In Venezuela, new laws draw criticism from opposition

CARACAS — (AP) — Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez has approved a series of laws by decree, drawing criticism from the country’s opposition.

Vice President Elias Jaua said in an appearance on television that the laws approved by Chavez include one giving local communities greater control over certain services, such as maintenance of schools and medical clinics, and providing them with more funding for such services.

Jaua said that 11 decrees were approved at a Cabinet meeting, and that they also included measures dealing with housing and farming loans, as well as restructuring the coun- try’s force.

Venezuela’s opposition coalition protested the decrees in a statement, saying that “Chavez wants to keep shattering the rule of law.”

Jaua said the laws were the latest of 54 decrees enacted by Chavez using a socalled “Enabling Law,” under which lawmakers temporarily granted the president special lawmaking powers in December 2010. Chavez mentioned some of the decrees on television and noted that his 18-month lawmaking period expired over the weekend.

The laws were enacted just as Chavez stepped up his public appearances following cancer treatment while running for reelection.

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The measures didn’t appear to entail dramatic changes to government policies. Chavez’s government, for instance, has already organized neighborhood “communal councils” that receive government money for projects such as paving roads and fixing power lines.

The opposition coalition, however, expressed concern that the measure granting more funding and authority to neighborhood groups seemed aimed at weakening the powers of state and local governments, many of which are controlled by Chavez opponents.

Jaua defended the decrees, saying one of the aims is to deepen what Chavez calls “participatory democracy.”