Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez said president Nicolas Maduro's generals are willing to defect from his regime imminently, as Spain vowed to protect the politician.

Speaking from the gates of the Spanish ambassador's residence in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, on Friday Mr Lopez said: "It's a crack that will become a bigger crack... that will end up breaking the dam".

Mr Lopez said he had spoken with senior members of the military who supported the end of Mr Maduro's socialist government amid a failing economy and nationwide blackouts.

Spain has refused to hand Mr Lopez, a leading figure in the country's opposition movement, over to Venezuelan authorities, saying "Spain trusts that the Venezuelan authorities will respect the inviolability of the Spanish Ambassador's residence."

The politician had been under house arrest for months but escaped to appear alongside his successor in the movement, Juan Guaido, on Tuesday as they called for a military uprising aimed at toppling Mr Maduro.