Former attorney general Luisa Ortega fled with her husband, congressman Germán Ferrer, to neighboring Colombia via Aruba on Friday:

Venezuela’s Former Attorney General Flees to Colombia.

Her flight comes after the constituent assembly, an entity created by Nicolás Maduro, seized legislative powers from Congress

Ms. Ortega was fired earlier this month by the constituent assembly, an all-powerful government entity created by President Maduro’s supporters through a vote widely condemned as fraudulent. The same 545-member assembly on Friday voted unanimously to take over legislative powers from the opposition-controlled congress in the latest sign of what critics say is the country’s fall into totalitarian rule.

Circling the drain some more,

#Maduro’s constitutional assembly takes over congress’ powers. A sad reality as #Venezuela becomes a dictatorship.https://t.co/ixMv29bjx4

— Prof. Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) August 21, 2017

Meanwhile, Carlos Ponce, Freedom House‘s director for Latin America and the Caribbean, asserts that Venezuelan Bankers, Opposition Figures Have Stalled Sanctions against Maduro Regime.

Cross-posted at WoW! Magazine.