Venezuela opposition rallies behind attorney against govt

CARACAS: Venezuelan opposition lawmakers filed fresh court cases against planned crisis reforms, raising pressure on the government in a deadly political struggle after a similar challenge by a senior official.

The opposition on Friday filed a case with prosecutors alleging that the government, judges and electoral officials were conspiring “to violently change the constitution,” lawmaker Tomas Guanipa said.

The move came after AttorneyGeneral Luisa Ortega on Thursday mounted a separate challenge in the Supreme Court against President Nicolas Maduro’s efforts to rewrite the constitution, in a sign of division within the government camp.

Various opponents of Maduro also went to the court on Friday to try to add their names to the list of plaintiffs in that lawsuit, but found the tribunal closed and blocked by riot police vans. Opposition lawmaker Delsa Solorzano told reporters that armed government supporters beat her group as it was leaving.

Clashes at daily protests by demonstrators calling for Maduro to quit over an economic crisis have left 66 people dead since April 1, prosecutors say.

Maduro has launched moves to reform the constitution in response to the protests, but his opponents say that is a ploy to cling to power.

Maduro says the crisis is a USbacked conspiracy. Ortega is the highest-profile official to defy him in the crisis.

Maduro retains the public backing of the military. However, its commander Vladimir Padrino Lopez sounded a moderate note this week when he warned security forces against attacking protesters.