An opposition lawmaker has been arrested in Venezuela on suspicion of preparing a violent attack, Vice President Tareck El Aissami has announced.

"Lord knows what would have happened if we hadn’t detained and neutralized this threat," the vice president said in a televised address on Wednesday, as quoted by The Wall Street Journal. The lawmaker, Gilber Caro of the Popular Will party, was arrested with his girlfriend on Wednesday morning. Officers found an assault rifle and explosives in his car. The Popular Will party claimed that the weapons had been planted in the vehicle by the Venezuelan authorities.

Earlier this week, Venezuela’s opposition-led parliament adopted a resolution saying that President Nicolas Maduro abandoned his post as result of dereliction of duty. The constitution of Venezuela does not provide the basis for impeaching the president, however, articles 222 and 232 empower the parliamentary to exercise control over the executive power, namely, they imply the possibility of declaring the president "permanently unavailable to serve."

On October 25, 2016, the opposition-led National Assembly of Venezuela voted for initiating impeachment proceedings against Maduro and ordered him to appear at a Congress session on November 1. The parliament’s resolution mentioned the president’s "criminal and political liability and neglect of office." However, the Venezuelan government dismissed the move, since impeachment is not stipulated by the country’s constitution as a legal procedure. On November 1, the parliament suspended the impeachment proceedings.

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