Venezuela's political crisis deepens as its legislature is essentially dissolved

Source: LA Times

Venezuela’s political crisis deepened Friday as the controversial constitutional assembly declared that it is the country’s sole legislative body, essentially dissolving the democratically elected congress.

“All public bodies are subordinated to the National Constitutional Assembly,” said Delcy Rodriguez, the body’s president. “No other power can impede our decisions.”

The move was hardly a surprise. The assembly was elected late last month in a disputed election that domestic and and international critics said was an unconstitutional maneuver by President Nicolas Maduro to neuter the opposition-controlled legislature, known as the National Assembly, and consolidate his power. All of the candidates — and all 545 delegates who were elected — are loyal to the president.

The electoral consulting company hired by the government, Britain-based Smartmatic, denounced the vote count as “manipulated.”

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-venezuela-assembly-20170818-story.html