Venezuela braces for more deadly protest after ‘sham’ election to empower President Nicolas Maduro draws international condemnation
Socialist president Nicolas Maduro is gambling his four-year rule on the 545-member assembly, which will be authorised to dissolve the opposition-controlled congress and rewrite the constitution
Venezuela braced for new protests after a controversial election for an assembly to rewrite the constitution unleashed a wave of unrest that left 10 people dead.
Opponents of embattled President Nicolas Maduro vowed another day of nationwide marches, defying an intensifying crackdown on protests that have left more than 120 people dead in four months.
Flouting international condemnation – including the threat of new sanctions by US President Donald Trump’s administration – Maduro meanwhile claimed victory in Sunday’s election, citing an official turnout figure of 41.5 per cent.
The leftist leader encouraged the new “constituent assembly” to wield its vast powers to scrap opposition lawmakers’ immunity from prosecution as one of its first acts.
The European Union voiced concern on Monday over the fate of democracy in Venezuela, adding there are “grave doubts” that it can recognise a controversial vote.
“The events of the past 24 hours have reinforced the European Union’s preoccupation for the fate of democracy in Venezuela,” European Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva told a daily briefing.