Latin American dictators once sent in tanks and soldiers. This week, Venezuela’s socialist president Nicolás Maduro dispatched judges. The motivation, in part, is money. The result, however, is the same: a coup. Opposition leaders branded Mr Maduro “a dictator” and foreign governments decried the power grab after Venezuela’s government-controlled Supreme Court effectively annulled the National Assembly on Thursday, where the opposition won a majority in 2015 amid an unparalleled economic crisis that has left the country struggling to feed itself and on the brink of default. “This ruling represents a point of no return,” said Freddy Guevara, assembly vice-president. “This piece of rubbish . . . has kidnapped the liberty of Venezuela,” said Julio Borges, assembly president, ripping up the court ruling to wild cheers in the chamber. On Friday morning, violent scuffles broke out outside the Supreme Court as national guardsmen wielding truncheons clashed with students. Some opposition leaders have called for mass protests. But opposition appetite for an escalation of street fighting may be low after even 1m-strong anti-government marches in the past have produced no change. Related article Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s lord of misrule The isolated president sits tight as his country slides deeper into chaos, writes John Paul Rathbone The Supreme Court justified the ruling issued late on Wednesday night saying it flowed from Congress’ refusal to approve joint ventures between state-controlled oil company PDVSA and foreign energy companies, such as Russia’s Rosneft.