Venezuela-US Tensions: Maduro's Rule By Decree Powers Won't Change Much, Analysts Say
Venezuela-US Tensions: Maduro's Rule By Decree Powers Won't Change Much, Analysts Say
By Brianna Lee @briannaclee b.lee@ibtimes.com on March 16 2015 1:28 PM EDT
Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro received special powers this weekend to rule by decree on matters of national security in light of a perceived threat posed by the U.S.’s recent sanctions on Venezuelan officials. But while critics are cautioning against a potential abuse of power, analysts say the law gives the president few new abilities that he didn’t already have.
The National Assembly on Sunday finalized approval for the Ley Habilitante (Enabling Law), which allows Maduro to bypass the legislature on matters “in the area of freedom, equality, justice and international peace, independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and national self-determination.” The law, which is in effect until December, stipulates that it is meant to protect against “interference” from other countries and transnational authorities.
It’s the second time Maduro has been granted such decree powers. In 2013 the legislature approved a similar law allowing the president to exert more control over the economy as Maduro accused businesses of driving up prices and sabotaging the market. During the year those powers were in effect, he passed around 40 new laws – the majority of them passed a week before the powers expired – implementing profit-margin limits on businesses, tackling corruption and streamlining the distribution of agricultural products.
It’s unclear how Maduro will wield his new abilities, but the law appears to give him much more far-ranging authority this time than the law in 2013 did. “The language is broad enough that he could really interpret almost any aspect of the national agenda in Venezuela to fall under this rubric of security, especially given the dynamics of confrontation he’s established with the U.S.,” said Harold Trinkunas, director of the Latin America Initiative at Brookings.
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http://www.ibtimes.com/venezuela-us-tensions-maduros-rule-decree-powers-wont-change-much-analysts-say-1848432
