Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez has presented a proposed Law against Fascism on behalf of President Nicolás Maduro. This law, which contains 30 articles, is considered to be a strategic move to minimize the freedoms of citizens and legalize censorship and repression ahead of the presidential elections. It has already passed its first discussion in the Venezuelan Parliament. Introduced alongside increased repression against activists and politicians, the law is seen as a significant blow to the democratic space leading up to the elections. Fines up to USD 100,000 and prison sentences ranging from six to 12 years are outlined in the law. Furthermore, any organizations or individuals financing or promoting prohibited messages can be penalized. The law also aims to justify political disqualifications and dissolution of social organizations, even on alleged fascist grounds. In addition, the term fascism as defined in the law encompasses various ideologies and trends including neoliberalism and moral conservatism. This law also poses a threat to citizen protest by explicitly prohibiting public meetings and demonstrations promoting fascism or similar ideologies. Critics around the world have labeled Maduro’s government as authoritarian and anti-democratic, akin to the concept of fascism this law stands against. Original text -> GlobalVoices

Authoritarians have also abandoned pretenses of democratic norms. Putin, as well as rulers in Nicaragua, Venezuela and elsewhere, once tried to at least maintain the appearance of free and fair elections. But now they regularly jail political opponents, denying the opposition the ability to campaign. All of these moves have shown other leaders with authoritarian aspirations what they can do as the liberal democratic order loses its swayIn that context, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is part of a broader test: whether the global erosion of democracy will continue unchecked. By German Lopez. Full Text -> TheNewYorkTimes

Traducción de cortesía ->

Los autoritarios también han abandonado las pretensiones de las normas democráticas. Putin, al igual que los gobernantes de Nicaragua, Venezuela y otros lugares, una vez trató de al menos mantener la apariencia de elecciones libres y justas. Pero ahora encarcelan regularmente a los opositores políticos, negando a la oposición la capacidad de hacer campaña. Todos estos movimientos han mostrado a otros líderes con aspiraciones autoritarias lo que pueden hacer a medida que el orden democrático liberal pierde su influencia.En ese contexto, la invasión rusa de Ucrania es parte de una prueba más amplia: si la erosión global de la democracia continuará sin control. Traducción al español -> Google Translación

“… son regímenes que usan los medios de la democracia, sus instrumentos, y van deconstruyendo los rasgos liberales, preservando solo aquellos que pueden controlar, lo que ha hecho Orbán en Hungría, y lo que Trump quería hacer aquí y no pudo. Es decir, el enemigo de las democracias liberales en este momento no son la izquierda o la derecha solamente, sino los autoritarismos de cualquier signo ideológico”. Por María Isabel Puerta Riera/ Entrevista por Rafael Osío Cabrices. Texto Completo-> Cinco8

The reality is that most Latin American countries have weak institutions and lack the rule of law, meaning that defending democracy becomes more a practice of passive acquiescence to authoritarian leaders for fear of “weakening democracy.” Meanwhile, in this century, the region’s neo-authoritarian leaders have all come to power through the ballot box, only to quickly reform the democratic system by rewriting the constitution.. By Joseph Humire. Full Text -> TheNationalInterest

TRaducción de cortesía -> La realidad es que la mayoría de los países latinoamericanos tienen instituciones débiles y carecen del estado de derecho, lo que significa que defender la democracia se convierte más en una práctica de aquiescencia pasiva a los líderes autoritarios por temor a “debilitar la democracia”. Mientras tanto, en este siglo, todos los líderes neoautoritarios de la región llegaron al poder a través de las urnas, solo para reformar rápidamente el sistema democrático reescribiendo la constitución. Para traducir el texto original recomendamos -> Google Translación

What also unites these regimes is a track record of using crises to accelerate the erosion of institutional checks on their power. With a global pandemic now raging, all three are signaling that they plan to exploit the current emergency. A number of other countries are poised to do so as well — most alarmingly. By Michael Abramowitz and Arch Puddington. Ful text -> Los Angeles Times