CARACAS, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela's Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) annulled on Friday the opposition-controlled National Assembly's decision to reinstate the country into the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, commonly known as the Rio Pact.
TSJ Constitutional Chamber President Juan Jose Mendoza declared the absolute nullity and lack of legal effects of the legislative body's decision.
The court said the decision to rejoin the pact "is an assault on the rule of law and to all the public powers of Venezuela."
Mendoza emphasized that only the head of state has the authority to direct the nation's foreign relations.
On Tuesday, the National Assembly approved an urgent motion on the reincorporation of Venezuela in the Rio Pact at the request of opposition leader Juan Guaido.
Signed among many countries of the Americas in 1947 in Rio de Janeiro, the pact was designed to be a mechanism of mutual defense and states that an attack on any of the region's countries is tantamount to an attack on all.
Venezuela withdrew from the pact on May 14, 2013.
