Venezuela's Supreme Court seeks to strip Guaido of immunity

Venezuela’s Supreme Court has asked the Constituent Assembly to strip opposition leader Juan Guaido of parliamentary immunity over his violation of a ban on leaving the country.

"A request will be sent to the Constituent Assembly’s president that Juan Guaido be stripped of parliamentary immunity for failing to abide by the Court’s decisions," Supreme Court President Maikel Moreno said, as cited by the El Nacional newspaper.

Venezuela’s Supreme Court earlier barred Guaido from leaving the country. However, on February 22, he traveled to the Colombian border city of Cucuta, which hosts a humanitarian aid distribution center. Guaido returned to Venezuela after visiting Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Ecuador.

Venezuela crisis
On January 23, Juan Guaido, Venezuelan opposition leader and parliament speaker, whose appointment to that position had been cancelled by the country’s Supreme Court, declared himself interim president at a rally in the country’s capital of Caracas.

Several countries, including the United States, Lima Group members (excluding Mexico), Australia, Albania, Georgia and Israel, as well as the Organization of American States, recognized him. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in turn, blasted the move as a coup staged by Washington and said he was severing diplomatic ties with the US. On February 4, most of the European Union member states recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president

In contrast, Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Syria and Turkey voiced support for Maduro, while China called for resolving all differences peacefully and warned against foreign interference. The United Nations secretary general, in turn, called for dialogue to resolve the crisis.