The Parliament of Venezuela Starting this Thursday, an amnesty law is being debated that covers the 27 years of Chavismo and will exclude “serious violations” of human rights and crimes against humanity.
The “Amnesty Law for Democratic Coexistence” is an initiative of interim president Delcy Rodríguez, in power after the capture of Nicolás Maduro in a US military raid.
READ: Delcy Rodríguez says that Venezuela is “calm” after a month of the United States attack
The session is scheduled for noon (4:00 p.m. GMT), although it is usually delayed. The first discussion addresses the general spirit of the law that precedes a consultation with civil society prior to the final debate article by article.
Archive photograph of the Venezuelan National Assembly (AN, Parliament), in Caracas (Venezuela). Photo: EFE/ Miguel Gutiérrez
“The importance of not imposing revenge, revenge or hatred, but of opening a path towards reconciliation is recognized,” says the legislative justification text accessed by AFP.
“Crimes such as “serious violations of human rights, crimes against humanity, war crimes, intentional homicide, corruption and drug trafficking are excluded from its benefits,” he added.
Experts fear that the text is vague enough to fall into judicial discretion, already accused of serving Chavismo.
The exclusion in any case responds – according to the text – to a “strict compliance” with the Venezuelan Constitution, which already prohibits including this type of crimes in any type of pardon or amnesty.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is investigating possible crimes against humanity committed in Venezuela during the Maduro government, since 2017.
The president in charge proposed a week ago a general amnesty that covers the 27 years of Chavismo in power.
“What we would like is for this law to send a powerful, powerful message of the intention of a new political moment” and “we hope to reach sufficient consensus so that the Amnesty law is approved unanimously,” said Wednesday the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, brother of the president and currently first in the line of succession.
Chavismo has an absolute majority in the unicameral Parliament.
The president in charge of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, speaking during a government event in Caracas. Photo: EFE/ Miraflores Palace
“The proposed general amnesty seeks justice and coexistence among Venezuelans,” indicated the justification text, which is committed to “coexistence from diversity and plurality.”
The debate comes to Parliament in parallel to a new process of political dialogue between the government and a faction of the opposition distanced from the wing led by the Nobel Peace Prize winner, María Corina Machado.
Other negotiation processes have failed in the past. A source who was at the first meeting highlighted a “less arrogant” tone in Chavismo in the face of pressure from the United States, which speaks of democratic transition. The opposition that participated in the meeting wants new elections, although it is not rushing them.
The US attack that led to Maduro’s fall on January 3 included a bombing of Caracas and other neighboring regions.
Delcy Rodríguez handed over control of the oil and is making progress in resuming relations with the United States, in addition to promoting the amnesty.
The bill is presented in the midst of a slow process of releasing hundreds of political prisoners ordered by President Rodríguez on January 8.
It would be the second amnesty in the era of Chavismo, the first was approved by the late Hugo Chávez in 2007.
“The amnesty is the framework that will serve to ensure that what happened in the past is not repeated and so that the past does not serve to stop or slow down transition processes,” Alfredo Romero, director of Foro Penal, an NGO that provides legal services to political prisoners, explained to AFP.
“A process of reconciliation, of transition, cannot be a process of persecution against those who previously wielded power,” he indicated.
