BBC: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been granted new special powers after an extraordinary assembly vote in the main square of the capital, Caracas.
Mr Chavez will now be able to rule by decree for the next 18 months.
His planned reforms will affect the energy sector, telecommunications, the economy and defence, among others.
Mr Chavez has said the legislation will transform the country into a socialist society. Opponents describe the new law as an abuse of power.
washingtonpost.com: "The line forms every day after dawn at the Spanish Consulate, hundreds of people seeking papers permitting them to abandon Venezuela for new lives in Spain. They say they are filled with despair at President Hugo Chávez's growing power, and they appear not to be alone. At other consulates in this capital, long lines form daily."and at npr.org, the same reporter from the post, w/ his emphasis on the opposition and the totalitarian turn of Chavez and Chavezistas...
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has started his third presidential term ? one that has him serving until 2013 ? with a flurry of policy moves that have shaken his opponents and mesmerized his supporters.
Chavez wants the constitution reformed so he can run indefinitely. On Wednesday, the National Assemby is expected to give Chavez the power to push through new laws to accelerate what he calls "21st-century socialism."
CARACAS ? A Venezuelan Congress wholly loyal to President Hugo Chavez met at a downtown plaza Wednesday and gave him the authority to enact sweeping measures by presidential decree.
globeandmail.com - Hundreds of Chavez supporters wearing red ? the colour of Venezuela's ruling party ? gathered in the plaza, waving signs reading ?Socialism is democracy!? as lawmakers read out the bill who passage gave the President special powers for 18 months to transform 11 broadly defined areas, including the economy, energy and defence.
guardian.co.uk - Hugo Chávez was today poised to gain extended powers allowing him to make sweeping changes as he seeks to transform Venezuelan society.
