Maduro Waits for U.S. Response After Violent Venezuela Vote
- Senator Marco Rubio said he expects Trump to impose sanctions
- Colombia, Peru, Argentina say they won’t recognize vote
OAS Chief Says Venezuela Sanctions Are a Starting Point
It was political theater at its best when a smiling Nicolas Maduro arrived at a polling place just after dawn Sunday to be among the first to vote for members of a National Constituent Assembly that will rewrite Venezuela’s constitution, and likely aim to upend six decades of democracy.
For the president, the hand-picked successor to Hugo Chavez, the creation of the so-called constituyente was another step in a stubborn rise to autocratic power in the face of international condemnation, U.S. sanctions, a cratering economy and months of civil unrest that has claimed more than 110 lives. The slate of 545 chosen to staff the new assembly are mostly all Maduro supporters, his wife among the more than 6,000 on the ballot.