Venezuelan parliament divided over amnesty bill

Lawmakers of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's governing alliance on Thursday rejected an amnesty bill proposed by the opposition over concerns that it might free a number of what the opposition says are political prisoners.

Great Patriotic Pole (GPP) lawmaker Hector Rodriguez said in the National Assembly that the bill pushed by the majority lawmakers of the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) "would create impunity in the country."

The debate over this bill is centered around whether a number of right-wing political supporters were jailed rightfully or not.

The Maduro government contends that those people were jailed for inciting riots, which left at least 44 people dead in 2014 and 2015.

The MUD argues that these prisoners were jailed for political motives, vowing to free them. "Venezuela is demanding peace and reconciliation, which is why we must pass this amnesty," said MUD member Delsa Solorzano.

However, GPP lawmaker Ileana Mendina believes this amnesty bill would violate the Venezuelan Constitution by freeing those "who committed crimes against community."

"There are many families who visit relatives in the cemetery or in hospitals, and the victims would not forgive these people," Rodriguez added. Endi