Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Friday 9 June 2017
Prosecutor urges Venezuelans to reject constitution rewrite

nation’s constitution and its stitutional right, a position
very democracy. the opposition rejects. He
“What’s at play here is the also designed the rules by
country,” she said. “The in- which delegates to the as-
tegrity of Venezuelans.” sembly would be elected.
Ortega Diaz’s remarks were The government-stacked
her strongest repudiation council quickly rubber
yet of Maduro’s effort to stamped both requests
rewrite the nation’s con- and is moving forward to
stitution, an act she said hold the elections in late
would destroy the legacy July. Ortega Diaz is re-
of the late President Hugo questing that the Supreme
Chavez, who drafted the Court’s electoral chamber
current charter. invalidate the process. In
A long-time government doing so, she is sidestep-
loyalist, Ortega Diaz first ping the court’s constitu-
broke publicly with the tional branch, whose mag-
Maduro administration in istrates were responsible for
late March when she de- the March decision against
cried a supreme court de- the opposition-controlled
cision gutting congress of congress.
its last remaining powers. That decision was later re-
Since then, the gulf be- versed amid a storm of in-
Venezuela’s Chief Prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz speaks to the press at her office in Caracas, Ven- tween Ortega Diaz and ternational criticism and
ezuela. Ortega Diaz said Thursday, June 8, that she has asked the country’s supreme court to an-
nul the government’s effort to rewrite the constitution. the government has only Ortega Diaz’s own rebuke.
(AP Photo/Fernando Llano) grown, with has repeatedly But it instigated the current
questioning the validity of wave of protests that has
By FABIOLA SANCHEZ President Nicolas Maduro’s Grasping a copy of the convoking a constitutional left nearly 70 people dead
CHRISTINE ARMARIO push to rewrite the nation’s nation’s blue constitu- assembly without the pro- and continues to rock the
Associated Press constitution and urged the tion book in her hands on posal first facing a referen- country. Demonstrators are
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) Supreme Court to annul the steps of the Supreme dum. Maduro ordered the frustrated with the nation’s
— Venezuela’s chief pros- the process immediately, Court, Luisa Ortega Diaz National Electoral Council vast food and medical sup-
ecutor called Thursday further deepening her di- said she was acting to de- to convene the assem- ply shortages, triple-digit in-
for Venezuelans to reject vide with the government. fend both the embattled bly, stating it was his con- flation and rising crime.q
Presidency hangs in balance in case before Brazil court

By PETER PRENGAMAN the state-run oil company that the plea bargain testi- sidered. In an extended Rousseff.
SARAH DiLORENZO Petrobras and has already mony should be excluded debate, four of the seven Judge Herman Benjamin,
Associated Press ensnared several senior because the evidence in judges on the court ap- who was named by the
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — court to examine the case,
With Brazil’s presidency will be the first to offer his
hanging in the balance, a vote in the case, and he
majority of judges on the has begun reading out his
country’s electoral court explanation for that vote.
indicated Thursday they As he summarized the evi-
would exclude new evi- dence in the case, he in-
dence of alleged illegal dicated that it overwhelm-
campaign contributions ingly showed illegal cam-
in their consideration of a paign financing.
case that could force Pres- “It’s about the continual
ident Michel Temer from abuse of political and
office. economic power, whose
The Supreme Electoral Tri- impacts, without a doubt,
bunal is deciding whether have been felt for a long
Temer, who was then a time in the political elector-
vice presidential candi- al system,” Benjamin said.
date, and his running mate The case is only one of sev-
former President Dilma eral threats to Temer’s pres-
Rousseff received illegal fi- idency, which has become
nancing for their 2014 run. mired in scandal since he
The new evidence comes took over from Rousseff
from plea bargain deals last year after she was re-
signed by current and for- Superior Electoral Court President Gilmar Mendes speaks during a session of the court in Brasilia, moved for illegally manag-
mer executives at the con- Brazil, Thursday, June 8, 2017. Brazil’s top electoral court is considering whether to annul what is ing the federal budget. His
struction giant Odebrecht, left of President Michel Temer’s term because of allegations his 2014 campaign ticket received popularity is in single digits
one of the businesses at illegal contributions. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) and he is facing allega-
the center of the largest tions that he endorsed the
corruption investigations in politicians and top busi- the case was submitted peared to agree — a sign payment of hush money
Brazil’s history. The sprawl- nessmen. long ago, and new alle- that the court is leaning to- to a former lawmaker who
ing probe is looking into The defense has argued gations shouldn’t be con- ward clearing Temer and has been convicted and
kickbacks and bribes at jailed for corruption.q