In Caracas, Venezuelans voted in a doomed exercise meant to show opposition to a new national constituent assembly.
Venezuela’s President Maduro has ordered the vanguards of Venezuela's democracy shoved away.
First, the former bus driver filled the Supreme Court with Maduro loyalists, and opposition legislators barred from being seated. Next, the judges threw out laws the president opposed and free elections suspended without reason.
Then, the court ruled to dissolve the legislature completely. Exceeding its jurisdiction, it was a move which prompted such an outcry in Venezuela the ruling was repealed.
The Venezuelan president is struggling to consolidate his leftist movement's grip over the country as he builds a political body with the power to rewrite the national constitution. The playbook also allows the president to destroy any government branch seen as disloyal.
Venezuelans go to the polls on Sunday. Another wasted exercise as they don't have the option of rejecting it. Voters will be asked to pick the Assembly's delegates — and they can only choose from a list of Maduro's backers.
The assembly will rule over all other governmental powers with the type of unchecked authority Latin Americans haven't seen since the juntas haunted Souther American nations in the 1970s and 1980s.
"This is a threat to Venezuelan democracy," David Smilde, an analyst with the Washington Office on Latin America, told CNN.
While Maduro puts his nation on course for a single-party rule, he also sets it on course for a collision with America — which purchases half of Venezuela's oil.
Maduro's opposition is a powder keg in Venezuela. Over 110 persons have been killed in clashes between the state and protesters. No one knows how protesters will react to the new rulers.
Even the new assembly is a wild card. Its power will be so broad they could theoretically remove Maduro from office and end the presidency which has been unpopular — even among leftists.
Jerry Nelson is an American freelance writer now living the expat life in South America. His work has appeared in some of the planet's largest -- and most respected -- media outlets, both under his own name and others' as he frequently ghost writes.Never far from his coffee and Marlboros, Jerry is always interested in discussing future work opportunities. Email him at jandrewnelson2@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter.