A cartoon of the National Assembly of Venezuela, by Eduardo Sanabria. Used with permission. Venezuela seemed to be holding its breath expectantly at what will happen after the Supreme Court of Justice assumed the role of the National Assembly and permitted President Nicolas Maduro to take over some of the functions of the legislature. For the outpouring of voices online who made the issue a worldwide trending topic, what happened is nothing short of a self-inflicted coup d'état, the final step in the progression of authoritarianism stemming from the last few years of political and institutional crises in Venezuela. In fact, that is exactly how Luis Almagro, secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), described it: I denounce the self-inflicted coup d’état perpetrated by the Venezuelan regime against National Assembly #Venezuelahttps://t.co/uxZMNaqz9u — Luis Almagro (@Almagro_OEA2015) March 30, 2017 Others, like Spanish journalist Antonio Maestre, accused the Venezuelan opposition of demanding a coup: Yo diría que el golpe de estado es lo que está pidiendo la oposición. Se me ocurre. https://t.co/dXJCoSm8AG — Antonio Maestre (@AntonioMaestre) March 30, 2017 I would say that the coup d'état is what the opposition is asking for. Just saying. The situation continues to rapidly evolve. Venezuelan Attorney General Luisa Ortega has since declared that the annulment of the National Assembly was unconstitutional, going head to head with the government. State television cut off the broadcast while she was making her announcement. The parliamentary annulment was the latest in a series of restrictions that have limited the powers of the National Assembly since Venezuela's political opposition won two-thirds of the seats in the December 2015 elections. Just before the opposition assumed control of the National Assembly on January 6, 2015, the outgoing chavista legislators managed to change the judges of the Supreme Court of Justice. Journalist Eugenio Martinez reminded his followers that the majority of the newly appointed judges did not meet the requirements for the position. 21 de los 32 magistrados del TSJ no cumplen con los requisitos constitucionales y legales para ocupar estos cargos #EnNúmeros — Eugenio G. Martínez (@puzkas) March 30, 2017 21 of the 32 judges of the Supreme Court of Justice did not fulfill the constitutional and legal requisites to take up these positions #InNumbers Before assuming their new roles, several of the judges in the highest tribunal of the land were previously members of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela. Thus, there's no guarantee of impartiality on the court. For this reason, when the chavista ruling government lost control of the National Assembly on January 6, they were able to freeze the National Assembly’s power from their stronghold in the Supreme Court. One of its first orders was to declare the Assembly “in contempt” in order to disregard their legislation and avoid questioning and investigations. It even blocked the investigation of corruption for the disappearance of more than 11 billion dollars, which was spearheaded by Congressman Freddy Guerrera. As part of the siege carried out against the National Assembly, the Supreme Court abruptly diminished the Assembly’s budget so members wouldn't receive their salaries. Legislators were left barely compensated for their work for more than 10 months, with a salary as little as $38 dollars monthly. While Venezuelans had the challenges of everyday life to contend with, social media users didn’t fail to comment on the actions committed by the executive and judicial powers against the legislative. According to lawyer and Twitter user Emilia Lobo, this move did not represent a coup d'état, but rather was confirmation of a process that took its first shaky steps the day the opposition became the majority in the country: La sentencia #156 del TSJ no es un Golpe de Estado, es la declaratoria formal del golpe q tiene 4 años en ejecución. — Emilia Lobo Quintero (@emilialoboq) March 30, 2017 The #156 sentence of the Supreme Court of Justice sentence is not a coup, it’s a formal declaration of a coup that’s been in progress for four years. Congressman Luis Florido argued that it was a desperate and hasty move by President Maduro’s weakened government: Dictadura de Maduro lanza Golpe de Estado porque sabe que se encuentra en sus momentos finales y no puede rehusarse a una salida electoral — Luis Florido (@LuisFlorido) March 30, 2017 Maduro’s dictatorship paved the way for the coup with an understanding that it had reached its final moments and can't refuse to be voted out.