Venezuela amnesty bill postponed amid row over application

Venezuelan lawmakers on Thursday postponed the adoption of a landmark amnesty bill designed to end the use of courts to crack down on dissent after failing to reach an agreement on how to apply it.

Members of the National Assembly backed the bill on a first reading last week. Pro-government and opposition lawmakers clashed over an article requiring would-be beneficiaries to appear in court to request the amnesty.

Pro-government lawmaker Iris Varela argued that it was important for beneficiaries to "acknowledge crimes they have committed" before having the cases against them closed. Lawmakers agreed to continue the debate on February 19th.