 The Economist Intelligence Unit stated that during Maduro's presidency, the country's democracy detoriated further, with the 2017 report downgrading Venezuela from a hybrid regime to an authoritarian regime, the lowest category, with an index of 3.87 (the second lowest in Latin America, along with Cuba), reflecting "Venezuela's continued slide towards dictatorship" as the government has side-lined the opposition-dominated National Assembly, jailed or disenfranchised leading opposition politicians and violently suppressed opposition protests.Venezuelan presidential elections were held prematurely in May 2018; the "New York Times" printed a news piece about the elections, headlining the word "dictator", "Critics Say He Can't Beat a dictator.This Venezuelan thinks he can".