Venezuela 'spy' law draws protest

[Gunny]

A new intelligence law brought in by Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has caused concern among rights groups who say it threatens civil liberties.

Mr Chavez argues the law will help Venezuela guarantee its national security and prevent assassination plots and military rebellions.

The new law requires Venezuelans to cooperate with intelligence agencies and secret police if requested.

Refusal can result in up to four years in prison.

The law allows security forces to gather evidence through surveillance methods such as wiretapping without obtaining a court order, and authorities can withhold evidence from defence lawyers if it is considered to be in the interest of national security.

One part of the law, which explicitly requires judges and prosecutors to cooperate with the intelligence services, has caused concern among legal experts.

"Here you have the president legislating by decree that the country's judges must serve as spies for the government," Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas Director for Human Rights Watch, said.

more ... BBC NEWS | Americas | Venezuela 'spy' law draws protest

If anyone ever qualified for state-sanctioned "removal," it's THIS assclown.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

If anyone ever qualified for state-sanctioned "removal," it's THIS assclown.

You haven't been paying attention, the Left oves him cause he hates Bush, he can do no wrong. We will have, in this thread, leftbots telling us all about how it is a good move in his country while bemoaning wire taps in THIS country.

Or the usual, an excuse we just don't understand, they are different.

 

[cbi0090]

If anyone ever qualified for state-sanctioned "removal," it's THIS assclown.

He becoming about as paranoid as North Koreas's Dear Leader.

 

[Gunny]

He becoming about as paranoid as North Koreas's Dear Leader.

Or start a war so he can claim emergency powers and retain office.

 

[Toro]

Not surprising in the least.

Hugh Chav is a dictator-wannabe.

 

[waltky]

Venezuela opposition launches civil disobedience campaign...

As fears of more violence increases, Venezuela launches civil disobedience campaign
Friday 21st July, 2017 - Amid fears of violence escalating in the country, millions of citizens in Venezuela participated in a civil disobedience campaign with the opposition hoping it will end nearly two decades of socialist rule.

Several streets across the country were barricaded and deserted after the strike was called by foes of President Nicolas Maduro to demand elections and the scrapping of plans for a new congress they fear will consolidate dictatorship in the OPEC country. Millions stayed at home, closed their businesses to participate in the 24-hour shutdown, with people manning roadblocks in Caracas holding signs that read, “Get rid of this tyrant," and "No To Dictatorship!" Many private transportation groups too heeded the strike call, as students, neighbors and activists hauled rubbish and furniture into streets to erect makeshift barriers.

In a speech, Maduro vowed some of the strike leaders would be jailed and insisted the action was minimal, with the 700 leading food businesses, for example, still working. He added that the opposition supporters attacked the headquarters of state TV and burned a kiosk of the government postal service, but were repelled by workers and soldiers. Blaming a Caracas district mayor, Carlos Ocariz, she said, "I've ordered the capture of all the fascist terrorists.” Meanwhile, some clashes broke out and security forces fired tear gas at protesters manning barricades, youths shot fireworks at them from homemade mortars.

For four months now, anti-government unrest has claimed about 100 lives, injuring thousands, and leaving hundreds in jail. The unrest has further damaged an economy in its fourth year of a debilitating decline. The country and the capital in specific, that has suffering daily clashes, since the opposition Democratic Unity coalition and a self-styled youth-led "Resistance" movement took to the streets in April. Leaders of Venezuela's 2.8 million public employees said state businesses and ministries remained open and oil company PDVSA, which brings in 95 percent of Venezuela's export revenue, was not affected.

Venezuela's opposition, that now has majority support, has said it drew 7.5 million people over the weekend for a symbolic referendum against the proposed assembly, which 98 percent of voters rejected. Maduro is now facing widespread foreign pressure to abort the assembly, which could rewrite the constitution passed in 1999. The opposition has long said that it would boycott the vote, whose rules seem designed to guarantee a government majority in the new congress. Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened economic sanctions if the July 30 vote goes ahead.

As fears of more violence increases Venezuela launches civil disobedience campaign

 

[waltky]

Maduro dictatorship forming in Venezuela...

Venezuela's New Leaders Begin Their March Toward Total Control
AUG. 4, 2017 — Members of President Nicolás Maduro’s governing party marched triumphantly into Venezuela’s Capitol building on Friday, calling to order a 545-member body with plans to rewrite the Constitution and consolidate their power over the nation.

The constituent assembly, as the group is called, took a symbolic jab at their political rivals, parading through the gates of the legislative chamber holding portraits of former President Hugo Chávez, which were taken down just last year after opposition parties won control of the National Assembly. “This assembly didn’t emerge from nothing,” said Delcy Rodríguez, a former foreign minister close to Mr. Maduro who will lead the body. “It has dodged the obstacles thrown in its way by those who resist democracy.” The convening of the assembly was the culmination of an ambitious plan by the president to secure political control over Venezuela. In a contentious election on Sunday, Mr. Maduro instructed Venezuelans to choose delegates from a list of allies in the governing party. Voters were not given the option of rejecting the plan.

