Report: Chavez has weakened human rights

CARACAS, Venezuela, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- In a decade as president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez has weakened institutions that protect the country's citizens, Human Rights Watch said Thursday.

The group released a 230-page report, "A Decade Under Chavez: Political Intolerance and Lost Opportunities for Advancing Human Rights in Venezuela." The report examines the impact of the Chavez presidency on the courts, news media, civil society and labor unions.

"Ten years ago, Chavez promoted a new constitution that could have significantly improved human rights in Venezuela," said Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. "But rather than advancing rights protections, his government has since moved in the opposite direction, sacrificing basic guarantees in pursuit of its own political agenda."

The report found that the president has used the 2002 coup to justify attacks on the independence of the judiciary, the press and other institutions.