Venezuela’s legislature, the unicameral National Assembly, has declared that President Maduro has staged a coup when his hand-picked electoral council voided the recall referendum against Maduro. The National Assembly has further approved of a criminal trial against Maduro.
The Venezuelan Supreme Court, which Maduro packed with loyalists, have declared the elected National Assembly to be illegal, a sentiment quickly echoed by the Venezuelan Vice President Aristobulo isturiz who declared that “Legally, the National Assembly does not exist”.
While superficially seeking mediation and compromise, via Pope Francis, Maduro has nonetheless sent in a hundred “protestors”/goons to disrupt the National Assembly.
Democracy in Venezuela continues its slide into oblivion and abolition, as it always tends to do in authoritarian socialist states.