News Analysis: Venezuela should avoid constitutional crisis at any cost

A looming conflict between Venezuela's National Assembly (AN) and its Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) was averted, at least temporarily, on Wednesday when AN president Henry Ramos Allup decided to abide by a TSJ ruling to remove three opposition lawmakers for suspected electoral fraud in the Dec. 6 elections.

A staunch ally of President Nicolas Maduro and former speaker of the AN, Diosdado Cabello, said that he is satisfied with Ramos Allup's decision. Cabello's prominence within the Venezuelan political system makes it an important statement, which would bring the ruling Great Patriotic Pole (GPP) deputies in line for the time being.

However, this should not be seen as a permanent end to a brewing constitutional crisis. Since the right-wing opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) secured a two-thirds majority in the AN on Dec. 6, Venezuela's fractious political factions have been on a collision course.

The election of the MUD majority came as a shock for Maduro and his socialist allies, who had controlled the AN for 16 years. While initial statements vowed to seek peaceful co-existence, their political actions spoke differently.

In December, Maduro named a raft of new judges to the TSJ, a move which would have been a lot harder under the new AN composition in 2016. The MUD immediately protested, seeing it a way for Maduro to secure his political base without the legislative branch.

The role of the TSJ quickly became apparent when GPP deputy Hector Rodriguez lodged a protest against four deputies (3 MUD, 1 GPP) from the southern state of Amazonas, providing audio and video footage that allegedly proved electoral fraud in their wins.

The TSJ upheld this protest, ruling that the four would not take their seats in the new AN. However, the MUD did not accept the ruling meekly. With a political agenda that already included amnesty for its jailed political allies and a potential vote of no confidence in Maduro, the MUD removed pictures of former president Hugo Chavez from Congress and swore in its three elected lawmakers, yet only to back down when the TSJ declared that any laws passed with the three lawmakers were illegitimate.

It is difficult to believe the current tensions will not flare up again in the near future. It seems political battle lines are being drawn in Venezuela, given the gaping rift between the two parties. Maduro is trying to protect a socialist system that he and his mentor Chavez have built over the past two decades. But the MUD believe that the system has led Venezuela to economic ruins and international isolation. So the opposition party holds that their primary mission is to break the system up as soon as possible.

However, all sides in Venezuela should beware the lesson that the history of Latin American politics has brought. Peru in the 1990s and Brazil today both stand testament to the political suffering and stagnation that occur when a government falls prey to a constitutional crisis.

In 1992, the then Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori dissolved Congress and the judicial branch, largely because the opposition APRA and FREDEMO parties took charge and thus stopped him from passing his policies.

While the Peruvian people broadly supported his move, international condemnation was strong. Fujimori was labeled as a dictator. Consequently, international financial and humanitarian aid was pulled, and regional countries also denounced him. Fujimori was jailed for murder and bribery until 2000. A number of his allies were also imprisoned for their part in this "coup."

In Brazil, the enmity between President Dilma Rousseff and President of the Chamber of Deputies Eduardo Cunha has threatened to unseat them both and to prolong the country's deep political and economic woes.

Cunha has vowed to be part of the opposition, despite that his party is in government with Rousseff's Workers' Party. He is currently leading an impeachment campaign against Rousseff. But he also faces charges of massive corruption after secret bank accounts were found under his name in Switzerland.

Venezuela was the only economy in Latin America poorer than Brazil in 2015, which could, in part, be attributed to falling oil prices. But Venezuela looks set to have a bullish 2016. Principled debate about differing political and economic visions for Venezuela are necessary and welcome. Cheap political grandstanding, for the sake of ideology, would be the worst possible outcome. Both sides need to find a way to collaborate. Endi