Venezuelan judge moves to strip Guaido's immunity

CARACAS - Venezuela's chief justice on Monday reconfirmed the order to prohibit opposition leader Juan Guaido from leaving the country and asked the National Constituent Assembly to strip him of his parliamentary immunity.

Supreme Court of Justice President Maikel Moreno said a "certified copy of the decision will be sent to the ANC for the purpose of stripping Juan Guaido's parliamentary immunity".

The decision was made as the opposition leader, who self-proclaimed himself "interim president" on Jan 23, violated the measure imposed by the court in January.

The ruling by the court declared Guaido's "contempt" for failing to comply with the order prohibiting him from leaving the country. Guaido has made several foreign trips to countries in the region since.

"It is public ... that the Supreme Court agreed on measures against citizen Juan Guaido, such as the prohibition from leaving the country without the authorization from this high court, and it is public that Juan Guaido violated this order," Moreno said.

In light of this, the full chamber of the Supreme Court, chaired by Juan Jose Mendoza, ratified "the prohibition of leaving the country, without authorization, until the investigation is completed".

Other legal measures directed at Guaido include "prohibition of selling his property, blocking and freezing of bank accounts or any other financial means in Venezuelan territory", Moreno added.

The court also ordered the decision be sent to the plenary chamber of the Republic's General Prosecutor to continue the investigative proceedings.

It froze Guaido's financial assets in January.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced on Monday that he had decided to name a new minister of electricity.

"I have decided to designate a worker from the electricity industry with 25 years of experience, an electrical engineer," said Maduro, referring to the newly appointed minister Igor Gavidia.

Gavidia is an engineering graduate from the Central University of Venezuela and was president of the former electricity company Electrificacion del Caroni.

The president said that Gavidia "from today, assumes the Ministry of Electricity and the presidency of the state company, Corpoelec".

Gavidia currently "is at the head of the team" to achieve the stabilization of the national electrical system, he said.

Maduro also announced the creation of the Ministry of Science and Technology, making it a useful tool to overcome what his government is calling "the electricity war".

According to the president, issues of science and technology will now have their own ministry, independent of the Ministry of Education.

Venezuela suffered its worst blackout on March 7, when a prolonged power outage plunged most of the country in darkness, forcing officials to close schools and offices for about five days.

From then on, the country experienced several other power outages, which officials have blamed on sabotage by the United States-backed far-right oppositions trying to undermine the government.

Xinhua

(China Daily 04/03/2019 page12)