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VENEZUELA-POLITICS
Guaido and rival both claim to be Venezuela’s parliament speaker
CARACAS, Jan 6, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Opposition leader Juan Guaido and a rival
lawmaker, Luis Parra, both claimed to be Venezuela’s parliament speaker on
Sunday following two separate votes and accusations of a “parliamentary
coup.”
Guaido was re-elected speaker by opposition lawmakers in a session held at
a newspaper office after police blocked him from entering the National
Assembly legislature.
In his absence, corruption-tainted Parra proclaimed himself speaker after
claiming to have been elected with 81 votes in the 167-member chamber.
Guaido, who a year ago declared himself acting president in a challenge to
socialist leader Nicolas Maduro, received the votes of around 100 lawmakers,
including several forced last year into exile or to take shelter in foreign
diplomatic missions due to a regime crackdown.
Guaido vowed to “enforce” the constitution in his dual role as parliament
speaker and “acting president.”
But in a televised address, President Maduro gave his backing to Parra as
the new speaker, adding that “Guaido was kicked out of the National Assembly
by the votes of his own opposition.”
Venezuela’s opposition denounced Parra’s move as a “parliamentary coup.”
Guaido and around a dozen lawmakers had been prevented from entering the
assembly by police claiming to be carrying out a security operation, but
deputies from Maduro’s party and opposition ones that have rejected Guaido
were allowed in.
Guaido, 36, attempted to climb over the railing around the National
Assembly premises to gain entry, only to be pushed back by police with riot
shields.
Images of Parra declaring himself head of the chamber by megaphone were
shown on state television channel VTV.
After spending four hours outside parliament, Guaido and allied lawmakers
went to the offices of El Nacional newspaper where they held their own
session.
– US backs Guaido –
“This is unprecedented!” Guaido told a member of the security forces with
whom he had a heated exchange. “What operation? Who ordered it?”
“Those who help to prevent the legitimate installation of the Venezuelan
parliament are converting themselves into accomplices of the dictatorship,”
he wrote on Twitter.
Guaido has led the National Assembly for the last year and used that role
to declare himself acting president on January 23, 2019 after parliament had
branded Maduro a “usurper.”
The US congratulated Guaido on being re-elected as speaker and said it
condemned “the failed efforts of the former Maduro regime to negate the will
of the democratically elected National Assembly.”
“The United States and 57 other countries continue to regard (Guaido) as
the legitimate leader of the National Assembly and thus the legitimate
interim president of Venezuela,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.
But ahead of Parra’s self-proclamation, opposition deputy Jose Brito spoke
to journalists, addressing Guaido: “You could have been the future — now you
are and will be the past.”
Both Parra and Brito fell out with Guaido last year after being accused of
corruption related to the over-pricing of food imported for the Maduro
regime.
Parra told reporters 140 lawmakers were present in the session and that his
candidacy was approved with 81 votes.
But regime deputy, Pedro Carreno, told AFP that the vote took place with
150 deputies present and that Parra received the simple majority of 84 needed
to win.
The National Assembly has 167 seats, 112 of which are in opposition hands.
On Twitter, the National Assembly described Parra’s claims as “a violation
of the constitution.”
Brazil’s Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo said his country “does not
recognize” Parra’s claims, while Colombia described Parra’s election as
“fraudulent, without transparency or guarantees” and said it wouldn’t
recognize it.
– Maduro expects –
Guaido sprang to prominence a year ago when he declared himself acting
president — a move quickly supported by more than 50 countries.
The National Assembly has been effectively sidelined since 2017, when the
Supreme Court, made up of Maduro loyalists, declared it in contempt. The
court has since annulled its every decision.
Maduro has said he expects to “regain the National Assembly” in elections
later this year.
Guaido’s challenge to Maduro started brightly in 2019 as he showed
ingenuity and skill in rallying supporters to protest and defying Maduro’s
authority in a number of ways — including flouting a travel ban.
But his momentum petered out over the second half of 2019.
Despite intense pressure from the United States, which has imposed
sanctions on regime figures, Maduro has retained power thanks to support from
the armed forces.
Even an economic crisis that has led to shortages of food and medicines,
and an inflation rate the IMF said would hit a stunning 200,000 percent for
2019, hasn’t dislodged Maduro.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0928 hrs