LATIN AMERICA Maduro Names New Parliamentary Leader in Unconstitutional Hearing OE Watch Commentary: On 5 January, members of the Venezuelan government arrived at the National Assembly only to find that if they were not members of the Maduro party, they would not be allowed into a pending session. Argentinian news source Infobae reported that these members included John Guaidó, Parliamentary President and Interim Venezuelan President and unnamed opposition leaders. Parliamentary members not on site were not allowed to participate in a videoconference or to vote. As the situation progressed, Interim President Juan Guaidó was recorded attempting to jump over a barricade to get through the soldiers blocking his entrance to the building. Video footage also showed Maduro supporters blocking a principle entrance to the building and using that entrance only for Maduro supporters to allow them quick and uninhibited access. Once inside, Maduro supporters quickly called a vote for a new Parliamentary leader given that Juan Guaidó was detained outside the building and could not contest it. The vote was cast at the National Assembly and in a matter of minutes, “any form of democracy was taken off the table in Venezuela” as Infobae writes. Ironically the newly elected Parliamentary President Luis Parra was quick to state that the vote represented a “new success for democracy.” As the passage discusses, Juan Guaidó and opposition leaders were eventually let into the National Assembly, and many were very outspoken. End OE Watch Commentary (Fiegel) Luis Parra in January 2019. Source: Voice of America via Wikimedia, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Luis_Parra. png, Public Domain “Chavist leaders denied Juan Guaidó (currently President of the Assembly) and his closest supporters access to the National Assembly on 5 January 2020. In Guido’s absence, Maduro supporters chose Luis Parra as Guido’s replacement.” Source: “Golpe de Maduro: la dictadura bloqueó el ingreso de la oposición a la Asamblea Nacional e instaló a Luis Parra como su presidente (Hit on Maduro: The Dictatorship Blocked the Entrance of the National Assembly and Appointed Luis Parra as its President),” Infobae, 5 January 2020. https://www.infobae.com/america/venezuela/2020/01/05/golpe-de-maduro-la-dictadura-bloqueo-el-ingreso-de-la-oposicion-a- la-asamblea-nacional-e-instalo-a-luis-parra-como-su-presidente/ Guaidó was able to enter the National Assembly along with other opposition leadership who had been held outside, but once inside, Parra attacked him. Maduro quickly responded that “Guaidó did not want to show his face...” Other comments made were: 1. “We will tell the world that this dictatorship does not even allow a fair quorum at an illegal and unconstitutional hearing,” stated Julio Borges, Chanciller to Juan Guaidó. 2. “They (Parra) do not represent Venezuela, it is a show imposed by Maduro’s complices and his regime in the National Assembly,” stated by Henrique Capriles, Oppositional Leader. OE Watch | February 2020 73.