Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will hold discussions with his Venezuelan counterpart on the potential impact of the Law on Control, Regularization, Operations and Financing of Non-Governmental and Related Organisation on independent NGOs in the country.

In line with several other countries, the UK continues not to accept the legitimacy of the administration put in place by Nicolás Maduro. The UK firmly supports the right of civil society to operate freely in all countries, including Venezuela. We remain concerned about the worrying deterioration of the human rights situation in Venezuela. The Maduro regime continues to stifle media freedom, carry out arbitrary detentions and harass journalists and human rights defenders. The UK is closely monitoring the proposed law on control, regularization, operations and financing of non-governmental and related organisations, which would limit further the civil and democratic space. We raised our concern about the proposed bill at the UN Human Rights Council in March 2023. We urge the Venezuelan regime to undertake constructive dialogue with civil society to ensure that the proposed law is compatible with freedom of association, freedom of expression and the right to political participation.