Venezuela, which is the country with the largest documented oil reserves in the world, has been plunged into a political, economic and social crisis for several years, struggling with recession and multi-digit inflation. In the second half of the second decade of the 21st century, the country’s economic and political situation deteriorated. Over a million Venezuelans have already migrated from their country, where there is a lack of basic everyday products, including food, medicines and hygiene products. In relation to this state, part of a discussion is not only the political or economic crisis, but also the humanitarian one. Venezuela’s internal problems also affect security throughout the Latin American region. International institutions and regional organizations are trying to undertake activities aimed at ending the dictatorial rule of President Nicolás Maduro and restoring the country’s democracy and the rule of law.

The purpose of the article is to draw attention to the functioning of constitutional guarantees of human rights and freedoms contained in the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The author addresses the issue of human rights protection, including the development of institutions guaranteeing their protection in the context of the authoritarian model of governance in Venezuela. The paper is a theoretical attempt to present the problem of the functioning of human rights institutions in Venezuela at the constitutional level after the seizure of power by President Nicolas Maduro. It also attempts to determine to what extent the Chavista camp suspended constitutional guarantees of protection of human rights and freedoms in Venezuela. At the same time, the article describes how the petrification of the system of power by Nicolas Maduro affects the state of human rights protection in the country.

This study aims to provide an overview of the consequences arising from the Brazilian military junta’s adoption of Institutional Act No. 5 in December 1968. In particular, it highlights the effects of departing from the rule of law and the subsequent implementation of methods and measures that characterise the phenomenon known as authoritarian constitutionalism. The study systematically examines the effects of the Act on the mechanisms that safeguard freedom and human rights. The analysis demonstrates that AI-5 serves as a prime example of legal nihilism and played a significant role in the institutionalisation of state terror during Brazil’s period of illiberal rule. This period reinforced the State’s long-standing institutional instability and the ongoing challenges to the legitimacy of power and the rule of law that persist to this day.