Caracas: Venezuelan politicians loyal to President Nicolas Maduro have stripped opposition leader Juan Guaido of his immunity from prosecution.

The move by the government-backed National Constituent Assembly on Tuesday paves the way for Guaido's prosecution and possibly his arrest.

Target of the government: Opposition Leader Juan Guaido. Credit:Bloomberg

It is unclear whether Maduro will actively threaten Guaido, who has embarked on an international campaign to topple the president's socialist administration.

Up until now, Maduro has avoided throwing the 35-year-old politician in jail.</s>MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Venezuelan lawmakers have stripped opposition leader Juan Guaidó of his immunity from prosecution.

This happened in the National Constituent Assembly making his arrest and prosecution a possibility. The National Constituent Assembly is comprised only by members of embattled President Nicolás Maduro’s political party.

On Monday, Venezuela’s Supreme Court announced Guaidó had been found under contempt for leaving the country after being barred from traveling.</s>Juan Guaidó has parliamentary immunity because of his position as president of the National Assembly IVAN ALVARADO/REUTERS

Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaidó has been stripped of immunity from prosecution in a move that could pave the way to his arrest.

The country’s rival president labelled the move a “cowardly” attempt to stifle a popular uprising against President Maduro’s “miserable and murderous” regime.

“The people are determined and nothing is going to stop us,” he said. “There is no turning back in this process.”

The country’s constituent assembly, which is backed by President Maduro, acted on a request from the Supreme Court to remove the parliamentary immunity possessed by Mr Guaido because of his position as president of the National Assembly.

He is accused of violating the constitution by declaring himself interim president in January.

The Trump administration has previously warned that there…</s>Venezuela's Constituent Assembly voted unanimously to strip self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaidó of immunity in a move his supporters fear may signal the impending arrest and prosecution of the opposition leader who is challenging the rule of President Nicolás Maduro.

Until now, Maduro has refrained from jailing Guaidó who has the support of the Trump administration and several dozen other countries. The Constituent Assembly is loyal to Maduro.

Guaidó declared himself interim president in January and has led several public mobilizations seeking to convince Venezuelans that he can succeed Maduro and help lead the country out of its political and economic crisis.

The Constituent Assembly's action came after Venezuela Supreme Court Justice Maikel Moreno, a Maduro ally, called for Guaidó's prosecution for violating a government travel ban. In late February, Guaidó slipped out of Venezuela and spent a week trying to rally support for his claim to the presidency from European and South American nations. The opposition leader is also accused of inciting violence and receiving illegal foreign funds.

Last week Venezuelan state comptroller Elvis Amoroso, another Maduro ally, barred Guaidó from holding public office for 15 years.

Before the vote by the Constituent Assembly, Guaidó criticized it and the Maduro-aligned Supreme Court.

"This is not even a persecution," he said as quoted by Reuters. "This is inquisition."

The Maduro government has increased its pressure on the opposition in other ways. Last month government agents detained Guaidó's chief of staff, Roberto Marrero, in an overnight raid of his home — a move Guaidó condemned as a kidnapping.

Guaidó's wife, Fabiana Rosales, was in Florida Tuesday meeting with state leaders and Venezuelan exiles. A news conference with Gov. Ron DeSantis was delayed by concerns over a safety "situation" in Venezuela — reportedly related to Guaidó's safety.</s>President Maduro’s regime has stripped his main rival of immunity from prosecution, raising concerns that he will be arrested.

Juan Guaidó, the opposition leader who declared himself Venezuela’s rightful president in January, lost his immunity when the Maduro-controlled constituent assembly voted unanimously on Tuesday to remove it. Until this week he had been immune to prosecution as president of the national assembly.

The supreme court can now pursue Mr Guaidó for alleged crimes. He is accused of violating a travel ban that was imposed by the government in January after he was charged with inciting violence and taking money into Venezuela illegally.

Mr Guaidó, 35, toured several Latin American countries in February and March to gather international support to depose the regime of Mr Maduro,…</s>CARACAS, Venezuela — 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.

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.”

He cited low wages driving millions abroad and the spate of blackouts that have crippled the nation’s public transportation, water services and communications.

The Trump administration has threatened the Maduro government with a strong response if Guaido is harmed and Florida Senator Marco Rubio — who has Trump’s ear on Venezuela policy — said before the vote that nations recognizing Guaidó as his country’s legitimate leader should take any attempt by Maduro’s government to “abduct” him as a coup.

“And anyone who cooperates with this should be treated as a coup plotter & dealt with accordingly,” Rubio said on Twitter.

However, the vote against Guaidó was unanimous, and Constituent Assembly president and socialist party boss Diosdado Cabello accused the opposition of naively inviting a foreign invasion and of inciting a civil war.

