Caracas, June 28 Armed civilian groups have attacked the Venezuelan Parliament building after a clash between lawmakers and the military police of the Bolivarian National Guard , opposition legislator Julio Borges has said. "Different lawmakers and Assembly personnel saw officers entering with boxes from the National Election Council and a clash occurred there between the GNB officers and the lawmakers," Borges said.

Start the conversation, or Read more at India.com. </s> CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan security forces prevented opposition lawmakers from entering the parliament building for a session on Tuesday, a week after the top court stripped several lawmakers of their immunity amid a political crisis in the South American country.

Members of the Sebin intelligence service, wearing masks and carrying long guns, together with members of the national police and the military blocked the entrance and were investigating the possible presence of an explosive device inside the National Assembly building, lawmakers said.

Last week, one opposition lawmaker was arrested and several took refuge in foreign embassies in Caracas or fled the country as President Nicolas Maduro cracked down on allies of opposition leader Juan Guaido, following a failed effort to convince members of the military to rise up against Maduro in late April.

Guaido, the leader of the opposition-controlled Assembly, in January invoked Venezuela’s constitution to assume an interim presidency, arguing Maduro’s 2018 re-election was illegitimate. More than 50 countries have recognised him as the country’s rightful leader, and say the assembly is its last remaining democratic institution.

“This is all part of a show to prevent the National Assembly from functioning,” lawmaker Juan Pablo Guanipa told Reuters. “This is a dictatorship that goes after dissidents, and we are fighting for a political change.”

Venezuela’s information ministry, which handles media inquiries on behalf of the government, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Maduro, a socialist, calls Guaido a puppet of the United States seeking to oust him in a coup.

The government stripped the assembly of most of its powers after the opposition won a majority in 2015 elections. Lawmakers loyal to Maduro generally do not attend the sessions, but go to meetings of the constituent assembly, a legislative “superbody” created in 2017 that meets in the same building on Wednesdays.

The “superbody” is an all-powerful legislature controlled by the ruling Socialist Party and whose powers supersede those of the National Assembly.

Tuesday’s session was scheduled for 10 a.m. (1400 GMT), but never began. The lawmakers were set to discuss the Supreme Court’s stripping of several of their colleagues’ parliamentary immunity and the arrest of Edgar Zambrano, the Assembly’s vice president and an outspoken critic of Maduro.

Opposition lawmaker Jorge Millan told reporters the report of “bombs” in the building was false.

“It is a trick to prevent the parliament from functioning today,” he said. “If we do not have a session today, we will do it tomorrow.”

(Reporting by Mayela Armas and Corina Pons; Writing by Luc Cohen; Editing by Phil Berlowitz) </s> Caracas: Armed civilian groups have attacked the Venezuelan Parliament building after a clash between lawmakers and the military police of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB), opposition legislator Julio Borges has said.

The clash on Tuesday left at least two female members of parliament injured, Efe news quoted Borges as saying.

According to the National Assembly's Twitter account, opposition lawmaker Delsa Solorzano and several reporters were also injured. "Different lawmakers and Assembly personnel saw (GNB) officers entering (the building) with boxes from the National Election Council... and a clash occurred there between the GNB officers and the lawmakers," Borges said.

As a result, the parliamentary session was interrupted. Borges then proceeded to talk with the officer responsible for the institution's security in order to resolve the conflict.

However, immediately groups of civilians entered through the doors of the National Assembly building, he said. These people launched fireworks rockets and other materials inside the House, according to some videos published on social media. The civilian groups have attacked the front of the building and threatened to enter "by force", the opposition said.

Lawmakers and workers currently remain locked inside the Parliament, the Chamber's press chief Alicia de La Rosa told Efe.

Borges has blamed President Nicolas Maduro for the attack. He said: "Nicolas Maduro... said on Tuesday that if the ballots are no use, then the violence will be, that if the ballots are no use, then the bullets will be."

