Venezuela’s parliament, meanwhile, will continue Thursday considering a slew of new laws critics say are meant to criminalize Maduro’s opponents.
The measures would tighten regulations on the registration and funding of non-governmental organizations, which the regime has described as a “facade for the financing of terrorist actions.”
National Assembly president Jorge Rodriguez has indicated he would also seek to ban future election observation missions from foreign countries.Â
Other legislative measures seek to increase government oversight over social media and to punish “fascism” — a term often used by Maduro to tar critics.
The socialist president says social media is being used to attack him and to promote “hate,” “fascism” and “division.”
Last week, he banned social media site X for 10 days after CEO Elon Musk said Maduro had engaged in “major election fraud.” The president has also promoted a boycott against WhatsApp.
The vast majority of 277 lawmakers in the single-chamber legislature are loyal to Maduro, who had warned of a “bloodbath” if he lost his reelection bid.
United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights have urged lawmakers not to pass laws they said would limit democratic freedoms.
Since coming to power in 2013, Maduro has overseen an economic collapse that has seen more than seven million Venezuelans flee the country, as GDP plunged 80 percent in a decade.
His re-election in 2018 was also rejected as a sham by dozens of countries.
Machado has called for protests in Venezuela and worldwide on Saturday.
Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=66be5a396b5a4d68b8f0ca72f677a8e8&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kpcnews.com%2Fnews%2Fnational%2Farticle_d025a9e3-e173-5df1-894d-edfaceb5dfa0.html&c=818489821705304097&mkt=en-us
Author :
Publish date : 2024-08-15 04:59:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
