On October 25, the opposition-dominated National Assembly voted in favor of beginning impeachment proceedings. On the same day, parliament also voted for urging Maduro to attend the meeting of the congress where criminal and political responsibility of the president, as well as his resignation, were expected to be on top of the agenda.
Maduro accused the National Assembly of a coup and called a Defense Council meeting to assess the situation.
Relations of Maduro and the parliament have been strained since the election of a new opposition-controlled parliament in January, as the opposition was not in favor of the current leader, in particular, it considered the issue of Maduro's impeachment, as well as tried to introduce an amendment to reduce the term of the president from six to four years.
Public support for Maduro has dropped to record low levels after falling oil prices strained Venezuela’s budget and sparked high inflation and shortages of goods.
In early December, Secretary-General of the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) Jesus Torrealba said that the opposition canceled its participation in another round of dialogue with the state’s authorities to resolve the crisis.
