Venezuelan parliament has approved Sunday a law on the "fight against imperialist powers", which grants special authorities to President Nicolas Maduro in order to guarantee peace and stability in the country, El Mundo reported.
According to the approved legislation, Venezuela's president has a right to legislate by decrees in order to safeguard sovereignty, territorial intergrity and "protect people from foreign interference and actions of warmongers."
Earlier, Maduro said this move was needed in the wake of sanctions imposed by the United States against Venezuelan high-ranking officials freezing their assets and banning them from entering the US. President Barack Obama described the "erosion" of human rights guarantees in Venezuela as an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to American security.
The decision was made by the parliamentary majority of the National Assembly governed by United Socialist Party of Venezuela.
In December 2014, Washington imposed sanctions against Venezuelan officials who were allegedly involved in suppressing anti-government protests in February that same year. Caracas accused Washington of attempting to topple the Venezuelan government and responded with limits to the size of the US diplomatic mission in the country.
