CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuela's congress has selected a new leader who is urging the nation's fractious opposition to unite and press for a fair vote in the upcoming presidential election.
Lawmakers swore in 73-year-old Omar Barboza as National Assembly president Friday. The body is a rare opposition-controlled entity amid a federal government dominated by President Nicolas Maduro's allies.
The assembly's laws are routinely declared unconstitutional by the government-stacked Supreme Court, and an all-powerful constitutional assembly elected last year has essentially taken over its legislative authority.
Barboza told lawmakers that Venezuelans want a peaceful resolution to the nation's economic and political crisis and setting terms for a fair election should be the top priority.
The vote is to take place in 2018 but no date has been set.
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