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Venezuela ‘s National Assembly (AN, Parliament) – controlled by Chavez – approved a law on Thursday that mandates sentences of between 25 and 30 years in prison and fines of up to one million euros (up to 1,055,680 dollars) for people who promote or are involved, in any way, in foreign sanctions imposed on the government and state “authorities.”
The ‘Liberator Simón Bolívar Organic Law against the Imperialist Blockade and in Defense of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela’ must be signed by President Nicolás Maduro for it to come into force.
It includes a 60-year political disqualification for those who commit these “crimes,” which will prevent those sanctioned from running for public office or elected office.
Those who have “promoted, instigated, requested, invoked, favored, supported or participated in the adoption or execution” of “armed or forceful actions, as well as cyber attacks” against the country, its institutions or authorities, many of which have been sanctioned by other countries, will also not be able to compete in elections.
Those accused of these actions will be sentenced to the same penalty and will be paid in local currency – bolivars – and with the euro as a reference rate, as it is higher than that of the dollar, which is regularly used in the country.
Media outlets that disseminate any type of message that promotes sanctions or measures that “ affect the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ” will also be fined the same amount and could be punished by being removed from circulation or from the radio spectrum, depending on the platform in question.
The law considers international sanctions to be crimes against humanity, after the country was subject to more than 900 such measures in the last decade, mainly from the United States, according to government data.
In addition, a national registry of people under “reasonable presumption” of engaging in all of these actions is being created, who run the risk of having their assets frozen, being prohibited from making purchase and sale transactions or, in the case of foreigners, being expelled from the country and subjected to “domain forfeiture” so that the State can dispossess them of assets in the national territory. EFE
