Venezuela's Supreme Court said on Sunday a justice who sat on a panel that deals with electoral issues has fled the country, reportedly to Florida. The high court said it has opened an investigation into the justice, Christian Zerpa, over allegations he sexually harassed women who worked in his office.
But Venezuelan journalists based in the United States linked the defection to President Nicolas Maduro's controversial attempt to be sworn in this week to a second six-year term. Journalist Carla Angola, who said she interviewed Zerpa, reported he was in Florida and was prepared to cooperate with US prosecutors investigating Venezuelan corruption and human rights violations.
News of the defection came a day after the opposition-controlled National Assembly declared Maduro's presidency to be illegitimate and called for a transitional government to organize democratic elections. Maduro was re-elected May 20 in presidential elections called by a regime-backed Constituent Assembly and boycotted by the opposition, many of whose best-known leaders were under house arrest or barred from running.
The United States, the European Union and a grouping of countries from the Western Hemisphere called the Lima Group have refused to recognize the election. On Friday, Canada and 12 other Lima Group countries joined in calling for Maduro to step down and open the way for a transitional government formed by leaders of the National Assembly.