Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Factions in Venezuela stake claims to power
National Assembly vows to operate alongside new body
CARACAS, Venezuela — Pro- and anti-government factions dug themselves further into their trenches Monday amid Venezuela’s deepening political crisis, with each side staking a claim to the powers granted them by dueling national assemblies.
The new chief prosecutor who replaced an outspoken government critic outlined plans for restructuring the Public Ministry, and the opposition-controlled National Assembly vowed to continue meeting at the stately legislative palace — a short walk across a plaza from where the all-powerful constitutional assembly is expected to hold its next meeting Tuesday.
National Assembly president Julio Borges told fellow lawmakers they should keep an active presence in the building despite threats from the new assembly to swiftly strip them of any authority and lock up key leaders. Borges called the building, with its gold cupola, the “symbol of popular sovereignty.”
“We are a testament to the fight for democracy,” he said at a meeting cobbled together amid mounting uncertainty about the legislature’s future. “It should be known this assembly was true to its mandate.”
In theory, both the National Assembly and the pro-government constitutional assembly can rule simultaneously, but the new super body created through a July 30 election that drew international condemnation has the authority to trump any other branch of government.
Since its installation Friday, it has signaled that it will act swiftly in response to President Nicolas Maduro’s commands, which have included stripping legislators of their constitutional immunity.
Diosdado Cabello, a constitutional assembly member and a leader of the socialist party, said the new body would be in power for “at least two years.” He defended initial decrees to oust top law enforcement officer Luisa Ortega Diaz and create a “truth commission” that will wield unusual authority to prosecute those suspected of fueling political unrest.
Cabello said the decisions all aligned strictly with the 1999 constitution crafted by the late President Hugo Chavez.
“This is a completely legal process,” he said.
Ortega Diaz’s replacement, Ombudsman Tarek William Saab, who was recently sanctioned by Washington for failing to protect protesters from abuses in his role as the nation’s top human rights official, appeared on state television to both chastise the leader of the agency he will oversee and announce his plans to revamp it.
He criticized Ortega Diaz for “fanning the flames” of political conflict in Venezuela and said he would proceed with a “logical restructuring” of an office he deemed overly political and bureaucratic.
Ortega Diaz is not recognizing Saab as attorney general, and both opposition leaders and foreign dignitaries have said they will not acknowledge him as Venezuela’s chief prosecutor.
The widening political gulf comes as opposition parties face a rapidly approaching deadline to declare whether they will take part in scheduled December regional elections. Opposition members refused to participate in the election for delegates to the constitutional assembly but have been divided on whether to take part in the upcoming vote for governors.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is preparing to expand sanctions against Venezuela by freezing assets of 10 to 20 people tied to the Maduro government, in addition to people previously announced, according to two people familiar with the matter. The action could come Tuesday, though it may be delayed as the Trump administration seeks an international response, the people said.