Borges, however, said that the attack would give "more strength" to parliamentarians to continue fighting for "a democratic and free country". Regarding the boxes from the National Election Council, he indicated that the lawmakers went to see what happened with them, since it was "irregular" to keep such contents in the Legislative building. However, the GNB forces did not allow the parliamentarians to have access to the boxes, Borges said, adding that the troops claimed that the boxes contain data on the validation of political parties.

Venezuela has been facing socio-political upheavals which have been exacerbated by waves of demonstrations, both against and in favour of the government, for three months. Some of these demonstrations have become violent, leaving so far at least 75 people dead and about 1,500 injured, according to data from Venezuela's Prosecutor General's Office. </s> CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s top court opened a criminal investigation against six opposition lawmakers Tuesday following last week’s failed attempt to spark a military uprising against President Nicolás Maduro.

The lawmakers are suspected of “betraying the homeland” and “instigating an insurrection,” among other charges, the pro-government Supreme Court said. Those facing accusations include prominent figures in the Venezuelan opposition such as Henry Ramos Allup and Luis Germán Florido.

The court initially had said seven faced investigation, but later in the day lowered the number to six without explanation.

The action came one week after opposition leader Juan Guaidó urged soldiers to oust Maduro, who has taken steps to reassert his authority in the aftermath of the failed uprising.

Additionally, the government announced that it was taking control of three private airports. Interior Minister Nestor Reverol described it as a necessary measure to “guarantee efficiency” and crack down on illegal activity.

Venezuela’s opposition-controlled congress, meanwhile, met to discuss a proposal for the country’s return to a regional defense agreement that dates from the Cold War — a move that could provide political cover for greater international involvement in the nation’s crisis. The matter was referred to an assembly committee.

Years ago, Venezuela and other left-governed nations pulled out of the U.S.-led defense pact, the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance.

U.S. officials have repeatedly said they are considering military “options” in the Venezuelan crisis, in addition to diplomatic and economic pressure that has been intensifying for months against Maduro.

Military police prevented journalists from entering the National Assembly, and some reporters were harassed by government supporters outside the building.

Venezuela’s state-run internet provider restricted access to YouTube, some Google services and other streaming platforms during the assembly session, according to NetBlocks, an online censorship-monitoring group based in Europe.

The lights in the chamber went out temporarily as a senior assembly member, Edgar Zambrano, was speaking. The cause of the power cut was unclear.

Last week, Venezuela’s top court opened a treason investigation of Zambrano, who had joined Guaidó outside a military base in Caracas during a failed call on the armed forces to overthrow Maduro. The appeal to the military was followed by deadly clashes between police and protesters.

The United States and dozens of other nations have recognized Guaidó, head of the National Assembly, as Venezuela’s interim president, saying Maduro’s re-election last year was rigged.

Guaidó earlier Tuesday met with top diplomats from some of the more than 50 countries that support his campaign to seize power from Maduro, whose allies include Russia, China and Cuba.

A group of mostly European nations is looking to send a high-level delegation to Caracas in the coming days. European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini made the announcement in Costa Rica after a meeting of the countries. The International Contact Group wants to facilitate free presidential elections in Venezuela as soon as possible, a goal that it shares with Guaidó.

Maduro says he is the target of a U.S.-engineered coup plot and has denounced the Guaidó-led assembly, instead recognizing a rival assembly packed with government loyalists that was set up in 2017.

In early April, the government-backed National Constituent Assembly voted to strip Guaidó of his parliamentary immunity from prosecution, and it did the same Tuesday for the opposition lawmakers placed under criminal investigation by the Supreme Court.

Maduro, however, has not moved to detain Guaidó, possibly reflecting wariness over a likely backlash from the United States and its allies.

Copyright © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area. </s> • Venezuelan intelligence agents arrested the vice president of the opposition-led national assembly on Wednesday.
• Authorities attempted to detain Edgar Zambrano as he drove out of the opposition party headquarters, but he refused to leave his car.
• His car was then towed directly into a Caracas prison with him still inside.
• The detention is part of a larger crackdown on opposition leaders who participated in last week’s failed military uprising.

Venezuelan authorities arrested the vice president of the opposition-led national assembly on Wednesday – the first detention of a major opposition figure since last week’s failed military uprising against President Nicolás Maduro.

