Venezuela: A Growing Threat Of Civil War

Venezuela is now a dictatorship, said O Globo (Brazil) in an editorial.

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“Repression and authoritarianism” are evident in every aspect of civilian life. Eager to cripple the oppositioncontrolled national legislature, leftist President Nicolás Maduro has created a new body that will rewrite the nation’s constitution and govern with almost unlimited authority until its work is done. The first act of the new constituent assembly, whose 545 members were elected in a rigged vote last week, was to fire Attorney General Luisa Ortega Díaz, “one of the few critical voices” remaining in government. Numerous opposition leaders have been jailed on trumped-up charges. Peaceful protests against the corrupt regime, which has overseen the almost total collapse of Venezuela’s economy, have been violently repressed – more than 100 people have died since April in clashes between demonstrators and security forces. Still, there is resistance. A small group of rebellious soldiers raided a