Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, has declared a state of emergency, hours after US intelligence officials warned that the South American country could be on the brink of disintegration.

The powers Maduro obtains after Friday night’s declaration allow him “to stabilise our country, and confront all the international and national threats against our fatherland in this moment”, the president said, but he did not detail how he intends to use them.

The country is grappling with soaring inflation, a shrinking economy, chronic food shortages, and power cuts so bad that public servants have been put on a two-day week and the president personally urged women to stop blow-drying their hair to save electricity.

In December the opposition won parliamentary elections by a landslide, and is now pushing for a referendum on recalling Maduro from office, allowed under Venezuela’s constitution.

The president has vowed to see out his term, due to end in 2019, but the two US intelligence officials told journalists in Washington that it looks increasingly unlikely Maduro can hold on to power, even if he staves off a recall vote.

A leftwinger close to former President Hugo Chávez, the 53-year-old Maduro came to power after the founder of Venezuela’s “Bolivarian revolution” died of cancer. But he lacks Chávez’s charisma or the oil bonzanza that funded his reforms. The former bus driver could be vulnerable to a “palace coup”, from colleagues frustrated by his handling of Chávez’s legacy, or an outright military grab for power, news agencies reported the unnamed officials as saying.

Maduro’s Friday night declaration of a 60-day state of emergency comes after a week that saw demonstrations for a recall vote escalate into violence, with protesters hurling stones and police firing teargas.

His biggest problem is the economy, which contracted last year and is forecast to shrink by a further 8% this year. Inflation is already in triple digits and expected to soar over 700% this year, which could leave the government too cash-strapped to even pay for printing new money.

As shortages of basic goods deepen, hours-long queues have become part of daily life for most Venezuelans, and looting is increasingly common, with mobs stealing flour, chicken and even underwear last week. Lengthy drought has created severe power shortages in a country heavily dependent on hydropower. Critics say mismanagement and lack of investment have exacerbated the problems.

The government’s efforts to manage the shortages have included moving clocks forward half an hour, closing schools on Fridays, sending civil servants home three days a week, and even drafting in Maduro himself to dispense energy-saving tips. “Cut the use of hair-dryers, or only use them half the time,” he said on a recent TV appearance. “Do you think you could do this, ladies?”

President Nicolás Maduro asked women not to blow-dry their hair, to save electricity. Photograph: EPA

Caracas has become one of the most violent cities in the world, with people waiting to buy groceries leaving their cash at home while they queue, and summoning relatives to bring it to them at the last minute to avoid theft.

“You can hear the ice cracking. You know there’s a crisis coming,” one US official said. “Our pressure on this isn’t going to resolve this issue.” The US government fears a return to the convulsions of 1989, when an earlier collapse in oil prices contributed to riots and looting in which more than 300 people died, the officials said.

Maduro denounced the press briefing as part of a conspiracy against his country. “Washington is activating measures at the request of Venezuela’s fascist right,” he said in a TV broadcast.

Any US intervention is sensitive in Venezuela because Washington has a history of both covert and open intervention across Latin America, from Chile to Nicaragua. In Venezuela there is lingering resentment at support for a shortlived 2002 coup against Chávez.

A surge in oil revenue, or fresh cash in the form of Chinese loans, might reinvigorate Maduro’s government, but there is little sign he can hope for either.

Work has all-but stopped on the Chinese bullet train that was intended as South America’s first and a symbol of socialist solidarity. It is now four years overdue, Chinese workers have pulled out, key sites have been looted and a government delegation to Beijing earlier this year came home empty-handed. ​And t​he retreat of two big oil services companies, Schlumberger and Halliburton, after the state firm failed to pay outstanding bills means crude production could fall below 2 million barrels per day for the first time in 20 years.