Edgar Zambrano was leaving his party’s headquarters in Caracas when agents from the SEBIN intelligence agency stopped his car, the politician tweeted. After he refused to leave his vehicle, security forces towed him to the infamous Helicoide prison.

“We democrats will keep fighting,” he said on Twitter.

Zambrano was among the high profile leaders who joined an attempted revolt against the socialist government last Tuesday, The Associated Press reported. He went to the Caracas bridge where opposition leader Juan Guaidó was calling for military defections, and thanked the small group of rebel soldiers who had changed allegiances.

The protest failed to spark any large scale defections.

Read more: Protestors clash with the regime as the opposition struggles to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro

Maduro ally Diosdado Cabello confirmed on state television that Zambrano was arrested because of his involvement in the uprising.

“He was one of the principal bosses behind the coup,” Cabello said to loud applause. “The tow truck got him.”

Guaidó accused Maduro’s government of “kidnapping” his deputy, and undermining the people who voted opposition lawmakers into the national assembly. Guaidó and his supporters believe elections for other government bodies were rigged.

“With these actions, the usurpers want to affect the only democratic institution legitimized by the popular vote,” Guaidó tweeted.

The US State Department said Zambrano’s detention was “illegal and inexcusable.”

“If he is not freed immediately, there will be consequences,” the American embassy in Venezuela tweeted.

Wednesday’s arrest is part of a larger crackdown in response to the unsuccessful revolt.

The Constituent Assembly, stacked with Maduro loyalists, had already revoked parliamentary immunity from Zambrano and six other lawmakers so they could be prosecuted, The Guardian reported. The opposition does not recognize the decision.

The Maduro government also said it was investigating Zambrano and eight other opposition leaders for “betraying the homeland” and “instigating insurrection,” according to the AP.

Guaidó believes he hasn’t been arrested yet because Maduro fears retaliation.

“Because they’re scared. Those that try to spread or generate a perception of control are the ones that don’t have it,” Guaidó told CNN.

The US, Guaidó’s most important international backer, has already threatened military intervention in Venezuela if other avenues for Maduro’s removal do not succeed. </s> Venezuelan intelligence agents on Wednesday detained Edgar Zambrano, the deputy leader of the opposition-dominated National Assembly, for supporting an attempted uprising on April 30.

Zambrano, opposition leader and self-declared President Juan Guaido's deputy as National Assembly speaker, was detained by agents in Caracas for backing the failed April 30 military uprising against President Nicolas Maduro, which was orchestrated by Guaido.

"We warn the people of Venezuela and the international community: the regime has kidnapped the first vice president" of the National Assembly, Guaido wrote in a Twitter post. "They are trying to destroy the power representing all Venezuelans, but they will not achieve it."

The Constituent Assembly has said it would suspend the immunity of any lawmakers who backed the uprising, which sparked two days of clashes between security forces and protesters.

Attorney General Tarek William Saab says the clashes left six people dead. Dozens more were injured and more than 233 were arrested.

Read more: Venezuela: Coup or uprising? It depends on who you support

Watch video 05:22 Share Venezuela's Guaido calls for uprising Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3Hk6G Venezuela's Guaido calls for uprising

Towed to prison

Party head Carlos Prosperi said security forces towed Zambrano's car away while the lawmaker still inside.

Zambrano's exact whereabouts were unknown, but he tweeted that at 6:35 p.m. (2235 UTC) he left his party's headquarters and his car was surrounded by intelligence officers.

He wrote that he refused to leave the vehicle, which was subsequently towed with him inside it to the Helicoide, a government building in Caracas used for holding prisoners.

Opposition lawmakers under investigation

In a separate case, Venezuela's Supreme Court indicted three more lawmakers for supporting Guaido's uprising.

The three lawmakers — named as Freddy Superlano, Sergio Vergara and Juan Andres Mejia — have been accused of high treason and conspiracy.

Their arrests come after a court announced the indictment of seven others on Tuesday.

Guaido, who is recognized as Venezuela's interim president by more than 50 countries, was also stripped of his immunity on April 2.

