After a conflict with security officials, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido managed to get into the parliament building, where a meeting of the National Assembly, led by the pro-government speaker Luis Parra, was taking place, the opposition-controlled parliament said on Tuesday
LIMA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th January, 2020) After a conflict with security officials, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido managed to get into the parliament building, where a meeting of the National Assembly, led by the pro-government speaker Luis Parra, was taking place, the opposition-controlled parliament said on Tuesday.
"Acting President Juan Guaido and our parliamentarians managed to break through the cordons of the National Bolivarian Guard and enter the parliament building to fulfill their duty," it said on Twitter.
A few minutes before that, it posted video, in which Guaido, who is raised by a crowd of people standing in front of the parliament, comes into conflict with the National Guard, trying to push the security officers out of the way and enter the building.
Guaido entered the National Assembly after the sitting wrapped up under the chairmanship of his rival, Parra. The opposition vice-president of the assembly then swore Guaido in as interim president of Venezuela, according to the legislature. He declared himself president last year for a "term" that expired on Sunday.
On Sunday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that the parliament had elected Parra to be the speaker for 2020-2021. The president said that Guaido's supporters had requested that the parliament building be cordoned off during the session when the election took place, which prevented Guaido from attending it. Meanwhile, opposition lawmakers gathered at an office of a local newspaper and voted to re-elect Guaido as the speaker of the National Assembly.
The United States, alongside its allies, has been supporting Guaido, who proclaimed himself an interim president of Venezuela in early 2019 amid large-scale protests in the country. Maduro, who was supported by Russia and China, among other states, called his move an attempt by the US to overthrow his government and capture Venezuelan oil assets.
