Teodoro Campos, also a lawmaker, was beaten up in the neighbourhood of Catia by pro-government thugs when he tried to stop them from stealing camera equipment from journalists, Falcón said. Images circulating on social media showed Campos, his head dripping with blood, being hauled away to a hospital.

“Presumably this was done with a brass knuckle,” Falcón said at a news conference.

He said President Nicolás Maduro’s government, faced with widespread discontent over hyperinflation and food shortages, was resorting to violence to intimidate its adversaries.

“We must put a stop to these violent circumstances in which the government, instead of solving Venezuelans’ real problems, looks to silence them by deploying its armed groups,” Falcón said, calling on Maduro to “control” his violent followers.

Reuters was not able to verify Falcón’s statement. Venezuela’s Information Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Falcón is hoping to beat Maduro in a May election that the rest of the opposition is boycotting because it says the electoral process is stacked against it, with two top opposition candidates barred from office.

Many opposition members are suspicious of Falcón, once a member of the ruling socialists, and are planning to abstain from voting on May 20.

But the 56-year-old former soldier vowed to plow on. “None of this will stop us,” Falcón said.