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Venezuela Gov't Targets Opposition Leader

by Seth Millstein

Ever since mid-February, when protests erupted in Venezuela, Independent Congresswoman Maria Corina Machado has been one of the biggest faces of the opposition. She helped grow the demonstrations in their early stages from the local to the national level and has publicly called for the resignation of President Nicolas Maduro. Now, legislators from Venezuela’s ruling Socialist Party want to launch a criminal investigation of Machado and strip her of her parliamentary immunity. If she goes to jail, she’ll be following in the footsteps of Leopoldo Lopez, the previous face of the opposition, who was put in prison a month ago.

On Sunday, the country’s parliament voted to request a criminal probe into Machado for her role in the protests, accusing her of “treason.” In order for the probe to commence, both the state prosecutor and the Supreme Court will have to sign off on it. Parliament will have to vote again on whether or not to strip Machado of her immunity.

All of this will most likely happen, though as the state prosecutor’s office and the parliament both tend to support the Socialist Party. .

"I'm convinced that this attack against me is the product of a regime that's terrified by an unprecedented citizens' movement," Machado said in a press conference on Tuesday night. “They are determined to break us, and we are determined to win our freedom,"

While the protests have waned in recent days, a demonstration against the alleged infusion of Cuban troops into the Venezuelan military drew several thousand people in Caracas on Sunday.