(CNN) – Juan Guaidó He regained control of the National Assembly of Venezuela and assumed a second term as president of the chamber on Tuesday.
Guaidó, whose entrance to the legislative palace had initially been blocked by the National Guard and the police, made its way along with other opposition lawmakers who had been blocked.
“The oppressive forces of the dictatorship did not want to allow us to enter. There are no two oppositions or parliaments, there is only one country. Only a country that is honest, hardworking and willing to continue fighting, ”Guaidó said from within the parliament.
Guaidó, the acting president who has also been recognized as interim president of the country by more than 50 countries, including U.SHe said he was not allowed to enter to participate in the elections last Sunday.
During that vote, a little-known congressman named Luis Parra was elected president of the National Assembly. Opposition lawmakers said there was no quorum for the vote and qualified it as a simulated election. Guaidó and other legislators held parallel elections at the headquarters of the newspaper “El Nacional” and Guaidó was re-elected.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo congratulated Guaidó on Tuesday for his re-election and reiterated US support for him as interim president.
Opposition lawmakers inside the chamber claimed that Parra fled once he saw Guaidó. The videos circulating on social networks show Parra and others running outside the doors of the legislative palace.
The clashes erupted once the session came to an end, the police used tear gas to suppress the crowds outside the chamber. At least two journalists were injured in the clashes.
CNN’s Flora Charner, Tatiana Arias and Florencia Trucco in Atlanta and the journalist Stefano Pozzebon in Caracas
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