Four months of political upheaval in Venezuela culminated in a week
of heightened tensions with the installation of an all-powerful
constitutional assembly that President Nicolas Maduro has promised will
bring peace but continues to sow discord.
Suspicion over the National Electoral Council's official turnout
count for the assembly election reached a boiling point at midweek when
voting technology Smartmatic's CEO announced that "without any doubt"
the numbers had been tampered with.
Two of Venezuela's most high-profile political prisoners also were
whisked by intelligence agents from their homes in the middle of the
night and taken to a military prison for allegedly violating the term.
The constitutional assembly took office at the end of the week amid
widespread international condemnation. Its delegates quickly got to
work: Within 24 hours, they voted to remove from office chief prosecutor
Luisa Ortega Diaz, an outspoken Maduro critic.
Leaders of the opposition-controlled National Assembly vowed that the
congress will remain in office even if the assembly tries to remove it
from power, raising the specter of further conflict with Maduro's
loyalists.
Closing out the week, a band of anti-government men slipped onto a
military base early Sunday, stole weapons and exchanged gunfire with
troops for three hours. Two were killed, one was injured and seven were
captured while 10 escaped, Maduro reported.
In a video, a group of men tied to the attack said they were
attempting to "re-establish the constitutional order." Maduro has
promised they will pay the "maximum penalty."
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