Venezuelan opposition MPs take refuge with ambassadors

By Lokman İlhan

CARACAS (AA) – Two Venezuelan opposition lawmakers facing arrest for supporting last week’s failed coup attempt against President Nicolas Maduro have taken refuge in foreign embassies in the capital.

Richard Blanco fled to the residence of Argentina’s ambassador Thursday.

Blanco is the third politician to seek refuge at ambassadors' residences in Caracas after being charged with treason, conspiracy and civil rebellion and stripped of their parliamentary immunity for supporting opposition leader Juan Guaido’s bid to incite an uprising against the government, according to local media.

Another lawmaker, Marianela Magallanes, fled to the Italian ambassador’s residence.

Earlier this month Leopoldo Lopez, the leader of the Popular Will Party, who is also accused of being part of the coup attempt, fled to the Chilean Embassy and later to the Spanish ambassador's residence in Caracas.

Venezuela has been rocked by protests since Jan. 10, when Maduro was sworn in for a second term following a vote boycotted by the opposition.

Tensions escalated when Guaido, who heads Venezuela’s National Assembly, declared himself acting president on Jan. 23, a move which was supported by the U.S. and many European and Latin American countries.

Russia, Turkey, China, Iran, Bolivia and Mexico have thrown their weight behind Maduro.

*Writing by Burak Bir