Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro accused attorney-general Luisa Ortega of “betrayal” and presidential ambitions, saying on Thursday that the prosecution got into “extrems.”
If she wants to get into the political diatribe because she has aspirations to be a presidential candidate for the MUD, she must make the right decisions. She has all the right to do so, but she cannot use such an important institution,”
stated Maduro at a press conference with foreign correspondents.
Referring to Ortega’s change of heart, since she is chavista but now she’s also one of his biggest adversaries, the president said he thought the new extremism of the Public Ministry is a complete vulgarity.
Faced with these circumstances, where treason is imposed on the legacy of Commander Chávez and a dagger has been stabbed in the Bolivarian Revolution, loyalty should prevail,”
said Maduro.
Ortega distanced herself from Maduro after rulings by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) against the opposition majority parliament, and due to her open rejection of a Constituent Assembly convened by the socialist ruler.
Maduro also called on the prosecutor to investigate the death of chavistas in the context of opposition protests against the government, which have resulted in 74 deaths so far since April 1st, and to “take her monsters away”, referring to a demonstration by officials of the Public Ministry in support of their boss last Monday.
Ortega, who has denounced that justice is used to persecute political dissents, now faces a possible trial after the Supreme Court admitted an appeal by a pro-government legislator who also called for her dismissal arguing she’s “mentally ill.”