Venezuela assembly grabs helm

Controversial body declares itself superior to opposition-controlled congress, takes over legislature

CARACAS — Venezuela’s new constitutional assembly took over the halls of the endangered, opposition-controlled congress, issuing a decree declaring itself superior to all other branches of government and prominently displaying images of the late President Hugo Chavez.

The order on Tuesday bars anti-government lawmakers in congress from taking any action that would interfere with the laws passed by the newly installed assembly, Delcy Rodriguez, the super-body’s leader, declared to unanimous approval.

“We are not threatening anyone,” said Aristobulo Isturiz, the constitutional assembly’s first vice-president. “We are looking for ways to coexist.”

Embattled President Nicolas Maduro convoked the constitutional assembly in what he contends is an attempt to resolve the nation’s political standoff, but opposition leaders insist it is a power grab. Since its installation on Friday, the assembly has already ousted the nation’s outspoken chief prosecutor, established a “truth commission” expected to target Maduro’s foes and passed decrees pledging “support and solidarity” with the unpopular president.

Opposition lawmakers said they were barred from entering the gold-domed legislative palace after security forces led by Rodriguez broke into congress late Monday.

“This government invades the spaces that it is not capable of legitimately winning,” Stalin Gonzalez, an opposition lawmaker, wrote on Twitter of the assembly’s takeover of the chamber the opposition has controlled since winning 2015 elections.

Earlier Tuesday, Venezuela’s pro-government Supreme Court sentenced a Caracasarea mayor at the centre of recent protests to 15 months in prison for not following an order to remove barricades set up during anti-government demonstrations.

Ramon Muchacho is the fourth opposition mayor whose arrest the high court has sought in the past two weeks. The court also ordered an investigation into another prominent Caracas-area mayor, David Smolansky, for the same alleged crimes.

Muchacho’s whereabouts were not immediately known, but he denounced the ruling on Twitter, saying that “all of the weight of the revolutionary injustice has fallen on my shoulders.”

The constitutional assembly’s meeting Tuesday came amid mounting criticism from foreign governments that have refused to recognize the new super-body.

More than a dozen Latin American leaders were gathering in Peru to discuss how to force Maduro to back down. Peru’s president has been vocal in rejecting the new Venezuelan assembly, but the region has had trouble agreeing on collective actions.

In response, Maduro convened a meeting of foreign ministers from the 11-member Bolivarian Alliance.