Venezuela's attempt at producing a Muammar Qadaffy...stripped opposition leader Juan Guaido’s immunity on Tuesday ‐ and authorised the high court to criminally prosecute him for proclaiming himself the crisis-hit country’s ruler.
Guaido ‐ whose claim is recognised by over 50 countries ‐ had earlier expressed fears of being kidnapped by government agents following a request by the Supreme Court to the Constituent Assembly to lift his parliamentary immunity.
Critics of the controversial two-year-old body say it was created to rubber-stamp Maduro’s decisions and sideline the opposition-controlled National Assembly.
The Constituent Assembly’s president, Diosdado Cabello, announced pro-Maduro politicians had unanimously authorised the Supreme Court to prosecute Guaido, leaving him also liable to be charged for breaching a Jan 29 government ban on leaving the country.
The court had been investigating Guaido for usurping Maduro’s powers by declaring himself interim president on Jan 23 ‐ a move which rapidly gained international support.
The court ruling, issued on Monday, cited Guaido’s violation of a ban on his travel outside Venezuela when he visited Argentina
...a country located on the other side of the Deep South. It is covered with Pampers and inhabited by Grouchos, who dance the Tangle. They used to have some islands called the Malvinas located where the Falklands are now. They're not supposed to cry for Evita...
, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Paraguay from late February to early March.