South America: Venezuela passes law punishing support for sanctions

The Parliament of Venezuela, where the government has an absolute majority, adopted a law on Thursday punishing with 25 to 30 years in prison support for international sanctions targeting the regime of President Nicolas Maduro, whose re-election in July is contested.

“Any person who encourages, incites, requests, invokes, favors, facilitates, supports or participates in the adoption of coercive measures (…) will be punished with a prison sentence of 25 to 30 years,” indicates one of the articles of the law which also provides for fines exceeding one million dollars, and penalties of ineligibility of up to 60 years.

“Traitor to the fatherland”

“It is a law” to “bring order and set limits to the attitude of traitor to the homeland” of a small group “which turns into lackeys,” declared Nicolas Maduro.

Called the “Simon Bolivar Liberator Act,” it responds to a bill adopted by the United States House of Representatives on November 18 to strengthen sanctions against Venezuela.

This bill, which must still receive the green light from the Senate and the signature of the president to enter into force, received the acronym Bolivar (Banning Operations and Leases with Illegitimate Venezuelan Authoritarian Regime) and prohibits the American government from signing contracts with people doing business with that of Nicolas Maduro, whom he describes as “illegitimate”.

Oil embargo

“They brazenly added the acronym Bolivar to the law, offending the greatest genius in American history, who dedicated his life to defeating imperialism and colonialism,” the Department of Affairs responded. Foreign Affairs in a statement, calling the bill a “criminal attack.”

In 2019, Washington, in the wake of the already contested re-election of Nicolas Maduro in 2018, had significantly tightened its economic sanctions against Venezuela, including an oil embargo on this country which has among the largest crude oil reserves on the planet.

In addition, some 180 officials are subject to individual sanctions with the freezing of any assets held in the United States and the ban on any financial transaction via banks or financial institutions. Nicolas Maduro was proclaimed winner of the Venezuelan presidential election by the National Electoral Council – considered subservient to power.

The opposition assures that its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, now in exile in Spain, won with more than 67% of the votes. The death toll from the repression of the post-electoral crisis stands at 28 dead, 200 injured and 2,400 arrests.

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