In response to the first indictments on Tuesday, Guaido said in a speech that the government's "only response ... is to persecute, because they no longer govern, because they no longer have command."

Watch video 01:53 Share Venezuela's Lopez speaks out Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3Hr88 Venezuelan opposition activist speaks out against Maduro

law/sms (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here. </s> Senior Opposition Leader Allied With Guaidó Is Arrested In Venezuela

The vice president of Venezuela's opposition-controlled National Assembly was arrested by intelligence agents Wednesday night in Caracas. The U.S. government warns that there will be consequences if he isn't released.

Edgar Zambrano was in his car when he was surrounded by SEBIN intelligence agents. When he refused to leave car, agents used a truck to tow it with Zambrano inside to the SEBIN headquarters. The incident was tweeted by Zambrano as it happened.

Neighbors watching shouted "Assassins!" as the agents towed him away, The Associated Press reports. The arrest came as President Nicolás Maduro was on live state television at the opening of an agricultural project.

Zambrano's detention is the first arrest of a lawmaker since the unsuccessful attempt last week by opposition leader Juan Guaidó to stage an uprising against Maduro's government. The government accuses Zambrano of being involved in that attempted uprising, NPR's Philip Reeves reports.

On state television, Diosdado Cabello, the head of the pro-Maduro Constituent Assembly, said that "one of the principal conspirators of the coup" had just been arrested. "They will have to pay before the courts for the failed coup that they attempted," he said, according to Reuters.

A day earlier, Constituent Assembly stripped Zambrano and six others of their parliamentary immunity – a move the opposition doesn't recognize, Reuters reports.

Guaidó tweeted that "the dictatorship has kidnapped" the assembly's vice president. "They've arrived at the absurd by towing his car with him inside, violating all the processes and displaying the authoritarianism to which they adhere."

Tensions are high after last week's attempted uprising failed to remove Maduro. So far, Maduro has held back from arresting Guaidó himself, as it would stir an international backlash. The U.S. quickly expressed its disapproval of Zambrano's arrest.

"The arbitrary detention of deputy @edgarzambranoad by the oppressive security forces of Maduro in Venezuela is illegal and inexcusable," The U.S. Embassy in Venezuela tweeted. "Maduro and his accomplices are directly responsible for Zambrano's safety. If he is not released immediately, there will be consequences."

The Constituent Assembly stripped Guaidó's immunity in early April. The U.S. recognizes Guaidó, the head of the National Assembly, as the country's legitimate interim leader, and the Trump administration has made clear that his arrest would mark a serious escalation. </s> Caracas, Venezuela -- Security forces arrested the No. 2 leader of Venezuela's opposition-controlled congress Wednesday as President Nicolás Maduro's government began going after foes tied to a failed attempt to stir up a military uprising last week. National Assembly Vice President Edgar Zambrano was leaving his Democratic Action party's headquarters when he was surprised by a commando unit from the feared SEBIN intelligence agency that surrounded his car.

A half hour later, the officers towed the vehicle away with the lawmaker still inside. At the same time, Maduro was speaking live on state TV inaugurating an agricultural project. Neighbors looking on shouted "assassins" as the heavily armed agents pulled away.

"We democrats we will keep fighting!" Zambrano tweeted as he was hauled off.

The arrest was the first following the opposition's fizzled uprising that started early on April 30 outside a Caracas air base. It was led by Juan Guaidó, head of the National Assembly who is leading the U.S.-backed effort to end what he calls Maduro's dictatorship.
• None Venezuelans suffer and starve as political crisis drags on

Zambrano, 63, was one of the first opposition leaders to answer Guaido's call for an insurrection, going to the bridge in Caracas where the opposition leader had appeared at dawn with a small cadre of soldiers ready to rebel against Maduro.

On the highway overpass, Zambrano embraced popular opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who broke house arrest to take part. Zambrano also thanked the handful of rebel National Guardsmen, who wore blue armbands as symbols of their allegiance to Guaidó's movement.

