Venezuela targets opposition with bill making economic sanctions a crime against humanity – Winnipeg Free Press

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan lawmakers on Thursday approved a bill that would make economic sanctions similar to those imposed by the United States a crime against humanity and allow for the prosecution of anyone who supports such measures.

The bill, approved by the unicameral National Assembly, implicitly targets prominent opposition leaders, many of whom support economic sanctions as a means of pressuring the government into negotiations. The measure bans those who support economic sanctions from running for office and allows authorities to prosecute them in absentia and seize their property.

“Unilateral coercive measures and other restrictive or punitive measures adopted against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela constitute crimes against humanity within the framework of a systematic and widespread attack against the civilian population,” the bill read at Thursday’s session reads.

Under the bill, conviction would require a prison sentence of at least 25 years.

The approval came a day after the White House announced it was imposing sanctions on 21 people it accused of undermining Venezuela’s July presidential election. This also follows the U.S. House of Representatives’ decision last week to pass a bill that would block the federal government from contracting with any company doing business with the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

The measure is the latest effort by Venezuela’s ruling party to silence opposition after July elections that Maduro and former diplomat Edmundo González claim to have won.

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, filled with Maduro loyalists, declared Maduro the winner hours after polls closed on July 28. But unlike previous presidential elections, election officials did not provide detailed vote counts.

Meanwhile, the main opposition coalition collected tallies from 80% of the country’s electronic voting machines, posted them online and said voting records showed González won the election with twice as many votes as Maduro.

Anti-government protests broke out across the country the day after the election, and political leaders came under pressure from state security forces, who arrested more than 2,200 people, including lawyers, poll workers, election volunteers, and both minor and adult protesters.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has been hiding in an undisclosed location for months, while González left Venezuela for exile in Spain in September after an arrest warrant was issued for him in connection with an investigation into the publication of ballots.

Machado won the presidential primary held by the main opposition coalition last year. But Maduro’s government excluded him from the July 28 elections with an administrative decision that concluded he could not run for office because of his alleged pursuit of broad economic sanctions imposed by the United States over the past decade in an effort to oust Maduro. Sanctions have crippled Venezuela’s vital oil sector.

Machado’s hand-picked backup was also barred from representing the Unitary Platform opposition coalition. This led the faction leadership to choose González as their candidate.

Last week, Venezuela’s Attorney General’s Office announced a new investigation against Machado. According to the statement made by the prosecutor’s office, his comments in favor of the US House of Representatives bill constitute crimes of “treason against the homeland”, conspiracy and association with foreign countries.

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Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City.