Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles has said that more than 70,000 people who endorsed a petition for a referendum to oust President Nicolas Maduro had their signatures validated on Monday, June 20, according to BBC News.

Just under 200,000 valid signatures are needed for the process to go ahead.

Maduro was elected in April 2013 and his term runs until 2019.

The opposition blames his socialist policies for rampant inflation and the shortage of food and basic goods.

Capriles said the massive presence of voters on the first day of the validation process was a clear sign that Venezuelans wanted a change of government.

Those who endorsed the petition will have until Friday to have their identity cards and fingerprints checked in posts set up by the National Electoral Council (CNE).

The petition had almost two million signatures but election officials said 600,000 of those were fraudulent.

Only 1% of the electorate, or 194,729 voters, however, need to endorse the referendum on this first phase.

According to Capriles, quoting official CNE figures, 71,557 signatures were authenticated on Monday.

The opposition says that under Maduro's socialist government and that of his predecessor in office, the late Hugo Chavez, the oil-rich country was mismanaged to the point of collapse.

The government says the country's problems, which include the world's highest inflation and shortages of basic goods, are due to an economic war being waged by "imperialist forces".