“They don’t care about the deaths,” Cabello said. “They don’t have the slightest idea ??what the consequences of war are for a country.”

The Constituent Assembly, which is made up entirely of Maduro loyalists, met a day after Maduro ally and Venezuela Supreme Court of Justice Maikel Moreno ordered it to strip Guaidó’s immunity for violating an order banning him leaving the country while under investigation by the attorney general. The opposition leader is also accused of inciting violence through street protests, and of receiving illicit funds from abroad.

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.

The Constitutional Assembly was created two years ago, when Maduro became frustrated by the democratically elected and opposition-dominated National Assembly rejected the president’s policies. Its creation essentially replaced the National Assembly, rendering it powerless.

Guaidó has dismissed the Maduro-stacked high court and Constituent Assembly as illegitimate, and continued his calls for Maduro to step down.

Guaidó has come under increasing pressure in recent weeks, and Tuesday night’s vote was but the latest instance of that. Officials have jailed his chief of staff, Roberto Marrero, and accused him of involvement in a “terrorist” scheme to overthrow the government. Maduro’s government also barred Guaidó from holding public office for 15 years for allegedly hiding or falsifying data in his sworn statement of assets.

The opposition leader, however, has drawn masses of Venezuelans into the streets and garnered broad international support, demanding Maduro give up rule of the crisis-wracked nation.

Defying the court order, Guaidó left the country in late February for a ten-day tour of South America, meeting with foreign leaders who support the Venezuelan opposition and who reject Maduro’s election last year for a second six-year term.

Maduro blames Washington of attempting a coup to overthrow him and install Guaidó’s puppet government aimed at seizing Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.

Geoff Ramsey, a Venezuela researcher at the Washington Office on Latin America, said the Maduro government may be assessing its strength amid the global community.

“This seems like an attempt to test the waters, weighing how the international community would react to detaining Guaido,” Ramsey said. “The government is reasserting its authority while also sending a clear signal to the opposition: we are in control.”

Associated Press writers Jorge Rueda and Fabiola Sanchez contributed to this story.</s>PUERTO ORDAZ, Venezuela — A pro-government lawmaking body installed by President Nicolas Maduro voted on Tuesday to strip the opposition leader Juan Guaidó of parliamentary immunity, paving the way for his potential arrest.

The move by the Constituent Assembly represents the government’s latest effort to raise the pressure on Mr. Guaidó, who declared himself interim president in January in the biggest challenge that Mr. Maduro has faced in six years in office.

In recent weeks, the government has barred Mr. Guaidó from traveling, frozen his bank accounts, begun investigating him on terrorism accusations, and prohibited him from running for office.

But thus far the government has stopped short of detaining Mr. Guaidó. The United States has repeatedly said that any attack on Mr. Guaidó would draw a severe reaction.</s>CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - 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.

But whether the government of President Nicolas Maduro will take action against the 35-year-old lawmaker 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.

The Trump administration has threatened the Maduro government with a strong response if Guaido is harmed and Florida Senator Marco Rubio - who has Trump's ear on Venezuela policy - said before the vote that nations recognizing Guaidó as his country's legitimate leader should take any attempt by Maduro's government to "abduct" him as a coup.

"And anyone who cooperates with this should be treated as a coup plotter & dealt with accordingly," Rubio said on Twitter.

However, the vote against Guaido was unanimous, and Constituent Assembly president and socialist party boss Diosdado Cabello accused the opposition of naively inviting a foreign invasion and of inciting a civil war.

"They don't care about the deaths," Cabello said. "They don't have the slightest idea ??what the consequences of war are for a country."

The Constituent Assembly, which is made up entirely of Maduro loyalists, met a day after Maduro ally and Venezuela Supreme Court of Justice Maikel Moreno ordered it to strip Guaidó's immunity for violating an order banning him leaving the country while under investigation by the attorney general. The opposition leader is also accused of inciting violence through street protests, and of receiving illicit funds from abroad.

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.

The Constitutional Assembly was created two years ago, when Maduro became frustrated by the democratically elected and opposition-dominated National Assembly rejected the president's policies. Its creation essentially replaced the National Assembly, rendering it powerless.

Before the vote, Guaidó dismissed the Maduro-stacked high court and Constituent Assembly as illegitimate, and continued his calls for Maduro to step down.

"This is not even persecution," Guaido said. "This is inquisition."

Guaido has come under increasing pressure in recent weeks, and Tuesday night's vote was but the latest instance of that. Officials have jailed his chief of staff, Roberto Marrero, and accused him of involvement in a "terrorist" scheme to overthrow the government. Maduro's government also barred Guaidó from holding public office for 15 years for allegedly hiding or falsifying data in his sworn statement of assets.

