Maduro has responded to dissent with increasingly autocratic measures, including moves to weaken the opposition-controlled National Assembly. Those criticisms were leveled again Friday, a day after the National Electoral Council indefinitely suspended the collection of signatures intended to force a recall election to force Maduro from office. Leftist political scientist Nicmer Evans, a former Chavez supporter, criticized Maduro’s moves such as calling off the recall process as “running counter to democratic principles” and as reflecting Maduro’s “authoritarianism.”Public outcry is growing. On Monday, three university faculty and trade groups condemned the Supreme Court decisions concentrating power in Maduro, saying the National Assembly should ignore them. Here’s what Philippine officials say Duterte really meant to saySouth Africa quitting international court created to prosecute world’s worst criminals

Source: Los Angeles Times October 21, 2016 22:07 UTC