Maduro loyalists strip Venezuela’s Juan Guaido of immunity
Maduro loyalists stripped Venezuela’s Juan Guaidó of immunity Tuesday, paving the way for the opposition leader’s prosecution and potential arrest for supposedly violating the constitution when he declared himself interim president, The Associated Press reports.
But whether the government of President Nicolas Maduro will take action against the 35-year-old lawmaker following the Constituent Assembly’s decision remains unclear. Guaidó has embarked on an international campaign to topple the president’s socialist administration amid deepening social unrest in the country plagued by nearly a month of power outages.
He declared himself Venezuela’s interim president in January, and vowed to overthrow Maduro. So far, however, Maduro has avoided jailing the man that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and roughly 50 other nations recognize as Venezuela’s legitimate leader.
A defiant Guaidó spoke publicly moments after the vote, saying he’s undeterred, while knowing he runs the risk of being “kidnapped” by the Maduro government.
“We are aware of that,” Guaido said. “But we will not change our path.”
The Constitution guarantees immunity for elected officials, and says that in order to withdraw immunity the accused lawmaker must be given a preliminary hearing before the Supreme Court. The action must be approved by the National Assembly — steps that weren’t taken in Guaidó’s case.