A lawyer by training, Zambrano is seen as a conciliatory figure within the opposition who is close to Henry Ramos, the former head of congress who has been accused of taking part in an earlier alleged conspiracy to oust Maduro. He took up his role as Guaido's deputy as part of a power-sharing arrangement among the biggest parties.

Government officials had announced that Zambrano and eight other opposition lawmakers faced investigation on charges of "betraying the homeland" and "instigating an insurrection," for their roles in last week's unrest.

Two hours before his arrest, Zambrano had told The Associated Press in a phone interview that he was not going to hide because "I have not committed any crime."

Government supporters have been pushing Maduro to order arrests in the aftermath of the failed uprising, which is the closest the opposition has ever come to ousting the president. But analysts say there are limits to how far Maduro can crack down, and that any attempt to arrest Guaidó risks inviting a strong response from the U.S., which has warned of "grave consequences" should the opposition leader be harmed.

Earlier Wednesday, Maduro and the head of Venezuela's top court rejected a U.S. threat to apply sanctions to all its judges. They accused the Trump administration of trying to manipulate the crisis-wracked nation's justice system and foment a coup.

Maikel Moreno, president of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, pushed back at comments by Vice President Mike Pence, who said the U.S. would extend sanctions to all members of the Venezuelan high court if they continued to be a "political tool" of Maduro.

"This unlawful, despicable and intolerable action violates the norms and principles of international law that govern relations between civilized nations," Moreno, a political ally of the Maduro, said in a nationally broadcast TV appearance. Moreno already faces U.S. sanctions.

There is little sign that tension will break between Maduro and Guaidó, who is backed by the United States and more than 50 other nations.

Guaidó on Wednesday took to the streets of at least two coastal communities outside the capital, pushing to keep up the opposition's rejuvenated momentum. He met with supporters in his hometown of La Guaira and surrounding communities, where he was greeted by cheers, hugs and fist bumps.

More than 3 million Venezuelans have left their homeland in recent years amid skyrocketing inflation and severe shortages of food and medicine. Pence and other Trump administration officials blame Maduro's socialist policies and government mismanagement for Venezuela's economic crunch, warning that 2 million more people are expected to flee by the end of the year if the crisis continues.

The U.S. lifted sanctions on a top Venezuelan general who broke ranks with Maduro last week. Pence said the immediate lifting of financial sanctions for Gen. Manuel Figuera, who was Venezuela's spy chief, is intended to encourage others in the military to abandon their support for Maduro.

Figuera was the sole regime insider to defy Maduro during the uprising, although the White House contends several others, including Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, had been in talks for weeks with the opposition to oust Maduro but backed away from the plan at the last minute.

On Wednesday, Maduro discharged Figuera from service along with 55 other soldiers accused of taking part in Guaido's uprising.

Among them was National Guard Lt. Col. Illich Sanchez, who oversaw protection to the opposition-controlled National Assembly and accompanied Guaidó during the uprising last week.

Maduro has fallen under increasing international pressure since winning a second six-year term in an election last May that critics say was rigged. Russia, China and Cuba, among other countries, support Maduro.

Maduro says he is the target of a U.S.-engineered coup plot. He harshly criticized the Trump administration in his speech Wednesday, saying its offer to lift sanctions against members of the armed forces who turn against his government is an "assault on their honor and dignity."

"Donald Trump is racist and surrounded by crazies," Maduro said. </s> (CARACAS) — Pro-government militias wielding wooden sticks and metal bars stormed congress on Wednesday, attacking opposition lawmakers during a special session coinciding with Venezuela's independence day.

Four lawmakers were injured and blood was splattered on the neoclassical legislature's white walls. One of them, Americo de Grazia, had to be removed in a stretcher while suffering from convulsions.

"This doesn't hurt as much as watching how every day how we lose a little bit more of our country," Armando Arias said from inside an ambulance as he was being treated for head wounds that spilled blood across his clothes.

The unprecedented attack, in plain view of national guardsmen assigned to protect the legislature, comes amid three months of often-violent confrontations between security forces and protesters who accuse the government of trying to establish a dictatorship by jailing foes, pushing aside the opposition-controlled legislature and rewriting the constitution to avoid fair elections.

