoys the support of the military and the country's security services.
He is also backed by Russia, China, Turkey, Cuba, Bolivia and Nicaragua.
In the interview with La Sexta, which the broadcaster said was conducted on Friday, Maduro said, "We simply live in our country and ask that nobody intervene in internal affairs. And we are preparing ourselves to defend our country."
He added that people in factories, universities and other civic spheres are preparing for combat.
Interviewer Jordi Evole, one of Spain's most respected television journalists, replied, "I'm scared of what you're saying, Mr Maduro."
"Really? It doesn't scare me," was the embattled president's response.
In response to the European deadline for elections, Maduro said, "We do not accept an ultimatum from anyone."
