Venezuela says to prosecute lawmakers involved in failed uprising
Venezuela's Supreme Court ruled that it will prosecute seven lawmakers who backed last week's failed uprising orchestrated by opposition leader Juan Guaido.
The court said it asked Attorney General Tarek William Saab to handle the "criminal investigation" into opposition deputies for "high treason" and "conspiracy."
The announcement came on Tuesday, as Washington removed sanctions against the country's sacked intelligence chief for backing the opposition.
Soon after the announcement, the Constituent Assembly stripped the seven lawmakers of their parliamentary immunity. The list includes Henry Ramos Allup, the former speaker of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, Edgar Zambrano, Luis Florido, Marianela Magallanes, Simon Calzadilla, Americo De Grazia and Richard Blanco.
The country's Constitute Assembly speaker Diosdado Cabello said there will be a trial for these ex-lawmakers.
He also said three unnamed other lawmakers had been identified and would undergo the same process.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the Americas Society / Council of the Americas 49th Washington Conference on the Americas at the U.S. State Department in Washington, DC, U.S. May 7, 2019. /Reuters Photo
In Washington, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said sanctions against Venezuela's sacked intelligence chief General Christopher Figuera were being lifted, as the Trump administration kept mounting pressure on President Nicolas Maduro's government.
Speaking at the State Department Pence also warned Venezuela's judges. He hinted the U.S. could impose sanctions on the Venezuelan judges if they use the court as "a political tool for a regime that usurps democracy, indicts political prisoners and promotes authoritarianism."
Pence also announced that Washington will send a hospital ship to the area in June for a five-month mission. He said the naval ship USNS Comfort will return in June for a five-month mission aimed at assisting neighboring countries that are caring for some of the millions of Venezuelans who have fled their country.
European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini speaks during a news conference after a meeting of the International Contact Group (IGC) to discuss their support for a political solution to Venezuela's political crisis, in San Jose, Costa Rica, May 7, 2019. /Reuters Photo
Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has urged calm. She told a regional meeting in Costa Rican capital San Jose that there should be no military intervention in Venezuela and urged all sides to avoid escalating tensions.
"The only way to unblock a stalemate – in which the country clearly is – is to find a democratic, peaceful political way forward that can be inclusive and that can respect the will of the Venezuelan people," Mogherini said after a meeting of the international Contact Group on Venezuela.
She said free and fair elections should be held to break the impasse, and a set of concrete options the EU and the contact group had worked upon, but she did not provide further details.
(Cover: People walk in front of the building of Venezuela's Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) in Caracas, Venezuela, June 28, 2017. /Reuters Photo)
(With input from Reuters and AFP)