Venezuela jails opposition pair
VENEZUELA: Venezuela has jailed two leading critics of President Nicolas Maduro, in a fresh blow to the opposition after the election of a new political body with sweeping powers to strengthen the hand of the leftist government.
In a statement announcing the jailing of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, 46, and veteran politician Antonio Ledezma, 62, the pro-government Supreme Court said they were planning to flee the country and had violated terms of their house arrest by making political statements and speaking to media.
But government opponents called the abrupt removal of the men from their homes by security forces in night raids a sign of Maduro’s determination to silence rivals and stamp out political unrest.
About 120 people have been killed in more than four months of antigovernment street protests, including at least 10 during Sunday’s vote.
Maduro says the constituent assembly was designed to restore peace to Venezuela. Lopez and Ledezma had called for protests against Sunday’s vote.
In addition to rewriting the constitution, the legislative superbody will have the power to dissolve the opposition-led congress, eliminating any institutional check on Maduro’s powers.
Lopez had been held more than three years in a military jail until last month, when he was unexpectedly released in what was seen as a potential breakthrough in the country’s political standoff.
Attempts to get the opposition and the government to reach a negotiated deal subsequently floundered, however, and allies said Lopez may have been jailed again because he rejected government proposals.
Both men were taken to Ramo Verde military prison southwest of Caracas, aides and family members said.
The heavily guarded hilltop complex is a notorious detention centre for political and military prisoners.
US President Donald Trump denounced the arrests yesterday, calling the two men ‘‘political prisoners being held illegally by the regime.’’
‘‘The United States holds Maduro - who publicly announced just hours earlier that he would move against his political opposition - personally responsible for the health and safety of Mr Lopez, Mr Ledezma, and any others seized,’’ Trump said.
The newly minted legislators from Sunday’s vote, including Maduro’s wife and son, are set to take over the National Assembly building from lawmakers of the opposition-dominated body.
The outgoing lawmakers held a defiant session yesterday, condemning the election as a ‘‘farce’’ and claiming that the government invented millions of votes. Opposition politicians also denounced the raids.
‘‘Imprisonments and persecution of the leadership will not stop the rebellion,’’ tweeted Freddy Guevara, vice president of the National Assembly and a member of Lopez’s party.
In a sign of the socialist government’s growing isolation, ambassadors from Britain, France, Spain and Mexico went to the National Assembly yesterday to support the opposition lawmakers.
’’We diplomats are here to show support,’’ said France’s ambassador, Romain Nadal.
‘‘The Venezuelan people want peace, democracy and its institutions, and we are here to help.’’ - Reuters, Washington Post