Venezuela's high court removes fifth opposition mayor

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuela's government is continuing to crack down on opponents with an order to arrest a fifth opposition mayor who has been promoting protests against President Nicolas Maduro.

The government-packed Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the removal and imprisonment for 15 months of Caracas-area Mayor David Smolansky for not obeying orders to shut down protests in his district.

Smolansky issued a video from an undisclosed location, calling on residents of the El Hatillo district to take to the streets Thursday to uphold their right to representation against what he called the government's "political firing squad."

The all-powerful government-organized assembly rewriting the constitution is slated to meet again Thursday. Delegates are likely to issue a statement condemning the Trump administration's new sanctions on several of its delegates.