Five months of street protests in Veneuzela, often featuring violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces, have died down, reports the Wall Street Journal. In the short term, the power grab of the National Constituent Assembly seems to have benefited the government that now concentrates all state power -- though it remains to be seen whether that control is sufficient in the long term, WOLA expert David Smilde told the WSJ. Protesters are demoralized by the failure to prevent the Constitutional Assembly, and frightened by prison stints and security forces abuse.