Political unrest continues to unfold in the streets of Venezuela as demonstrators protest the government's new assembly.

President Nicolas Maduro assumed office in 2013, and recently had an assembly of his supporters elected to government. This new 545-member constituent assembly has begun rewriting the country's constitution and plans to impose a truth commission to prosecute political opponents, according to one of Maduro's top officials.

Angelica Ramirez is from Venezuela but has lived in Altona for a few years, however, her parents recently arrived as refugees and are currently awaiting visa approval.

She said residents are upset because, in order to change the constitution, it's noted 50 per cent of voters must prepare a petition, and file it through the electoral institution. However, Ramirez said the president avoided that step and moved forward with the changes with help from his government.

With this mandate on the horizon, Ramirez said Venezuelans fear all democracy and freedom of expression allowances will be terminated entirely.

"It's very scary for us, because we still have our family and friends there ... we fear that [the government] is going to change the constitution, so they are going to eliminate all kinds of things in order for them to stay in power, and basically do whatever they want, and become a dictatorship," she said.

After the election, Venezuela's National Electoral Council announced eight-million people voted to grant the president's ruling socialist party nearly unlimited authority, however, according to an independent analysis, only 3.6-million votes were submitted in his favour.

Since early April upwards of 125 people have been killed as a result of the unrest. Ramirez said this is the work of government officials. She explains family and friends back home say officials are pulling people over in vehicles and on the street to check their phones for any information considered contemptuous. Now, people are deleting messages and applications on their phones to avoid being caught.

Additionally, Ramirez said the government has been capturing, abusing and jailing protesters. She reflected on an incident involving a man who played violin on the street to display his opposition. He was taken and beaten by government workers and is being processed for terrorism and conspiracy.

"[There] is so much injustice. When is it going to end? People are just protesting for basic things. We don't have food, we don't have medicines," she said.

The U.S. government recently labelled President Maduro as a dictator and announced it will freeze his U.S. assets. The European Union has also expressed concern for Venezuela.

Ramirez continues to call on international organizations for support and intervention.