Venezuela’s socialist regime has consolidated near-total political control after installing an all-powerful constituent assembly. Resolving the economic crisis and coming up with $3.5 billion for bond payments through November however will prove trickier.
President Nicolas Maduro has thrived in the face of vicious street demonstrations, talk of military force by the U.S. and several rounds of sanctions. His new constituent assembly is bypassing congress and is expected to start rewriting the nation’s charter this week. But the end result may be that Maduro has sole ownership of the once-rich nation’s terminal financial collapse.
