The Governments of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Peru, members of the Lima Group, strongly reject the National Constituent Assembly's illegitimate decision to arbitrarily strip the following congressmen from the legitimate National Assembly of parliamentary immunity, due to their efforts to restore the democratic institutions of Venezuela: Edgar Zambrano Ramírez, Henry Ramos Allup, Luis Germán Florido, Mariela Magallanes López, José Simón Calzadilla Peraza, Américo De Grazia, Juan Andrés Mejía, Freddy Superlano, Sergio Vergara and Richard José Blanco Delgado.
We strongly reject the arbitrary detention of the first vice president of the National Assembly and congressman, Edgar Zambrano, who was forcefully taken on Wednesday to the headquarters of Nicolás Maduro's political police, which is under General Gustavo González López's command.
According to the Venezuelan Constitution, the only institution that can strip someone of parliamentary immunity is the National Assembly. Therefore, the act in question is invalid and unconstitutional. Unlawful disregard for this prerogative by an illegitimate institution, as is the case with National Constituent Assembly, is an affront to internationally recognized human rights and democratic principles.
