Anti-Maduro protesters blocked streets on Saturday in a last-ditch effort to derail Sunday's election of a "constituent assembly" designed to rewrite Venezuela's constitution.

Maduro says the assembly, which will have the power to dissolve state institutions as well as rewrite the constitution, will bring peace to the convulsed country.

The oil-rich but recession-racked country has been gripped by four months of protests against Maduro that have left more than 110 dead in confrontations with security forces who have responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons.

"Starting on Monday we will have new actions, tactics and strategies to fit the new reality we will be living in," opposition congressman Freddy Guevara told reporters after urging protesters to man the barricades through Sunday.