The Nicolás Maduro regime is moving forward with the approval of a law to protect itself against dissent, with sentences of 12 years in prison for those labeled as fascists.
The majority pro-regime Parliament approved the draft of the Law against Fascism, Neo-Fascism, and Similar Expressions, on April 2.
“This initiative of the governing party attacks so that the left prevails. [It contains] everything that was in the 2007 reform of the Constitution that was not approved in a referendum, and which was then imposed by laws and by decree,” Venezuelan lawyer Fernando Fernández, who specializes in constitutional law, told Diálogo on April 27. “They want to protect the Marxist-Leninist dream established by the so-called socialism of the 21st century.”
The law was approved in first discussion without any debate. According to Venezuelan nongovernmental organization (NGO) Acceso a la Justicia, it has not been disclosed for public debate, a fundamental requirement that must be fulfilled before its final approval.
The proposal, which Vice President Delcy Rodríguez read before the plenary of the National Assembly, made specific reference to the mass protests against the Maduro regime in 2014 and 2017. She indicated that these actions “reproduce the ideals and modus operandi typical of fascism.”
According to Fernández, the bill is inspired by similar norms that were in force in the extinct Soviet Union, and which open a space for discretion in the criminal prosecution of citizens.
“There is vagueness in the definition of terms. This is an excellent opportunity for arbitrariness,” Fernández said. “That is what was called in Soviet law the crime by analogy; that is to say, it covers what this penal code establishes and anything that resembles it.”
More political prisoners
One of the most criticized provisions of this law prohibits the media from disseminating messages considered fascist, or that according to the regime may promote the use of violence as a political action.
“The law against fascism restricts the exercise of freedom of expression,” Venezuelan NGO Espacio Público, which promotes human rights and freedom of expression, said in a statement. “It imposes obligations on the providers of radio, television, electronic media, and print media services, public, private, and community. Among others, it [prohibits] the duty to guarantee spaces free of fascist or similar messages.”
An article of this new law establishes that authorities must prohibit any public demonstration that may be considered fascist, even if such protest has not taken place.
Since 2014, the regime has labeled demonstrations against it as fascist. In February 2014, Freddy Bernal, current governor of Táchira state, said that the murder of Juan Montoya, a leader of pro-regime illegally armed groups los colectivos, was the result of fascism.
Investigations showed that his death was due to an internal struggle for control of these groups. Bernal, as well as Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly, and Diosdado Cabello, considered the leader of the Cartel of the Suns, described opposition leaders such as María Corina Machado and Juan Guaidó as fascists.
For Gonzalo Himiob, director of Venezuelan NGO Foro Penal, dedicated to the defense of those persecuted for political reasons, this initiative, as well as the Law against Hate, are part of a doctrine known as “criminal law of the enemy,” characteristic of authoritarian regimes.
“Basically, it allows the interpreter of the law to expand penal norms as convenient and based on subjective criteria and normally for the powers that be,” Himiob told Diálogo. “One of the criteria not only criminal but rational for a person to be considered a political prisoner is that he or she be detained and subjected to a criminal process for arbitrary reasons.”