Venezuela court returns power to parliament

VENEZUELA’S Supreme Court on Saturday reversed a decision for the judiciary to take on responsibilities of the National Assembly, which has been declared in contempt for more than one year, amid high-running tensions in the country exacerbated by the earlier move.

Venezuela’s top court announced that the ruling had been dropped, hours after the country’s security council called on the court to revisit the decision.

The court said it “abolished the content” of the decision handed down on Wednesday.

The ruling had said that, “as long as the disrespect and invalidity of the proceedings of the National Assembly persist, this constitutional chamber will ensure that the parliamentary powers are exercised directly by this chamber or by the body it has in place to ensure the rule of law.”

Saturday’s reversal eliminated that provision.

Supreme Court president Maikel Moreno discussed the decision in a press conference on Saturday, noting that Venezuela’s public powers are free to carry out their duties as they see fit, as long as such activities follow the constitution.

“The Supreme Court of Justice will never have conflicts with any other public power,” Maikel said. “We are the abitrator.”

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro described the situation on Friday as an “impasse” after Attorney-General Luisa Ortega criticised the Supreme Court, calling the ruling a “rupture in the constitutional order”.

“There is a controversy and it must be resolved through dialogue, not with extreme positions or by giving arguments to those who want to intervene in Venezuela,” he said.

Wednesday’s decision responded to an appeal filed by the Venezuelan Petroleum Corporation regarding the Organic Law of Hydrocarbons, which stipulates that the National Assembly must approve all joint ventures on natural resources. – teleSUR