You know things are getting serious for your government when the US vice president starts calling its leader a “dictator” and voicing open support for opposition to him.

“On behalf of President Donald Trump and all the American people, let me express the unwavering support of the United States as you, the people of Venezuela, raise your voices in a call for freedom,” US vice president Mike Pence made clear in a broadcast a few days ago.

His message was delivered as opposition supporters and regime loyalists in Venezuela prepared to hold competing mass street rallies, two days after a failed mutiny by soldiers hoping to spark a movement that would overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

The response from Caracas to Mr Pence’s message was curt and unequivocal. “Yankee go home,” his Venezuelan counterpart vice president Delcy Rodriguez replied to Washington.

Events are now moving fast in this deeply troubled Latin American giant of a country where the distinct whiff of regime change now undeniably lingers in the air.

Yesterday’s huge protests, some of the biggest the country has yet experienced against President Maduro’s government, took place on a highly symbolic date for Venezuelans as they marked the 61st anniversary of a civilian and military uprising that overthrew former Venezuelan dictator General Marcos Perez Jimenez.

As Venezuelans took to the streets, the opposition hoped to capitalise on several weeks of renewed momentum against Mr Maduro, who despite having overseen economic collapse and the erosion of democracy, has previously been able to crush dissent with violent crackdowns.

Already his regime has jailed dozens of opposition activists and leaders for seeking to overthrow him through street demonstrations in 2014 and 2017.

But earlier this week there was a small uprising on a Caracas military outpost by low-ranking National Guard officers. In its wake, a spate of fresh protests buoyed hope among the opposition who have put their faith in telegenic new congressional chief Juan Guaido, as a leader who could unify the opposition and dislodge Mr Maduro.

The reason as to why Venezuela finds itself at this volatile political juncture, is because of prolonged economic meltdown.

For his part Mr Maduro has continued the huge social welfare programmes and price control policies of previous Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, who steered the country toward socialism before dying in 2013.

But a crash in the price of crude oil in 2014 was the catalyst for Venezuela’s woes, with the cost of a barrel dropping from nearly $200 to $35. This coincided with nearly a decade of mismanagement, as the country’s government squandered its phenomenal oil wealth. Today oil production has declined to barely one-third of the level a decade ago.

At the same time, inflation has soared, and the International Monetary Fund predicts it will reach a 10 million per cent this year.

The crisis has left Latin America reeling from an unprecedented mass exodus of migrants in search of food. About 2.3 million people have fled the crisis since 2015, according to the United Nations, while those left behind face failing public services including water, electricity and transport.

As Venezuelans now pin their hopes on congressional leader Mr Guaido, he has made clear his willingness to replace Mr Maduro as interim president, with the support of the military, and to call free elections.

Mr Guaido’s opposition-controlled congress is considered by many abroad - notably in Washington - as Venezuela’s last remaining bastion of democracy.

But Mr Guaido like so many Venezuelans knows that the biggest stumbling block to potential opposition success is the military high command’s loyalty to Mr Maduro.

Addressing members of the military on Monday before yesterday’s street protests, Mr Guaido said: “We’re not asking you to launch a coup d’etat, we’re not asking you to shoot. We’re asking you not to shoot at us.”

Showing considerable astuteness, Mr Guaido has tried to break the bond between the military and Mr Maduro by offering an amnesty to any personnel in the 365,000-strong military who disavow the president. There are also estimated to be around 1.6 million civilian militiamen.

Some analysts say that Monday’s small mutiny in Caracas gave a hint that there are divisions in the armed forces, but that in terms of the bigger picture it still represents a fairly small level of dissent within the military.

“A sergeant at a National Guard outpost is not to me important, what would be important is a situation like that in a major unit or a battalion,” said Rocio San Miguel, a military expert with non-profit group Citizen Control speaking to Reuters news agency this week.

Nevertheless, estimates by rights organisations say around 180 soldiers were arrested in 2018 for conspiring against the government, while 4,000 more deserted the National Guard. And many military analysts are agreed that soldiers have multiple reasons to be angry. Military installations are steadily decaying along with the rest of the country, and salaries quickly disappear amid 2 million per cent annual inflation.

More than aware of the potential threat that lurks within the military to his government, President Maduro has played his own card to keep the army on side, putting officers in charge of key posts in the government and state oil company PDVSA while offering lucrative oilfield services contracts for military-linked firms. Mr Maduro has also made a point of flagging up what he sees as US mischief-making in terms of promoting regime change, invoking the perennial presence of the CIA an accusation not without some justification.

As far back as 2017 the then director of the CIA, and now US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo admitted he was “hopeful that there can be a transition in Venezuela” and that the agency was “trying to help them [Venezuelans] understand the things they might do so that they can get a better outcome for their part of the world and our part of the world.”

There seems little doubt now that Washington clearly hopes President Maduro’s days are numbered and if this week’s message from Mr Pence is anything to go by the US stands ready to do all it can to help facilitate regime change in Venezuela.

The real question remains however whether sufficient numbers of ordinary Venezuelans themselves still have the appetite for this political fight and if the country’s military will stand by them or stick with President Maduro?