The National Constituent Assembly (ANC) approved April 2 the request put forward by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) to remove the parliamentary immunity of the deputy and self-proclaimed interim president of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó. The measure follows Guaidó’s failure to comply with the ban on traveling abroad imposed by the Supreme Court of Justice last January 29. The ANC’s decision exposes Guaidó to judgement from the TSJ, which is expected to act in this regard in the coming weeks. In the same session, the ANC passed the Fatherland Plan 2019-2025 (“Plan de la Patria”), which underpins government working under Maduro’s second term as President of the Republic.

The ANC and TSJ measures come after the Comptroller General of the Republic, Elvis Amoroso, decided March 29 to ban Guaidó from holding public office for 15 years. According to Amoroso, there are inconsistencies in Guaidó’s affidavit because it does not explain how his February 22-March 4 trips across Latin American countries, such as Colombia, Brazil and Argentina, were financed. Guaidó and several governments around the world, among them the United States and Germany, believe the measure is arbitrary and undemocratic.
The ANC also passed the Fatherland Plan 2019-2025 (“Plan de la Patria”), which seeks to ensure the country’s prosperity throughout Maduro’s presidential term. The main objectives of the plan are to create four million jobs, cultivate five million hectares of land per year to achieve self-sufficiency and produce six million barrels of oil per day, among other targets. In addition, the plan makes reference to the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDS), among them Zero Hunger, poverty eradication, promotion of innovation and care for the environment. The plan will be published in the Official Gazette in the coming weeks.