Maduro makes his bones

In what is going to ruffle some feathers across the Atlantic, Venezuela’s National Assembly has given President Nicolas Maduro all-encompassing, wide-ranging, special powers to rule by special diktats for the coming year. This is an extraordinary situation and has provided Maduro an opportunity to counter the opposition tactics to spike prices of essential goods leading to public discontent. The National Assembly gave the final approval early this week to the Enabling Act, allowing Maduro to bypass parliament approval for day to day decisions. The president had requested the power last month.