The body will rule Venezuela for however long it takes its members to rewrite the Constitution, giving virtually unlimited power to Mr. Maduro’s party. Among the new leaders were Mr. Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores; the president’s son, Nicolás; Diosdado Cabello, a powerful former military chief who participated in a coup in the 1990s with Mr. Chávez; and a radical television show host known for broadcasting embarrassing recordings of opposition politicians. Before the ceremony, crowds of government supporters surrounded the Capitol, many dressed in red, the color of Mr. Maduro’s Socialist party, waving flags and dancing to salsa music on speakers. The festive atmosphere was in marked contrast to the months of antigovernment protests and clashes that have left more than 120 people dead and to the hardships faced by Venezuelans dealing with shortages of food and medicine.

On Friday, Mr. Maduro urged assembly members to move swiftly to resolve these problems. “The mandate of this constituent assembly is to use its powers to make peace, to construct peace, for a new economic model,” he told supporters. Mr. Maduro’s own authority under the assembly — which is technically above the president — was a cause of speculation among some analysts in recent days, who noted that the president’s rivals within his party might try to take control of the assembly and sideline Mr. Maduro. But the choice of Ms. Rodríguez, a trusted deputy of the president, to lead the assembly signaled that Mr. Maduro aimed to maintain a firm grip over the assembly’s decisions. Another pick for a leadership post was Aristóbulo Istúriz, a former vice president who had been involved in past talks with the opposition, suggesting that the party’s more radical figures were being kept from the top jobs.

The fate of the National Assembly, the opposition-controlled legislature, was unclear on Friday. Many members of the constituent assembly have called for the legislature to be dismantled, or even for its lawmakers to be jailed. Several countries sent their ambassadors to join the Venezuelan legislators’ sessions, fearful that their chamber would be overrun by force. But the assembly on Friday chose not to gather in the National Assembly’s chamber, but rather in an adjoining hall in the Capitol, leaving open the possibility that the dueling government branches may — at least for now — coexist.

MORE

See also:

Head of Venezuela's super assembly vows to target opponents
Aug 5,`17 -- The head of Venezuela's newly installed constitutional assembly pledged to move quickly against President Nicolas Maduro's political opponents, beginning as early as the all-powerful body's second meeting on Saturday.

Former Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez's nomination as leader was unanimously approved by the assembly's 545 delegates in Friday's session, which was held despite strong criticism from Washington and Venezuela's opposition, which fear the body will be a tool for imposing dictatorship. Supporters say it will pacify a country rocked by violent protests. The assembly was scheduled to meet again Saturday, and Rodriguez said it would be taking action against the socialist government's opponents. "Don't think we're going to wait weeks, months or years," she said on Friday. "Tomorrow we start to act. The violent fascists, those who wage economic war on the people, those who wage psychological war, justice is coming for you."

The installation of the constitutional assembly is virtually certain to intensify a political crisis that has brought four months of protests that left at least 120 people dead and hundreds jailed. Maduro vows the assembly will strip opposition lawmakers of their constitutional immunity from prosecution, while members of congress say they will only be removed by force. But the opposition is struggling to regain its footing in the face of the government's strong-armed tactics and the re-emergence of old, internal divisions. Several opposition activists have been jailed in recent days, others are rumored to be seeking exile and one leader has broken ranks from the opposition alliance to say his party will field candidates in regional elections despite widespread mistrust in Venezuela's electoral system.

The President of Venezuela's Constituent Assembly, Delcy Rodriguez, smiles as she accepts the accolades of her fellow assemblymen after their swearing in ceremony, inside Venezuela's National Assembly, in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Aug. 4, 2017. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is heading toward a showdown with his political foes, after seating a loyalist assembly that will rewrite the country's constitution and hold powers that override all other government branches​

In a sign of its apparent demoralized state only a few hundred demonstrators showed up for Friday's protest against the constitutional assembly, one of the smallest turnouts in months. "This is what the constitutional assembly will bring: more repression," said opposition lawmaker Miguel Pizarro. However, Maduro accuses his opponents of using violence and argues that the constitutional assembly is the best way to restore peace. On Friday he heralded members of the security forces who've been on the front lines of the daily street battles, claiming that 580 of them had suffered serious injuries from attacks by "terrorist" protesters. "I feel deeply the wounds of each one of you," Maduro said addressing a small group of injured national guardsmen s. "With your bodies as your shield, you have defended the right to peace."

Amid the rising tensions, an increasing number of foreign governments have sided with the opposition, refusing to recognize the constitutional assembly and further isolating Maduro's government. On Friday, the Vatican urged Maduro to suspend the new body, expressing "deep worry for the radicalization and worsening" of the turmoil in Venezuela. President Donald Trump and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, agreed that Maduro must restore the rights of the Venezuelan people in a phone call Friday, according to a readout of the conversation by the White House. Foreign ministers from several South American nations said they will gather Saturday in Brazil for an emergency meeting to decide whether to evict Venezuela from the Mercosur trade bloc for violating its democratic norms. Venezuela was suspended from the group in December.

MORE