Venezuela ombudsman says constitutional impasse resolved

Venezuela's ombudsman, Tarek William Saab, said Monday the rule of law continues to operate in the country and he considers the "impasse" between the prosecutor-general and the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) concerning the National Assembly is over.

In a statement, Saab said that there was no "rupture of the constitutional order."

"If it was a country without separation of powers and without freedom of expression, how could the speech of chief prosecutor, Luisa Ortega Diaz, have been broadcast on state television," he said.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court issued a ruling allowing it to take over the parliamentary powers of the National Assembly, claiming that the opposition-held Assembly had not been complying with judicial decisions.

The decision was roundly criticized around the region as removing the separation of powers and threatening Venezuela's democracy.

Ortega Diaz and the TSJ had been at loggerheads since Friday when Venezuela's prosecutor-general called the act a "rupture" of constitutional order.

Protests quickly built up as the opposition took to the streets and President Nicolas Maduro asked the TSJ to reverse the decision on Saturday.

Saab tried to place a positive spin on these events, claiming that Maduro and Ortega Diaz had held a long meeting to resolve their differences and that it showed the country's authorities "have undone new attempts to besiege our country by those national and international sectors which seek to generate conflict." Endit