/euronews/ The Venezuelan Assembly has handed President Hugo Chavez decree powers until mid-2012, effectively cutting the opposition out of the legislative process.
The "Enabling Law" allows the president to issue decrees across a wide range of policy including housing, land, finance and security.
The move has been denounced as autocratic by his political rivals who accuse him of turning South America's biggest oil producer into a dictatorship.
Chavez requested the powers for one year, saying he needed them to deal with the recent floods that left 140,000 homeless.
