Venezuela orders arrest of opposition lawmaker Borges

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Venezuela's Constituent Assembly – a super-legislative body set up last year – revoked the immunity of two opposition lawmakers on Wednesday in order to put them on trial for allegedly masterminding a drone "assassination" bid on President Nicolas Maduro.

Maduro accuses the opposition and Colombia of being behind the drone "attack" on Saturday. He has singled out two lawmakers: Julio Borges, former speaker of the opposition-dominated legislature who now lives in exile; and Juan Requesens. Requesens was seized by intelligence officers overnight, while Venezuela's Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered Borges' arrest.

Member of Venezuela's opposition and former president of the National Assembly Julio Borges in Bogota, Colombia, August 8, 2018. /VCG Photo

The legislature, called the National Assembly, has said it will dismiss any attempt to remove its members' immunity as unconstitutional. Its past decisions, however, have been annulled by the Supreme Court.

Attorney General Tarek William Saab said moves were being made to put Requesens on trial, while Maduro is pressing Colombia and the US to extradite opposition figures he alleges are plotting to topple him from abroad, including Borges.

The embattled president says he was targeted by two drones carrying C4 explosives. Live images on Saturday showed Maduro halting his speech at a Caracas military parade because of a detonation that immediately prompted dozens of soldiers in front of him to run away in panic.

Screengrab taken from a handout video released by Venezuelan television showing President Nicolas Maduro (C), his wife Cilia Flores (L) and military authorities reacting to a loud bang during a ceremony to celebrate the 81st anniversary of the National Guard in Caracas, August 4, 2018. /VCG Photo

Borges, who on Tuesday attended the swearing-in of Colombia's new president, Ivan Duque, called Maduro's accusation against him "a farce."

Venezuela, once one of the wealthiest in Latin America, is on the brink of total default as exports of oil – the resource it depends upon – decline and with them the hard currency Maduro's government needs. The country is in the grip of staggering hyperinflation, shortages of food and medicine.

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Source(s): AFP