CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the arrest of a prominent opposition leader in connection with an alleged assassination attempt against President Nicolas Maduro.

In addition to seeking the arrest of Julio Borges, the court also called for the prosecution of another opposition lawmaker, Juan Requesens, who police detained a day earlier.

The moves threaten to deepen the country’s political crisis as opposition lawmakers accuse the government’s ruling party of using the alleged attack to clamp down on the opposition.

Video circulating Tuesday on social media showed Venezuela’s political police arresting Requesens, a 29-year-old deputy in the opposition-controlled National Assembly. Supporters say he was kidnapped from his apartment.

On Wednesday, the supreme court ordered the arrest of Borges, accusing him of “flagrant crimes,” including public incitement, treason to the fatherland and the attempted homicide against Maduro.

The head of Venezuela’s pro-government constitutional assembly said he would have the body take up a proposal to strip both lawmakers of their immunity protections, drawing cries from anti-government lawmakers that such a move would be unconstitutional.

During a national television broadcast Tuesday, Maduro accused Requesens and Borges of complicity in weekend drone explosions that he contends were an attempt on his life. Borges, a former president of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, has been living in self-imposed exile in the Colombian capital, Bogota.

Maduro said statements from some of the six suspects arrested earlier have implicated the two lawmakers, as well as key financiers.

“Several of the declarations indicated Julio Borges. The investigations point to him,” Maduro said during Tuesday’s broadcast, though he provided no details.

Borges, who has rejected the accusations, met Wednesday with top lawmakers in Colombia, which has blamed Maduro’s government for causing the crisis that has led to masses of Venezuelans fleeing across the border into the neighboring country.

“We want to see you out of power, imprisoned for the violation of human rights, imprisoned for the destruction of democracy,” Borges said. “The only promoter of violence is a man named Nicolas Maduro.”

Two drones armed with explosives detonated near Maduro as he spoke during a military celebration Saturday evening. Images on live television showed Maduro and his wife looking up at the sky as the first drone exploded, sending hundreds of soldiers scrambling for safety.

The six suspects arrested earlier face charges of treason, attempted murder and terrorism. Investigators have linked a total of 19 people to the attack, Chief Prosecutor Tarek William Saab said Wednesday.

Critics of Maduro’s socialist government said immediately after the drone explosions that they feared the unpopular leader would use the incident as an excuse to round up opponents as he seeks to dampen spreading discontent over Venezuela’s devastating economic collapse.

As elected lawmakers, Borges and Requesens enjoy immunity from prosecution under Venezuelan law. But Diosdado Cabello, the powerful leader of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela and president of the National Constitutional Assembly, said in a tweet that he planned to introduce legislation stripping them and any other lawmakers accused in the alleged attack of this protection.

The move brought an immediate outcry from the opposition.

Antonio Ledezma, an opposition leader and exiled mayor of Caracas who now lives in Spain, spoke with Borges from Bogota.

“Neither the deputy Borges, nor the deputy Requesens – no Venezuelan parliamentarians are involved in this type of scheme cooked up by the regime,” Ledezma said. “This is another parody of Maduro.”

The events come as Venezuela’s economy continues to hemorrhage and thousands flee to neighboring nations seeking food and medical care.