The opposition leader, however, has drawn masses of Venezuelans into the streets and garnered broad international support, demanding Maduro give up rule of the crisis-wracked nation.

Defying the court order, Guaidó left the country in late February for a ten-day tour of South America, meeting with foreign leaders who support the Venezuelan opposition and who reject Maduro's election last year for a second six-year term.

Maduro blames Washington of attempting a coup to overthrow him and install Guaidó's puppet government aimed at seizing Venezuela's vast oil reserves.

Associated Press writers Jorge Rueda and Fabiola Sanchez contributed to this story.</s>Juan Guaidó says he knows he runs the risk of being arrested for pushing to oust Nicolas Maduro.

But a defiant Guaidó said Tuesday that he is undeterred. The 35-year-old opposition leader spoke publicly moments after an assembly loyal to Maduro stripped him of his immunity from prosecution.

The move by the National Constituent Assembly paves the way for his prosecution and potential arrest for supposedly violating the constitution when he declared himself interim president.

Guaidó has backing from more than 50 nations, including the United States, which reject Maduro as illegitimately elected.

Maduro blames Washington for trying to install a puppet government to seize Venezuela's vast oil reserves.</s>Venezuela’s opposition figurehead, Juan Guaidó, has vowed to continue fighting Nicolás Maduro’s “cowardly, miserable and murderous” regime after he was stripped of his parliamentary immunity – a move that potentially opens the door to Guaidó’s arrest.

More than 50 countries have recognized Guaidó as Venezuela’s legitimate leader since he launched his campaign to force Maduro from office in late January, including the United States, Britain and most Latin American governments.

But recent weeks have seen a growing crackdown from Maduro’s beleaguered administration, beginning with the arrest of Guaidó’s chief of staff, who has been accused of leading a terrorist cell that had plotted a wave of political assassinations.

That crackdown escalated dramatically on Tuesday evening as Maduro’s all-powerful constituent assembly voted to strip Guaidó of the legal protections he enjoys as a member of Venezuela’s opposition-controlled parliament.

“The time for justice is coming,” said Tania Díaz, the assembly’s vice president.

As the move to strip Guaidó of his immunity was confirmed, members of the Chavista assembly took to their feet and shouted: “This is justice! Popular justice!”

Guaidó hit back, branding the move a “cowardly” attempt to stifle a popular uprising against a dictatorial government incapable of providing water, electricity and jobs to its people.

Venezuela has been rocked by weeks of crippling nationwide power cuts that Maduro blames on imperialist saboteurs in league with Guaidó but most experts believe are the result of incompetence and corruption.

“They think that by attacking me and attacking those around me … they will halt the hope of change in Venzeuela,” Guaidó told reporters outside his home in the capital, Caracas. “[But] the transition is underway … nothing will stop us.”

Guaidó urged supporters to respond to Maduro’s “brute force” with intelligence, audacity, hope and more street protests and said Venezuela’s armed forces now had a decision to make about how they responded to Maduro’s move.

He said he had already spoken to “a dozen” foreign ministers and leaders about the development.

“It won’t be with violence or intimidation that they stop us,” Guaidó insisted. “If we weren’t so close [to removing Maduro], the regime wouldn’t be so desperate.”

Since launching his campaign to unseat Maduro in January, Guaidó has been open about the potential dangers. “Doing politics in Venezuela is a risk and you can pay with your life,” he told the Guardian in February. “Obviously, there is a latent risk.”

But whether Maduro’s administration will decide to follow through with Guaidó’s arrest remains unclear. Donald Trump has thrown his weight behind Guaidó and the United States has repeatedly warned that any move to imprison or harm him would be met with a “significant” response.

On Tuesday night the Republican senator Rick Scott tweeted: “I will say this again: the US will not stand idly by if anything happens to jguaido or his family. NicolasMaduro you are on notice!”

Eric Farnsworth, a former US diplomat and vice-president of the Council of the Americas, tweeted: “The US has clearly said that harming @jguaido or his family would bring a strong response … This is a red line for Maduro.”

In an interview with the Guardian last week, another prominent opposition leader, Henrique Capriles, called on Maduro and his inner circle to step down before they destroyed both their party and their country.

“They don’t care if Venezuela becomes a cemetery as long as they can carry on in [the presidential palace] Miraflores,” warned Capriles, who backs Guaidó.

“What we are living through in Venezuela is a horror film … It has turned Venezuelans into zombies,” Capriles added.

“How much longer can this last? I don’t know. Honestly, I do not know.”
The Nicolás Maduro-aligned Constituent National Assembly formally strips opposition leader and National Assembly President Juan Guaidó of his immunity from prosecution, potentially paving the way for his arrest.