REGIONAL ELECTION DATE SET AMID OPPOSITION REBUKE

Electoral officials in Venezuela are scheduling long-delayed regional elections for December, though the apparent olive branch may never come to fruition, as a special assembly to rewrite the nation’s constitution is slated to take place first. The chief of the embattled South American nation’s electoral council said Tuesday officials were looking to hold elections for President Nicolas Maduro’s constituent assembly tasked with rewriting the nation’s constitution in July. That assembly could decide to change the nation’s electoral council or not hold the regional elections at all. Opposition leaders were quick to cry foul at the proposal. Nearly two months of anti-government protests have left at least 53 people dead as opposition members demand early presidential elections. /