Venezuela: Why Maduro Wants a Mega-Election

Venezuela's government is making a new attempt to cement its hold on the country's politics, which may draw the ire of the United States. On Feb. 21, President Nicolas Maduro asked the country's National Constituent Assembly -- a body that acts as a ruling junta -- to declare simultaneous elections on April 22 for the presidency, legislature, regional councils and municipal councils. Such action is illegal according to Venezuelan law, since the legislature has three years left in its tenure. But according to the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela, the National Constituent Assembly has the power to declare changes to the electoral calendar by issuing orders to the country's electoral authorities....