Venezuela's traditional political parties virtually ceased to exist last week when voters turned out in force to back sweeping constitutional changes proposed by President Hugo Chavez. His panel of candidates for a National Constituent Assembly won 120 out of 131 seats.
By this weekend, however, it looked like Venezuela as a country may soon cease to exist, at least in name.
Mr Chavez plans to attend the first day of the constituent assembly today, carrying his own constitutional blueprint, in which the former coup leader hopes to change the name of the country. He is also set to define the economy as "planned" - with the death penalty in place for business people engaged in capital flight or other "disloyal" practices.
"Any Venezuelan who generates resources in the country but fails to reinvest them in national territory in favour of the development of productive forces will be considered a traitor to the nation," reads article 163 of Mr Chavez's document, which was seen by a reporter from the Madrid daily El Pais and published in yesterday's paper.
However, other aspects of the document bear out the widely-held opinion that Mr Chavez's revolutionary rhetoric may be largely hot air.
In the proposed constitution, according to El Pais, on article defines the state's role in the economy as an instrument to "promote free competition and guarantee the immaculate functioning of the free market". It is not at all clear how the two articles are compatible.
Mr Chavez won last December's presidential elections comfortably on a platform for radical change, beginning with the revision of the constitution and the election of a new parliament.
Venezuela has been ruled by liberals and conservatives for the past 40 years, with widespread corruption, leaving an estimated 80 per cent of people below the poverty line, despite its multibillion dollar oil industry.
Opponents accuse Mr Chavez of indulging in cheap populism, promising all things to all people, yet failing to define his real goals.
Venezuela's Christian Democrats, Democratic Action and COPEI parties have buckled beneath the juggernaut, volunteering to recess congress last week to avoid a confrontation with Mr Chavez, who will install the constitutional assembly in the same building.
The new assembly will duly be declared the highest power in the land, effectively disbanding congress, a move described by opponents as a "technical coup".
The assembly is expected to declare a national emergency and name interim magistrates, a preliminary step in replacing legal functionaries with Chavez loyalists.
"Chavez wins the elections, takes all the governorships, the local councils, the presidency of the boy scouts, the Rotary Club, etc.," ran one sarcastic editorial in Venezuela's daily El Nacional.
The country will be renamed the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in homage to Simon Bolivar, according to Mr Chavez's blueprint.
The new president appears to have swept away traditional political parties but may well face a challenge from the one sector whose loyalty to him was considered absolute - the armed forces.
Lieut Col Chavez was imprisoned after an unsuccessful coup attempt in 1992, and he retired several of his superiors when he became president in February. Since then he has sent troops around the country to build roads, bridges and hospitals, angering generals and officers who fought his previous coup attempt.
Dissident officers, requesting anonymity, have accused Mr Chavez of "pro-Cuban leftist" tendencies, which run counter to their US-backed training and ideology.
There is no evidence yet that this faction has a majority over the Chavez reformists (an army pay rise may have helped ease the rumblings) but the potential for division within the army will force Chavez to carefully consider the scope of his "democratic revolution", despite the increased popular support shown by last week's vote.
As the constitutional process begins tomorrow, however, the question of what Mr Chavez really stands for remains an enigma.