Dear Councillors, Forwarded on behalf of Ron Sherwood. Gabi -------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Councillors: Please find below links to two acounts of the Venezuela legislation due to be passed this week. The material is forwarded from items posted on the ALAC list. Ron Sherwood ---------------------------------------------------------- There are two troubling projects in current discussion in the Venezuelan parliament. They are both likely to pass this week. These merit international review and discussion: 1) After Legislative Setback, Venezuela's Chavez Plans to Legislate by Decree English http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=381328&CategoryId=10718 <http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=381328&CategoryId=10718> Chavez announced that he will ask his lame-duck National Assembly (where he will lose his unchallenged majority on January 5) to pass an “Enabling Law” that will allow him to dictate by decree for 18 months -- bypassing the incoming Opposition legislators. In the next 165-member National Assembly, the ruling party will have the majority of lawmakers but not, as it has had up to now, the two-thirds majority necessary to approve organic laws or extraordinary measures such as granting special powers to the president. A Venezuelan newspaper account: Venezuelan govn't seeks media law to regulate the Internet: English http://english.eluniversal.com/2010/12/10/en_pol_esp_venezuelan-govnt-se_10A... <http://english.eluniversal.com/2010/12/10/en_pol_esp_venezuelan-govnt-se_10A...> Global Voices has a comment on the Resorte (Internet law) here, although it does not take into account yesterdays discussions: English http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2010/12/12/venezuela-law-for-internet... <http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2010/12/12/venezuela-law-for-internet...> 2) Internet Censorship in Venezuela. Bill on Social Responsibly of Internet service providers and electronic media + Creation of National Internet Exchange Point The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and its Office of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression has just sent a press release today on the Venezuelan issue. It has very good paragraphs on freedom of expression and Internet. English http://www.cidh.oas.org/Comunicados/English/2010/122-10eng.htm <http://www.cidh.oas.org/Comunicados/English/2010/122-10eng.htm> Spanish http://www.cidh.oas.org/Comunicados/Spanish/2010/122-10sp.htm <http://www.cidh.oas.org/Comunicados/Spanish/2010/122-10sp.htm> ------ End of Forwarded Message