Caracas, Jan 11 (AFP) A lawmaker with Venezuela's rulingConstituent Assembly was shot dead today by unidentifiedattackers, officials said.
The murder was denounced by the head of the governingbody, Delcy Rodriguez.
The dead lawmaker was identified as Tomas Lucena, amember of the assembly for the western state of Trujillo.
Rodriguez said those responsible for the crime "will bepunished" though she did not specify the circumstances nor themotives of the killing.
"Nothing will stop the Constituent Assembly and itsdefense of Venezuela," Rodriguez said, suggesting however thatthe motive may have been political.
The Constituent Assembly was set up last year byPresident Nicolas Maduro at the height of an oppositioncampaign to depose him, with the aim of usurping the power ofthe opposition-dominated National Assembly.
Venezuela is in the throes of a deepening crisis causedby falling oil prices, spiraling inflation, and corruptionthat has decimated the oil-rich South American country'seconomy.
Trujillo governor Henry Rangel said he had receivedMaduro's "full support" to clarify the facts of the killing.
"We will not allow this crime to go unpunished," Rangelwrote on Twitter. (AFP)AQS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.