Venezuela will stage its latest presidential election on 20 May.

The vote was originally expected this December before being scheduled as a snap election for 22 April and then being postponed.

The EU, UN Human Rights Council, the US and many neighbouring Latin American states have all expressed disquiet about the forthcoming poll and its vulnerability to manipulation.

Who are the candidates?

Venezuela's incumbent president is left-wing Nicolas Maduro, 55, successor to Hugo Chavez, who is seeking re-election for a second term on behalf of PSUV (the United Socialist Party of Venezuela) after assuming office in 2013.

Outsiders have little doubt that Mr Maduro will win and the president himself remains confident. "The revolution is going to record the biggest victory in its entire electoral history", he said in early May.

The main opposition, the Democratic Unity coalition, is boycotting the vote and has refused to enter any candidates. Henri Falcon, 56, of Progressive Advance is standing, however, as is independent Javier Bertucci, 48.

Mr Falcon is a lawyer and former governor of Lara State who abandoned PSUV in 2010 and has since distanced himself from the "Chavismo" movement of his one-time mentor, President Chavez, a tactic that has not entirely convinced his critics.

Mr Bertucci meanwhile is an evangelical pastor and businessman, saying he offers "the light among the darkness" despite opposing abortion and adoption for LGBT+ couples.

What are the key issues in play?

The central issue facing the winner, presumably President Maduro, remains the collapse of the country's economy - with the bolivar suffering runaway inflation and queues for food, drinking water and medicine a routine sight.

The exorbitant cost of living and lack of basic goods has led to widespread opposition to the Maduro administration and violent street protests in recent years.

The International Monetary Fund expects the Venezuelan economy and to shrink by 15 per cent in 2018, a record decline in gross domestic product of 50 per cent in five years.

Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves - primarily heavy crude - but the domestic industry is currently failing to meet even local needs, importing lighter oil at a rate of 200,000 barrels per day from the US with which to dilute its crude in order to turn it into a viable export product. Experts believe the country is at present operating at less than 40 per cent of its output potential due to the economic malaise - its lowest point in 70 years.

Domestic oil consumption is high at 450,000 per day but the country needs to put exports first in order recoup funds with which to pay off its debts to Russia and China.

Mr Maduro has even launched an oil-backed cryptocurrency, the petro, to try and alleviate Caracas's problems, but citizens have had enough and many are emigrating to escape the deprivation. An estimated 10 per cent have already left.

Mr Maduro is consequently facing growing opposition to his rule from the international community but has so far remained characteristically bullish on the subject: "What f**k do I give that Europe does not recognise me, that Washington does not recognise me? I care about what the Venezuelan people say."

What is the country's relationship with the US?

Henri Falcon's solution to the current economic turmoil is to swap the bolivar for US dollars, a move that opponents fear would further subordinate the country to Washington, on whom it is already utterly reliant as an oil trading partner.

Matters could get worse if the Trump administration follows through on its threat to cease transactions with the country in order to force a change in its government.

The US has already banned the petro and sanctioned several Venezuelan government officials accused of corruption and mismanagement.

In pictures: The crisis in Venezuela Show all 22 1 /22 In pictures: The crisis in Venezuela In pictures: The crisis in Venezuela A girl scavanges for food in the streets of Caracas Getty Images In pictures: The crisis in Venezuela A man scavenges for food next to girls in the streets of Caracas. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is resisting opposition efforts to hold a vote on removing him from office. The opposition blames him for an economic crisis that has caused food shortages Getty Images In pictures: The crisis in Venezuela Venezuelans line up to get the 'Fatherland's Card' at Bolivar Square in Caracas Getty Images In pictures: The crisis in Venezuela The mother of Venezuelan Rebecca Leon, who scavenges for food in the streets of Caracas, feeds her grandson at their house in Petare shantytown. Getty Images In pictures: The crisis in Venezuela Venezuelan Rebecca Leon, who scavenges for food in the streets of Caracas, with her two-year-old son at her house in Petare shantytown Getty Images In pictures: The crisis in Venezuela Members of a pro-government community organisation work in an expropriated bakery in Caracas. Supported by popular militiamen, Venezuelan government inspectors oversee bakeries as bread comes out of the oven, to undermine an alleged plot to induce scarcity of this staple food Getty Images In pictures: The crisis in Venezuela Forensic police stand next to the body of a man outside a supermarket, where he died of a heart attack after waiting in a long line to buy food, in Caracas Getty Images In pictures: The crisis in Venezuela Venezuelan opposition activists take part in a protest against the government of President Nicolas Maduro at the Francisco Fajardo highway in Caracas Getty Images In pictures: The crisis in Venezuela National guard throws a tear gas canister during a rally against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela Reuters In pictures: The crisis in Venezuela Opposition supporter shouts at a police officer during a rally against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas Reuters In pictures: The crisis in Venezuela Opposition supporters clash with national guards during a rally against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas Reuters In pictures: The crisis in Venezuela A boy wearing a t-shirt with the colours of the Venezuelan national flag, during a demonstration against President Nicolas Maduro's government at Foreign Affairs Ministery, in Buenos Aires, Argentina AP In pictures: The crisis in Venezuela Protesters cover themselves from tear gas fired by the Venezuelan National Guard officers during a protest in Caracas AP In pictures: The crisis in Venezuela Opposition supporters clash with national guards during a rally against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas Reuters In pictures: The crisis in Venezuela Venezuelan opposition activists take part in a protest -blocked by the National Guard- against the government of President Nicolas Maduro at the Francisco Fajardo highway in Caracas Getty Images In pictures: The crisis in Venezuela A Venezuelan national guard reacts to the effect of pepper spray during a protest of opposition supporters against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas Reuters In pictures: The crisis in Venezuela Opposition supporters holding a Venezuelan flag protest against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro's government during a rally in Caracas Reuters In pictures: The crisis in Venezuela Opposition supporters clash with riot police during a protest against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela Reuters In pictures: The crisis in Venezuela Opposition supporters protest against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro's government during a rally in Caracas Reuters In pictures: The crisis in Venezuela Venezuela's Supreme Court abandoned measures to seize power from the opposition-controlled legislature after the moves drew international condemnation and raised pressure on President Nicolas Maduro. The president of Venezuela's National Assembly Julio Borges dismissed the court's gesture and told reporters that nothing had changed and the coup continued Getty Images In pictures: The crisis in Venezuela Venezuelans living in Peru and other protesters take part in a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government, outside the Venezuela embassy in Lima, Peru Reuters In pictures: The crisis in Venezuela Venezuelans living in Peru and other protesters take part in a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government, outside the Venezuela embassy in Lima, Peru Reuters

In the private sector, US energy giant ConocoPhillips has seized assets belonging to the Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA in the Caribbean over a $2bn dispute over unpaid debts.