The Supreme Court of Venezuela ruled that it will take over all of the powers of the Congress. That essentially suspends the Congress and removes the remaining power center in the country that is not under the complete control of the president.
Since the president controls the supreme court and obviously now controls the legislature, there is no organized structure that can oppose him.
That’s a major step.
For more info, check out any of the following articles.
For entertainment, consider the spin some headline writers put into their work:
- 3/30/17 – Bloomberg – Venezuela Lurches Toward Dictatorship as top Court Seizes Power
- 3/30/17 – New York Times – Venezuela Muzzles Legislatures, Moving Closer to One-Man Rule
- 3/30/17 – Wall Street Journal – Venezuela Supreme Court Assumes Powers of Opposition-Controlled Congress
For even more entertainment, rank the headlines from most objective to least. Do you see one which is minimizing the developments?
Opposition leaders call this a coup.
Several people say this is either makes the country a dictatorship or close to it.
Update: Government pulled back on this plan.