 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."