Venezuelans fear end of democracy
President to form assembly to write new constitution
CARACAS, Venezuela — One by one, the markers of Venezuela’s democracy have been pushed aside.
First, the Supreme Court was packed with loyalists of the president, and several opposition lawmakers were blocked from taking their seats. Then, judges overturned laws that the president opposed, and elections for governors around the country were suddenly suspended.
Next, the court ruled in favor of dissolving the legislature entirely, a move that provoked such an outcry in Venezuela and abroad that the decision was soon reversed.
Now, President Nicolás Maduro is pushing a radical plan to consolidate his leftist movement’s grip over the nation: He is creating a political body with the power to rewrite the country’s constitution and reshuffle — or dismantle — any branch of government seen as disloyal.
The new body, called a constituent assembly, is expected to grant virtually unlimited authority to the country’s leftists.
Venezuelans are going to the polls Sunday to weigh in on the plan. But they will not have the option of rejecting it, even though some polls show that large majorities oppose the assembly’s creation. Instead, voters will be asked only to pick the assembly’s delegates, choosing from a list of stalwarts of Mr. Maduro’s political movement.
The new assembly will rule above all other governmental powers — technically even the president — with the kind of unchecked authority not seen since the juntas that haunted Latin American countries in decades past.
“This is an existential threat to Venezuelan democracy,” said David Smilde, an analyst at the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights advocacy group.
The list of delegates includes powerful members of the president’s political movement, including Diosdado Cabello, a top lawmaker in the ruling Socialist Party who was involved in a failed coup attempt in the 1990s, and Cilia Flores, the president’s wife.
But the push to consolidate power also puts the country at a crossroads, one laden with risk.
As Mr. Maduro effectively steers his country toward one-party rule, he sets it on a collision course with the United States, which buys nearly half of Venezuela’s oil. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump’s administration froze the assets of, and forbade Americans to do business with, 13 Venezuelans close to Mr. Maduro, including his interior minister and heads of the army, police and national guard.
The administration is warning that harsher measures could follow, with “strong and swift economic actions” if the vote happens Sunday, according to Mr. Trump. In a statement, he called Mr. Maduro a “bad leader who dreams of becoming a dictator.”
There is also the potential powder keg on Venezuela’s streets. Infuriated by Mr. Maduro’s government, the opposition has mobilized more than three months of street protests that have crippled cities with general strikes, rallies and looting. More than 110 people have been killed, many in clashes between the state and armed protesters.