A defiant Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro mocked the sanctions Washington slapped on him Monday, after Sunday's election of a new legislative super-body that prompted the White House to call him a dictator for "seizing absolute power."
Oil-rich but economically ailing Venezuela awaits a fresh wave of protests against the unpopular Maduro, whose loyalist Supreme Court has already stripped the opposition-controlled congress of its powers, while the country waits to see what actions the newly-minted constituent assembly will take.
At least 10 people were killed in unrest during Sunday's vote, bringing the death toll from four months of anti-government protests to more than 120. Governments from Spain to Canada to Argentina and Peru joined Washington in denouncing the election, which was boycotted by the opposition and widely seen as an affront to democracy.