Final Curtain for Venezuela’s Democracy as Parliament is Dissolved
The Venezuelan government has dissolved the elected, opposition-led parliament and initiated de facto rule.
Foreign governments and multilateral organisations should regard all government actions carried out in contravention of the 1999 constitution as invalid and press the government to take urgent steps toward the restoration of democracy.
On 19 August, Venezuela’s self-styled Constituent Assembly, installed two weeks earlier by the government of President Nicolás Maduro, announced that it was taking over the functions of the country’s opposition-led parliament, elected in December 2015.
Although the government insists it has not dissolved the legislature, that is a mere technicality.
Ever since the opposition Democratic Unity coalition took over, parliament has been prevented by the…