The Supreme Tribunal took over the legislative powers of the National Assembly in March, provoking the 2017 Venezuelan constitutional crisis; a Corrales opinion piece in the "Washington Post" asked, "What happens next for the dictatorship of President Nicolás Maduro?" With the 2017 Constituent National Assembly poised to declare itself the governing body of Venezuela, the United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned President Maduro, labeled him a dictator, and prevented him from entering the United States. Chilean president Sebastián Piñera also labeled Maduro a dictator. Human Rights Watch described the process that had led to the National Assembly's being taken over, labeled Venezuela a dictatorship, and said the "Venezuelan government is tightening its stranglehold on the country’s basic institutions of democracy at a terrifying speed." The "Financial Times" published an article,"Sending a message to Venezuela’s dictatorship" discussing "international censure of Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s thuggish president". The "Chicago Tribune" editorial board wrote an opinion that "the Trump administration should harbor no illusions about Maduro, who appears bent on assuming the mantle of dictator." Vox Media published an opinion entitled "How Venezuela went from a rich democracy to a dictatorship on the brink of collapse."