Venezuela has arrested three air force generals accused of plotting a coup in league with opposition politicians during the country's rumbling civil unrest, the president said on Tuesday.

The move follows weeks of violence around anti-government protests that have killed 36 people in the nation's worst unrest for a decade.

Venezuela's socialist government has routinely accused its rivals of scheming to seize power by force and assassinate its leaders, although it has rarely followed up with concrete proof of such claims.

"Last night we captured three generals ... who tried to raise the air force against the legitimate, constitutional government," President Nicolas Maduro said on state TV.

He did not name the officers, but said the plot was revealed by colleagues of the generals who were "alarmed" when they heard of the conspiracy. The three were now in custody of military courts.

"This group has direct links with sectors of the opposition. They were saying that this would be the decisive week ... in the belief that Venezuela did not know how to defend itself."

Hard-line protesters are demanding that Maduro resign, while he says they are seeking a coup like the one 12 years ago that briefly ousted his predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez.

Reuters