Guaido danger rises

Popular Venezuelan opposition leader now at risk of arrest

MADURO loyalists have stripped Venezuela’s Juan Guaido of immunity, paving the way for the opposition leader’s prosecution and potential arrest for supposedly violating the constitution when he declared himself interim president.

But whether the government of President Nicolas Maduro will take action against the 35-year-old lawmaker following the Constituent Assembly’s decision remains unclear.

Mr Guaido has embarked on an international campaign to topple the president’s socialist administration amid deepening social unrest in the country plagued by nearly a month of power outages.

He declared himself Venezuela’s interim president in January and vowed to overthrow Mr Maduro. So far, however, Mr Maduro has avoided jailing the man that the administration of US President Donald Trump and roughly 50 other nations recognise as Venezuela’s legitimate leader.

A defiant Mr Guaido spoke moments after the vote, saying he’s undeterred, while knowing he runs the risk of being “kidnapped” by the Maduro government. “We are aware of that,” Mr Guaido said. “But we will not change our path.”

He cited low wages driving millions abroad and the spate of blackouts that have crippled the nation’s public transportation, water services and communications.

The Trump administration has threatened the Maduro government with a strong response if Mr Guaido is harmed and Florida Senator Marco Rubio – who has Mr Trump’s ear on Venezuela policy – said before the vote that nations recognising Mr Guaido as his country’s legitimate leader should take any attempt by Mr Maduro’s government to “abduct” him as a coup.

“And anyone who cooperates with this should be treated as a coup plotter and dealt with accordingly,” Mr Rubio said.