the return of agricultural land and "dozens of companies" to private management have allowed the government to survive economic sanctions (though economic production and employment is still greatly reduced), and have proceeded in exchange for an abandonment of political opposition by Mendoza. Another result of the economic liberalization is that erstwhile socialist allies of Maduro's government who began to protest corruption and the "extravagant lives flaunted by the government's cronies in supermarkets stocked with expensive imports and luxury car showrooms", have become victims to the same security apparatus that have attacked Maduro's opponents on the right—they have been denounced as traitors, arrested (leaders of the Communist and Tupamaro parties), beaten and sometimes assassinated (the fate of radio host José Carmelo Bislick). Miscellaneous Venezuela abolished the death penalty in 1863, making it the country where this practice has been outlawed the longest. There is a history of tension between church and state in the country. The Catholic Church has accused Chavez of concentrating power in his own hands. In 2009, in the Catholic Church's Easter address to the nation, the bishops said the country's democracy was in "serious danger of collapse." Elections Venezuela elects at a national level the President of Venezuela as head of state and head of government and a unicameral federal legislature. The President of Venezuela is elected for a six-year term by direct election plurality voting and is eligible for re-election since the 2009 Venezuelan constitutional referendum) The National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional) has 165 members (diputados), elected for five-year terms. Elections also take place at state level and local level. Latest elections Most recent elections: municipal: 2017 Venezuelan municipal elections parliamentary: 2015 Venezuelan parliamentary election regional: 2017 Venezuelan regional elections presidential: 2013 Venezuelan presidential election constituent assembly: 2017 Venezuelan Constituent Assembly election See also Chavismo Human rights in Venezuela Public Ministry of Venezuela References External links National Assembly of Venezuela Presidency of Venezuela Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela