The regime of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela is in the process of passing a new “anti-fascist” law which will criminalize various forms of what the regime calls “fascism,” potentially imposing prison sentences on the alleged fascists. The bill takes aim at Venezuelan opposition ahead of the upcoming elections, and is designed to shut down dissent with draconian punishments.
The law, which targets “fascism, neo-fascism and similar demonstrations" allows civil courts of first instance to decide on the "fascist" nature of social organizations, with a procedure that can then lead to their dissolution. This bill has already been met with criticism by opponents of Maduro’s regime as it opens the door for the state to quash anyone who merely expresses dissatisfaction with the current regime.
This week the ‘Platform of Solidarity with the Palestinian Cause’ (PSPC) petitioned the National Assembly to include, explicitly, Zionism in the movements dubbed “fascist.” According to Venezuelan reports, the platform’s leader, Hindu Anderi, claimed there are sufficient arguments to characterize and prevent Zionism in Venezuela. This move would, in a way, criminalize the Jewish civil rights movement known as Zionism. Given Venezuela’s policy on Israel, it is likely to be accepted as an amendment.
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File photo of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro
(Photo: Reuters )
The effort is hardly unexpected for the South American socialist country, which has been widely criticized for its cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran, helping the terror-supporting nation to evade US and European sanctions. Venezuela has also been openly hostile to the Jewish state, since the era of Hugo Chavez, who cut off formal relations in 2009.
“Chavez was a dictator and Maduro is a dictator, they’ve been doing whatever they feel like to keep themselves in power for as long as it takes and if that means supporting any other pro-terror organization and any other dictatorship, they will go with it and approve it. I have no doubt they will approve this law,” Johan Sandrea, a Venezuelan currently living in Israel, told Ynet.
Since October 7, current President Maduro has been increasingly hostile towards Israel, claiming that Zionism “more dangerous than Nazism,” and recently accusing Israel of “genocide” and Prime Minister Netanyahu of being a “Nazi.” He himself claims Zionism is “the new fascism.”
In November 2023, he gave a speech in which he stated that “the racists and supremacists of Zionists today want to wipe out the Palestinian people...they want to finish with all the Arab people, they want to finish with all the Muslim people…We must stop the Zionist genocide against the beloved Palestinian people.”
“The Venezuelan government has deteriorated to one of the least democratic countries in Latin America. Their friends and allies around the world are Russia, China, Cuba, Turkey, North Korea and Iran, who like them, count amongst the biggest abusers of human rights and corruption," Special Envoy at the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Fleur Hassan Nahoum, said. "A reprimand from Venezuela to Israel is yet additional proof of the alliance of evil developing against the free world.”
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Argentinian President Javier Milei at the Western Wall last February
(Photo: Western Wall Foundation )
Maduro has also recently involved himself in a spat with Argentinian President Javier Milei, who is staunchly pro-Israel. Maduro criticized Milei and accused him of being a “sycophant” who “supports Zionism,” after Milei called to sanction Venezuela.
As of the time of publication, the Venezuelan National Assembly is waiting for the formal submission of arguments from the PSPC in favor of adding “Zionism” to the list of fascist causes, and will later hold a final vote on the bill before it becomes law.