Venezuelan court seeks arrests

Opposition alleged to be behind assassination bid

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the arrest of a prominent opposition leader in connection with an alleged assassination attempt against President Nicolas Maduro.

In addition to seeking the arrest of Julio Borges, the court also called for the prosecution of another opposition lawmaker, Juan Requesens, whom police detained a day earlier.

The moves threaten to deepen the country’s political crisis as opposition lawmakers accuse the government’s ruling party of using the alleged attack to clamp down on the opposition.

Video circulating Tuesday on social media showed Venezuela’s political police arresting Requesens, a 29-year-old deputy in the opposition-controlled National Assembly. Supporters say he was kidnapped from his apartment.

On Wednesday, the supreme court ordered the arrest of Borges, accusing him of “flagrant crimes,” including public incitement, treason to the fatherland and the attempted homicide against Maduro.

During a national television broadcast Tuesday, Maduro accused Requesens and Borges of complicity in weekend drone explosions that he contends were an attempt on his life. Borges has been living in exile in Colombia.

The head of Venezuela’s pro-government constitutional assembly said he would have the body take up a proposal to strip both lawmakers of their immunity protections, drawing cries from antigovernment lawmakers that such a move would be unconstitutional.

Maduro said statements from some of the six suspects arrested earlier have implicated the two lawmakers, as well as key financiers.

“Several of the declarations indicated Julio Borges. The investigations point to him,” Maduro said during Tuesday’s broadcast, though he provided no details of Borges’ alleged role.

Borges, who lives in exile in the Colombian capital, Bogota, rejected the accusations on Twitter.