Caracas
Maduro tightens grip: President Nicolás Maduro this week cemented formal control over all major institutions of power in Venezuela after his leftist political alliance easily won a majority in the National Assembly. The election was neither free nor fair, and the opposition boycotted it altogether, resulting in a turnout of only 31 percent. Many Maduro loyalists, including the autocrat’s son, Nicolás Ernesto Maduro Guerra, and the first lady, Cilia Flores, won seats in the legislature. The National Assembly had been the last stronghold of the opposition, although the Maduro regime had robbed the body of all its authority. Opposition leader Juan Guaidó has called a referendum to ask Venezuelans whether they want to end Maduro’s “usurpation of the presidency” and hold new presidential elections.