Governmental crisis escalates with vote scorned by opposition
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 Nicolas 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 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 push to consolidate power puts the country at a crossroads, one laden with risk.
As 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 Trump’s administration froze the assets of, and forbade Americans to do business with, 13 Venezuelans close to Maduro.
The administration is warning that harsher measures could follow, with “strong and swift economic actions” if the vote happens Sunday, according to Trump.
There is also the potential powder keg on Venezuela’s streets. Infuriated by 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.
Maduro contends that the government restructuring is necessary to prevent more bloodshed on the streets and save Venezuela’s failing economy.