Venezuelan NGOs fear restrictions on foreign funds

Venezuela's human-rights groups are raising concerns over pending legislation backed by President Hugo Chávez that would bar non-governmental organisations from receiving foreign funding.

Activists fear the bill being drafted in the predominantly pro-Chávez National Assembly will ban international funds completely, making them fully dependent on limited domestic donations and putting some at risk of disappearing.

The legislation would also compromise the autonomy of human-rights groups, critics say.

The International Cooperation Law, which could soon be approved by lawmakers, would "impede NGOs from having sufficient resources", said Liliana Ortega, director of the Cofavic rights organisation.

Chávez urged lawmakers last week to pass a law prohibiting Venezuela's political parties, human-rights groups, and election watchdogs from getting US funds, but the bill being drafted by his political allies would ban all foreign money.

"It doesn't distinguish in regard to the origin of the funds," said Ortega, noting that many of the South American nation's non-governmental organisations depend on financing from European countries - not the United States.

Chávez claims some of Venezuela's NGOs that have received funds from organisations with ties to the US government are conspiring against his government with help from Washington — an allegation that rights activists vehemently reject.

"If any organisation is committing a crime, they should be brought to court," Ortega said.

Concerned

Foro Por La Vida, an umbrella group representing dozens of rights organisations, expressed concern that Chávez aims to criminalise the work of rights activists simply because some have been critical of government policies.

"We are concerned, and we condemn the attempt to create a perception that raises doubts and suspicions regarding the conduct of human-rights organisations," the group said in a statement Thursday.

Many of the accusations against non-governmental organisations have come from Venezuelan-American lawyer and political activist Eva Golinger, who claims funds from the US-funded National Endowment for Democracy and the US Agency for International Development are being used to falsely portray Chávez's government as a violator of human rights.

"They are looking to undermine and destabilise Venezuela's government," Golinger told pro-Chávez lawmakers this week.

- AP