BOGOTA, Colombia _ Venezuela's embattled opposition took another direct hit Friday, when the government-controlled National Constituent Assembly effectively usurped congress.
The assembly, or ANC, said it would be assuming legislative functions to "preserve peace, security and sovereignty."
Although it didn't outright dissolve congress _ one of the last bastions of the opposition _ it effectively left the already weak institution powerless.
Organization of American States Secretary General Luis Almagro said the "fraudulent dissolution" of the congress represented a "deepening of coup" by President Nicolas Maduro and his ruling PSUV party.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, on Twitter, said "they've just destroyed what was left of the Republic."
Maduro and his followers have argued that congress was helping fuel more than four months of anti-government protests that have left more than 120 dead.
"We will teach them a historic lesson," ANC President Delcy Rodriguez said as delegates broke into loud applause while voting unanimously for the measure, according to The Associated Press.
The opposition won a majority of congress in 2015 but it has been undermined from the beginning. In particular, the compliant Supreme Court routinely assumed congressional powers and undercut the institution.
Early this month, the administration convened the ANC, which has sweeping powers to rewrite the constitution. Legal scholars and critics say the body is illegal because the government never held a referendum to approve the entity, as required by the constitution.
"The ANC is null and its acts are illegal and unconstitutional," Congressional President Julio Borges said. "This decision will not be accepted by (congress), the international community or the people."