Tensions were already high after Vice President Tareck El Aissami made an unannounced morning visit to the National Assembly, accompanied by top government and military officials, for an event celebrating independence day. The short appearance at the congress by top officials who have repeatedly dismissed the legislators as a band of U.S.-backed conspirators was seen by many as a provocation.

Standing next to a display case holding the founding charter, El Aissami said global powers are once again trying to subjugate Venezuela.

Read More: State of Ruin: Tales From Venezuela's Collapse

"We still haven't finished definitively breaking the chains of the empire," he said, adding that President Nicolas Maduro's plans to rewrite the constitution — a move the opposition sees as a power-grab — offers Venezuela the best chance to be truly independent.

After he left, dozens of government supporters set up a picket outside the building, heckling lawmakers with menacing chants and eventually invading the legislature themselves. The siege only lifted after seven nerve-wracking hours when police set up a corridor to allow the hundreds of people trapped inside the legislature, including lawmakers and journalists, to leave.

The brazen attack on one of the symbols of Venezuela's already limping democracy drew widespread international rebuke.

"This violence, perpetrated during the celebration of Venezuela's independence, is an assault on the democratic principles cherished by the men and women who struggled for Venezuela's independence 206 years ago today," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.

Despite the violence, lawmakers approved a plan by the opposition to hold a symbolic referendum on July 16 that would give voters the chance to reject Maduro's plans to draft a new political charter.

Later Maduro condemned the violence, but complained that the opposition doesn't do enough to control "terrorist attacks" committed against security forces by anti-government protesters.

"I will never be an accomplice to acts of violence," said Maduro during a speech at a military parade.

The clash followed Tuesday's appearance of two short videos by a former police inspector who allegedly stole a helicopter and fired on two government buildings last week.

Oscar Perez, repeating a call for rebellion among the security forces, said that he was in Caracas after abandoning the helicopter along the Caribbean coast and was ready for the "second phase" of his campaign to free his homeland from what he called the corrupt rule of Maduro and his "assassin" allies.

Perez gave no other details but pledged to join youth who have been protesting on the streets the past three months against Maduro.

"Stop talking. Get on the streets. Take action. Fight," he said in the video, sitting before a Venezuelan flag and with what looks like an assault rifle by his side. He also denounced Maduro's plan to rewrite the constitution.

"If this constitutional assembly goes through, Venezuela will cease to exist because we'll have given away the country to the Cubans," he said.

Hours later, another video appeared in which he urged Venezuelans to march on a Caracas military base, not the presidential palace, to locate and remove Maduro along with the ruling elite.

Read More: Venezuela's President Promises a Referendum as the Death Toll From Unrest Reaches 62

The bold though largely harmless June 27 attack shocked Venezuelans who had grown accustomed to almost-daily clashes since April between often-violent youth protesters and security forces that have left more than 90 people dead and hundreds injured.

Perez apparently piloted the stolen police helicopter that sprayed 15 bullets toward the Interior Ministry and dropped at least two grenades over the supreme court building.

While Maduro claimed Perez had stolen the helicopter on a U.S.-backed mission to oust him from power, many in the opposition questioned whether the incident was a staged by the government to distract attention from the president's increasingly authoritarian rule.

Adding to the intrigue is Perez's colorful past.

In 2015, he produced and starred in a film called "Suspended Death," and several photos show him in fatigues, scuba diving while toting an assault rifle, skydiving and standing in action poses with a German shepherd by his side. In his political debut, he read a manifesto in which he claimed to be part of a group of disgruntled members of Venezuela's security forces determined to save the country's democracy.

Perez said in the video that the strike produced no casualties because he had taken care to avoid them. Neither of the buildings he attacked suffered damage. The helicopter he stole was found 24 hours later, abandoned in a verdant valley near the Caribbean coastline outside Caracas.
Venezuelan security forces surround the Palacio Federal Legislativo in Caracas, preventing opposition National Assembly lawmakers from entering the building to discuss a response to the recent arrest of National Assembly Vice President Edgar Zambrano.