Venezuela Bars Foreign Funding for NGOs [View All]

[steven johnson]

Source: Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A congress dominated by President Hugo Chavez's allies has passed a law that bars foreign funding for nongovernment organizations and political parties, adding to a series of measures that government opponents say are aimed at cracking down on dissent.

The law approved by the National Assembly late Tuesday puts in jeopardy human rights groups and other organizations that receive foreign funding. Organizations that receive money from abroad may be fined up to double the amount of funding received.

It is one of many controversial measures Chavez's government is pushing through in the final weeks of an outgoing congress that had only a token opposition presence. A new legislature with a much larger bloc of opposition deputies takes office on Jan. 5.

Opposition lawmaker Juan Jose Molina said on Twitter that the law "criminalizes and persecutes the democratic opposition" and harms the work of nongovernmental groups that serve a vital function in Venezuelan society.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/12/22/world/americas/AP-LT-Venezuela-Chavez.html?_r=1&ref=news