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MP Luis Parra in the Venezuelan Parliament, January 5, 2020. REUTERS / Manaure Quintero

The opposition to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro denounced this Sunday, January 5, a " parliamentary coup " after Luis Parra, a member of the opposition rival to Juan Guaido, proclaimed himself president of the Parliament, a post to which the latter expected to be re-elected.

In the crowd and in the absence of Juan Guaido and many opposition deputies, held outside the Parliament by long police checks, Luis Parra grabbed a megaphone and unilaterally proclaimed himself new president of the hemicycle.

Opposition loyal to Juan Guaido, whom some fifty countries recognize as interim president of Venezuela, said in a statement that the elected official had carried out this gesture " without a vote or a quorum " and spoke of a " coup d'état" parliamentary ”.

Luis Parra was kicked out of the Primero Justicia opposition party after a news website accused him of receiving bribes for his support of a Colombian entrepreneur allegedly involved in a case corruption linked to food imports. Despite his exclusion, Luis Parra claims to be still in opposition to Nicolas Maduro.

As a preamble to Sunday's tumultuous session, Juan Guaido said he had the necessary votes to be re-elected head of parliament, the only institution controlled by the opposition, and therefore continue to claim the status of interim president. But the young opponent was detained for several hours by the police and the army for checks that prevented him from entering the hemicycle with a dozen other deputies and journalists.

" Today, those who prevent the legitimate establishment of the Venezuelan Parliament are accomplices of the dictatorship and of those who oppress the Venezuelan people ," said Juan Guaido on Twitter.

Hoy, quien ayude to impedir the instalación legítima del Parlamento venezolano is invited as a member of the dictatorship and member of quienes están oprimiendo al pueblo de Venezuela.

¡Quedarán expuestos ante sus familiares, el país y el mundo!

Juan Guaidó (@jguaido) January 5, 2020

" The desperate actions of the former Maduro regime, illegally forcibly preventing Juan Guaido and the deputies of the majority of the National Assembly of Venezuela from entering the building, make this morning's" vote "(.. .) a masquerade, ”denounced in a tweet the US Assistant Secretary of State for Latin America, Michael Kozak.

Acciones desesperadas del regimen de Maduro de evitar ilegalmente ya la fuerza que @JGuaido y la mayoría de diputados de la @AsambleaVE ingresaran al edificio, hacen que el "voto" de esta mañana, carezca de quórum y no cumpla los estándares constitucionales es una farsa

Michael G. Kozak (@WHAAsstSecty) January 5, 2020

Juan Guaido proclaimed himself interim president on January 23, 2019, calling Nicolas Maduro a “usurper” because of the 2018 presidential election which had allowed him to stay in power. In a year, Juan Guaido, however, did not reach his goal of " putting an end to the usurpation " and of organizing a " free and transparent " presidential election.

(With AFP)