The National Assembly approved this Tuesday in its first discussion a bill that aims to safeguard the work of the Venezuelan Red Cross (CRV) and establish a legal framework that prevents future mistreatment and deviations in its operation.
During the parliamentary session, the president of the legislative body, Jorge Rodríguez, justified the initiative with harsh accusations against the previous management of the organization, led by Mario Villarroel for “more than four decades,” describing him as “a true criminal,” while questioning his performance at the head of the institution.
In his words, the legislator assured that the new regulations are necessary to “take care of the Red Cross and, above all, to take care of its service and, mainly, to protect it from those deviations, from those excesses committed by unscrupulous people…”.
Law seeks to safeguard symbols and functions of the Venezuelan Red Cross
The project includes 28 articles aimed at strengthening the protection of the emblem and mission of the Red Cross in Venezuela, as well as preventing the usurpation of its symbols, the misappropriation of functions and the illegal use of benefits that the State recognizes exclusively to this organization.
Jehyson Guzmanpresident of the Education, Health, Science, Technology and Innovation Commission, presented the proposal before the plenary session and highlighted that the initiative also seeks to protect the population from “any situation of vulnerability” and in the midst of “all those warlike threats that loom over” the country.
In addition, Guzmán pointed out that the law seeks to strengthen the coordination of the Red Cross with the National System for Comprehensive Management of Socionatural Risks, especially in the face of the “real and persistent climate crisis” that has affected the nation.
The proposal received the initial support of the deputies and was approved in the first instance. It will now go through a stage of public consultations, after which the legislative commission in charge will prepare a report to submit to the second and final discussion in plenary.
Judicial intervention and accusations
The initiative occurs in the context of a judicial intervention in the Venezuelan Red Cross ordered in August 2023 by the Supreme Court of Justice, after the Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation into the “alleged harassment and mistreatment” of volunteers and workers under the management of Villarroel.
Villarroel openly rejected the accusations, calling them “dishonest,” and considered that the organization’s intervention was “illegal.” The court appointed a new board to restructure the humanitarian entity after Villarroel’s departure.
The bill seeks, ultimately, to formalize a legal framework that supports the humanitarian work of the Red Cross in Venezuela, an institution with more than a century of history in assistance and response to emergencies and social crises.
With information from Efe.
