Guaido stripped of immunity by Venezuelan lawmakers

Venezuelan lawmakers loyal to President Nicolas Maduro have stripped Juan Guaido of immunity, paving way for the opposition leader’s prosecution and potential arrest for supposedly violating the constitution when he declared himself interim president.

“[Guaido’s prosecution] is officially authorised,” Diosdado Cabello, head of the Maduro-loyal Constituent Assembly said following an assembly vote on Tuesday.

But whether Maduro’s government will take action against the 35-year-old lawmaker remains unclear.

Guaido has embarked on an international campaign to topple Maduro’s 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 US President Donald Trump and roughly 50 other nations recognise as Venezuela’s legitimate leader.

Cabello accused the opposition of naively inviting a foreign invasion and of inciting a civil war. 

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

The Constituent Assembly met a day after Maduro ally and Venezuela Supreme Court of Justice Maikel Moreno ordered the legislative body to strip Guaido’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 linked to 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 Guaido’s case.

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