CARACAS, Venezuela _ Venezuela's National Assembly descended into chaos Sunday when lawmakers who recently broke ties with the main opposition parties chose their own candidate as president while opposition lawmakers were out of the chamber.
Luis Parra, a lawmaker recently ensnared in a corruption scandal, said he was the new leader of the assembly after a spontaneous vote without the necessary proceedings. It wasn't clear who had voted for him.
"This is farce," said opposition lawmaker Stalin Gonzalez, "Where is the vote, the list of attendees, or the quorum necessary for a vote like this?"
The National Assembly was expected to reelect Juan Guaido as its president today for a second year. However, security forces delayed his entry, saying he was "disqualified" from holding public office, and then blocked dozens of other opposition lawmakers. Some of them said they had been beaten and only a few were in the chamber when Parra declared himself as the Assembly's new president. A live feed later showed Guaido trying to jump over a fence into the National Assembly grounds and being pushed back by shielded national guards.
"We want to open the doors to the future for this Assembly, so that we get some answers as to why Maduro's regime isn't over," Parra said. 'We'll do what we have to do to save the parliament."
_With assistance from Fabiola Zerpa.
