Mob attacks deputies and journalists in Venezuelan parliament

A mob stormed Venezuela’s opposition-dominated National Assembly on Wednesday with the apparent acquiescence of government troops and carried out a startling attack on deputies and journalists.

Bloodied members of parliament were treated for broken ribs and head injuries, and journalists said the attackers had stolen their equipment. The episode in Caracas, which coincided with Venezuela's Independence Day, was a sharp escalation of lawlessness in a country roiled by a failing economy and daily street demonstrations.

"We're here to defend Venezuela; that's what we were elected to do," Armando Armas, an opposition deputy wearing a bloodied white shirt, said in a video as two people cleaned what appeared to be head wounds. "Even if it costs us our lives."

Opposition deputies said the attack had been carried out by so-called colectivos, bands of armed men in plain clothes who take their cues from the government of President Nicolás Maduro to thwart demonstrations and intimidate dissidents. National Assembly lawmakers have been assaulted before, but the attack on Wednesday was remarkable because the throng of assailants appeared to face no resistance from national guard forces charged with securing the compound.

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American condemnation

The US State Department condemned the assault, saying in a statement, “This violence, perpetrated during the celebration of Venezuela’s independence, is an assault on the democratic principles cherished by the men and women who struggled for Venezuela’s independence 206 years ago today.”

The assault came amid an intensifying political fight over Mr Maduro’s effort to convene a constituent assembly that could render the elected National Assembly powerless. The stand-off has stoked unprecedented violence in recent days. Earlier on Wednesday, a Venezuelan police officer who had carried out a brazen attack from a commandeered government helicopter last week warned of a “new phase” in a would-be insurrection against Maduro’s government.

The officer, Óscar Pérez, said in a video posted online that his helicopter attack on June 27th had been a success, inflicting structural damage on the supreme court and interior ministry buildings in Caracas, the capital, without leaving any “collateral damage”.

“We are not assassins like you, Nicolás Maduro,” Mr Pérez said, pointing his finger at the camera. After the attack, he said, he made an emergency landing in a remote area and returned to Caracas. The video showed Mr Pérez, looking gaunt, sitting against a white wall with a Venezuelan flag in the background and a short-barrelled rifle by his side.

Bemused and suspicious

Venezuelans have reacted to the subplot he has introduced to Venezuela’s crisis with a mix of bemusement and suspicion. Mr Pérez, an elite officer who has dabbled in acting, was vague about what he called “the second phase of our plan”. No evidence has surfaced to suggest that he leads a significant dissident group in the security forces, as he claimed to in a video posted on the day of the attack.

Some Venezuelans even suspect he is a plant by the government, used to justify harsher tactics against dissenters and to divert attention from an escalating power struggle among senior government officials. In recent days a rift has widened between Mr Maduro and his attorney general, Luisa Ortega, who sharpened her criticism of the president's plan to let a constituent assembly of hand-picked loyalists write a new constitution.

The effort is widely seen as a ploy by a deeply unpopular leader to consolidate power by disbanding the National Assembly, which is controlled by his opponents. Ms Ortega has denounced the plan as an affront to the country’s democratic principles.

The supreme court, which is loyal to the president, held a hearing Tuesday that was expected to lead to Ms Ortega’s removal; she refused to attend. The court and the National Assembly made duelling nominations for deputy attorney general on Tuesday, making it unclear who would replace Ms Ortega if she were removed.

• New York Times