Venezuela grants Chavez power to rule by decree

CARACAS – Venezuelan lawmakers on Friday granted President Hugo Chavez extraordinary legislative powers to govern the country by decree for the next 18 months. Applause broke out as the heavily pro-government national assembly approved the measure just three weeks after the opposition made landmark gains to take 40 percent of seats — 67 out of 165 — in the new assembly from January. The new legislature will end the unhindered advantage the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela has enjoyed for five years in passing laws, after opposition parties boycotted the 2005 elections and were shut out of the process. The new law…

Go here to see the original:

Venezuela grants Chavez power to rule by decree

Posted by on December 18, 2010. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry