CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The latest on the political crisis in Venezuela (all times local):

4:30 p.m.

Leaders with an alliance of Venezuela's opposition parties say they will participate in upcoming regional elections in a bid to stop President Nicolas Maduro from further consolidating his power.

Speaking on behalf of the Democratic Unity RoundTable, Andres Velasquez said the coalition would meet the National Electoral Council's deadline to sign up candidates by Wednesday night.

Council officials scrapped last year's scheduled elections of governors that Venezuela's ruling party had been expected to lose. The elections are now scheduled for December, though a new, all-powerful constitutional assembly could still cancel the vote.

Other opposition leaders are vowing not to participate in the elections, arguing there is bound to be fraud. An election for delegates to the constitutional assembly was fraught with accusations of vote tampering.