Caracas, Venezuela - August 22, 2024

[Note: video contains Spanish language]

The president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Jorge Rodriguez, proposed this Thursday that a new law on political parties prohibit any person considered “fascist” from being a candidate for elected office.

Rodriguez defined “fascists” as those who call for coups d'etat, foreign invasions or assassinations of public figures. “At least in Venezuela, a fascist cannot be a candidate,” he insisted during the parliamentary session.

The definition that the Venezuelan government gives to fascism differs from that given by academics and historians, who describe it as a movement that emerged in Europe in the 20th century, defends nationalist militarism, is opposed to electoral democracy and political liberalism and strives for the dominance of the elites. On the other hand, the Venezuelan government defines it as the ideological position that “assumes violence as a method of political action” and opposes its approaches.