Caracas (AFP) – Venezuela’s opposition-led legislature approved an amnesty bill for political prisoners, setting up an epic political clash with embattled President Nicolas Maduro, who opposes the move.
National Assembly speaker Henry Ramos Allup said the measure passed after a second round of debate, sparking opposition lawmaker chants of “Freedom!” even as the president’s socialist party’s minority lawmakers voiced disgust.
“This law is aimed at laying the foundations for national reconciliation,” said lawmaker Delsa Solorzano, who sponsored the legislation.
The measure demands the release of some 76 political prisoners, and hundreds of “politically “persecuted and exiled” due to their opposition to the leftist government in power for the past 17 years, she said.
Maduro quickly took a combative stance, broadcasting a speech on national television while the debate was under way.
“You can be certain that that law will not be making it through here, sir. Laws that are out to benefit terrorists and criminals, they will not make it to enactment. No matter what you do,” the president argued.
Legal experts also think it is more than an uphill battle for the legislation to take effect. The president can send it to the Supreme Court which critics claim he has stacked with supporters.
The amnesty law comes two years after the arrest of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. He was sentenced to 14 years in jail in September for alleged incitement to violence against the government in 2014 demonstrations in which 43 people were killed.
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