The Parliament of Venezuela approved this Wednesday a new regulation to regulate the Venezuelan Red Cross (CRV), a legislative step that has generated debate due to the way in which it defines the role of this humanitarian organization within the country.
The law, which was supported in the ordinary session, establishes as the “main function” of the Red Cross “to act as an auxiliary to the Public Power in humanitarian matters” in situations of disasters, health emergencies, armed conflicts and other eventualities.
One of the most discussed points in the chamber was the inclusion of an article that states that, in the event of “shock or internal conflict,” the institution “has the duty to help the medical services of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB),” although it is clarified that this collaboration will be “strictly humanitarian and neutral.”
Despite this nuance, the proposal was received with criticism from an opposition deputy, José Correa Torres, who questioned that the use of the expression “auxiliary of the Public Power” could imply an “interpretation of hierarchical subordination”, which, according to him, could blur the independence of the institution.
Parliament guarantees autonomy of the Red Cross
In defense of the initiative, the president of Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, replied that the law itself contemplates the autonomy of the Red Crossand stressed that the volunteers and staff of the organization “do not have the status of government agents, maintaining their independence, neutrality and impartiality.”
Rodríguez also rejected the view of subordination and defended that the legal framework provides legal clarity about the role of the organization in the country.
Another criticism from Correa Torres was related to the term “duty” applied to the FANB’s medical assistance, since, in his opinion, “there is a problem with the use of the word duty because international humanitarian law requires neutrality towards all parties.”
The legislative project not only regulates the function of the Venezuelan Red Cross, but also explicitly recognizes that its members and volunteers are not part of the state apparatus.
This advance occurs in a context in which the institution was judicially intervened in August 2023 by order of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), a few days after the Prosecutor’s Office initiated an investigation against the then president of the organization, Mario Villarroel, for alleged mistreatment and harassment of members of the entity.
Villarroel rejected the accusations, describing them as “dishonest,” and considered the intervention, which included the appointment of a new board by the judicial body, “illegal.”
With information from Efe.
