Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of a Bill proposed in the Venezuelan parliament to regulate the financing of non-governmental organisations.

The UK firmly supports the right of civil society to operate freely in all countries, including Venezuela. Recent years have seen a worrying deterioration of the human rights situation in Venezuela, where the Maduro regime has used force against peaceful protesters; stifled media freedom; carried out arbitrary detentions and harassed journalists and human rights defenders. We have on frequent occasions made clear our concern for the Venezuelan people and that we consider the regime in large part responsible for the economic and humanitarian crises afflicting the country.