NGOs warn of restrictions in pending Venezuela law

AP – Maria Corina Machado, director of Venezuelan NGO 'Sumate', gestures during an interview at her office …

CARACAS, Venezuela – Prominent Venezuelan nongovernmental organizations warned Thursday that a bill being drafted by lawmakers loyal to President Hugo Chavez could be used to financially strangle groups that criticize the government.
Ruling-party lawmakers argue the proposed law is necessary to increase oversight of foreign funding destined for NGOs, although they've promised to hear concerns from critics before taking up the bill for likely approval in the coming months.
A draft of the bill says foreign donations for NGOs would no longer be sent directly to organizations but instead would be deposited in a government-controlled fund. Officials would dole out the money at their discretion.
"The law would give the government discretional power to restrict the work of some NGOs or eliminate them," Feliciano Reyna, director of the human rights watchdog Sinergia, told foreign journalists.
Liliana Ortega, who leads the human rights group Cofavic, echoed those concerns, saying "it puts in danger the existence of organizations that make the government uncomfortable."
Dozens of Venezuela's NGOs, Reyna said, depend almost entirely on financing from foreign organizations and governments. Most of Sinergia's funding is provided by the Organization of American States, the European Union and Canada.
The bill was drafted in the predominantly pro-Chavez National Assembly, partly in response to concerns that some organizations could be using foreign funds for efforts aimed at undermining the government.
"We are going to listen to the opinions from all the organizations that have observations," lawmaker Roy Daza told The Associated Press.
Daza, president of the assembly's foreign policy committee, said the bill would undergo "a revision" before a final vote, which has yet to be scheduled.
Chavez and his congressional allies have focused much of their criticism on Sumate, a nonprofit group that helped organize a failed 2004 recall vote against the president.
Sumate director Maria Corina Machado called the bill "very dangerous," saying "it's a means of silencing voices that have significant credibility within the country and abroad."
Machado said the ruling party is drafting the bill amid what she and other government critics see as stepped-up efforts by Chavez to crack down on dissent.
Prosecutors have brought criminal charges against several prominent opposition leaders and former Chavez allies in recent months. Government adversaries, she noted, argue the charges are trumped-up and politically motivated.
Embezzlement allegations prompted opposition leader Manuel Rosales to seek political asylum in Peru last month. And former Defense Minister Raul Baduel — a one-time Chavez ally — is currently in prison awaiting trial on corruption charges.
Machado's vote-monitoring organization has received $31,000 for voter-education courses from the U.S. government-funded National Endowment for Democracy, among funding from various other donors.
Machado worries Sumate could be excluded from a registry created under the law and therefore denied permission to continue working. She said Sumate would challenge the law in the Supreme Court if it is approved.
"These organizations must be autonomous, and financing through international cooperation allows them to be autonomous," Machado told the AP in an interview at the group's office in Caracas.
Pro-Chavez lawmaker Carlos Escarra said it's too early to say how the bill might affect the work of organizations.
But he added: "Sumate has reason to worry."