Venezuela’s opposition-majority legislature on Sunday declared that President Nicolas Maduro’s government had committed a coup d’etat by blocking a referendum on removing him from power, vowing mass protests and international pressure.
Furious over the electoral authorities’ decision to suspend the process of organizing a recall vote, opposition lawmakers passed a resolution declaring “the breakdown of constitutional order” and “a coup d’etat committed by the Nicolas Maduro regime.”
The measure came during an emergency session on the economic and political crisis gripping the South American oil giant, which briefly descended into chaos when a group of Maduro supporters forced its way past security guards and burst into the National Assembly, causing lawmakers to halt the proceedings for 45 minutes.
Photo: AFP
The legislators then called on Venezuelans to “actively defend” the constitution, declaring they would ask the international community to “activate mechanisms” to restore democracy.
“An ongoing coup d’etat has been perpetrated in Venezuela, culminating in the decision to rob us of a recall referendum. We’re here to officially declare the regrettable and painful rupture of constitutional order,” said majority leader Julio Borges of the center-right opposition coalition, the Democratic Unity Roundtable.
The assembly yesterday was to “lay the groundwork for a session that would include a legal and political trial of the president ... to determine what his role is in the interruption of constitutional order,” Borges said.
Pro-Maduro lawmakers accused the opposition itself of seeking to stage a coup.
“Don’t try to take advantage of these hard times to finish off our nation,” Deputy Earle Herrera said.
Despite its harsh words, the legislature’s resolution is largely symbolic. The Venezuelan Supreme Court has declared the legislative majority in contempt of court for defying it by swearing in three lawmakers at the center of an electoral fraud investigation.
The opposition, which says the accusations are trumped up, condemns the high court as a Maduro lapdog.
The court has slapped down every bill passed by the legislature since the opposition took control in January.
Lawmakers nevertheless said they were going to address the issue of Maduro’s purported dual nationality — Colombian and Venezuelan — in session today. If confirmed, it would make him ineligible to be president.
Ruling party bloc leader Hector Rodriguez said that Maduro sent a message from the Middle East: “Tell them that I send my greeting, send a hug and that I will see them at the table to have a dialogue.”
Venezuela’s crisis hit a new low on Thursday when the National Electoral Council indefinitely suspended the recall referendum process after criminal courts in five states ruled the opposition had committed fraud in an initial petition drive.
Holding a recall referendum was the opposition’s main strategy to get rid of the man they accuse of driving the once-booming country to the brink of collapse.
The opposition had been gearing up for the last hurdle in the complex process: a three-day drive starting on Wednesday to collect signatures from 4 million voters demanding a recall vote.
Opposition leaders now say they will launch a new wave of nationwide protests tomorrow.
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