We're still here in D.C. for the time being, but we want to return as soon as we get the green light. Now for the updates, you may have heard that the Chavistas staged quite the dog and pony show last month holding a constituyente vote. It was to elect a super legislature that could basically do whatever it wanted. The justification for it was found in an obscure section in the strange constitution that Chavez wrote. The threat of those elections loomed large and incited a rolling 4 months of protests that crescendoed the week before the July 31st vote. The vote was held and it was a total sham. The amount of votes were way over reported like by 4 times. What a surprise.

The question has always been, what significance does the actual elected National Assembly (their congress) have when there's another legislative body running parallel to it? It's easy to see where this leads. Well this week, they took some bold moves after weeks of bold moves. The first bold move this week was to strip a legislator of his immunity from prosecution. This was significant because he was one of their own, a chavista. But he is also married to the former Attorney General who was unseated by the newly elected constituent assembly because of the public stance she took over the past few months that the protests were legitimate and that the constituyente vote was not Chavismo and tarnished Hugo's legacy. So now her husband has a warrant for his arrest connected to fraud, bribery and embezzlement charges. What a surprise.

The second move was to invite the National Assembly to meet with the Constituent Assembly this morning to discuss how they could peacefully coexist. Well any idiot can see why it would be a bad idea to show up for that meeting. The Constituent Assembly just rolled out a new "truth commission" earlier this week to investigate political leaders who participated in the 4 months of protests. A lot of those congressmen/women in the National Assembly participated and organized those protests. So they didn't show up. What does the Constituent Assembly do? They go ahead and grant themselves almost all legislative powers previously held (at least on paper) by the actually elected National Assembly. What a surprise.

So in a matter of weeks, this new assembly granted itself almost full legislative authority, commenced a political witch hunt, and has even sentenced 7 opposition mayors to jail. This is what a consolidation of power looks like and it moves quickly.