- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
- Click here to share on LinkedIn (Opens in a new window)
- Click to email a friend (Opens in a new window)
Pompeo congratulates Juan Guaidó for his re-election 1:14
(CNN) - Juan Guaidó 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 the country's interim president for more than 50 countries, including the United States, said he was not allowed to enter to participate in last Sunday's elections.
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. 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
National Assembly Juan Guaidó