Venezuela's opposition-run congress says lawmaker was detained
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela’s opposition-run National Assembly said on Friday that opposition lawmaker Gilber Caro had been detained, which it said in a Twitter post was a violation of his parliamentary immunity.
Caro spent a year and a half in jail before being freed in June 2018. The arrest comes as Juan Guaido, the National Assembly’s leader, mounts a challenge to President Nicolas Maduro, arguing his 2018 re-election was illegitimate. Guaido in January invoked the country’s constitution to assume an interim presidency.
Guaido has been recognized as Venezuela’s rightful leader by most Western countries, including the United States. In March, Venezuelan authorities detained Guaido’s top aide, Roberto Marrero, accusing him of planning attacks against top political figures. The opposition said those accusations were false.
Earlier this month, Venezuela’s Constituent Assembly - an all-powerful legislature controlled by the ruling Socialist Party and whose powers supersede those of the Assembly - approved a measure allowing for a trial of Guaido, who as a legislator also has parliamentary immunity.
Venezuela’s chief prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation of Guaido into alleged links to “incidents of violence” in January, but has not ordered his detention or officially charged him with any crime.
Neither Venezuela’s Information Ministry nor the chief prosecutor’s office immediately responded to requests for comment on Caro’s detention. He had previously been jailed along with hundreds of other activists involved in protests against Maduro, according to human rights groups.
Reporting by Caracas newsroom; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and James Dalgleish
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