Editing Venezuela (section)

===Human rights===
{{Main|Human rights in Venezuela}}
Human rights organizations such as [[Human Rights Watch]] and [[Amnesty International]] have increasingly criticized Venezuela's human rights record, with the former organization noting in 2017 that the Chavez and subsequently the Maduro government have increasingly concentrated power in the executive branch, eroded constitutional human rights protections and allowed the government to persecute and repress its critics and opposition.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2017/country-chapters/venezuela|title=World Report 2017: Rights Trends in Venezuela|date=12 January 2017|website=Human Rights Watch|access-date=4 April 2021|archive-date=11 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511173224/https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2017/country-chapters/venezuela|url-status=live}}</ref> Other persistent concerns as noted by the report included poor prison conditions, the continuous [[Mass media in Venezuela|harassment of independent media]] and human rights defenders by the government. In 2006, the [[Economist Intelligence Unit]] rated Venezuela a "hybrid regime" and the third least democratic regime in Latin America on the [[Democracy Index]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.eiu.com/public/topical_report.aspx?campaignid=DemocracyIndex12 |title=Democracy Index 2012 |website=www.eiu.com |access-date=4 April 2021 |archive-date=19 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519022602/https://www.eiu.com/public/topical_report.aspx?campaignid=DemocracyIndex12 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Democracy index downgraded Venezuela to an authoritarian regime in 2017, citing continued increasingly dictatorial behaviors by the Maduro government.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://pages.eiu.com/rs/753-RIQ-438/images/Democracy_Index_2017.pdf?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWkRKbU1HWmxNVEUwTW1FdyIsInQiOiJPdlltVFV0blFRQzZNVERCZHhVeitZRElmUGplOHh3NWs1d2wzVzdRS1JvNU1kVmUxQVRESU9LbEVSOVwvR1F4aG1PV1NlS0ZZcng4NzBcLzVNZ09JOUxiZU5TTEVPekVHayttOTRqQkQ5TkNzWGN08RlowQTZ0UzlUK0pDdm9PVGlcLyJ9|title=Democracy Index 2017|access-date=5 April 2021|archive-date=19 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819182057/http://pages.eiu.com/rs/753-RIQ-438/images/Democracy_Index_2017.pdf?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWkRKbU1HWmxNVEUwTW1FdyIsInQiOiJPdlltVFV0blFRQzZNVERCZHhVeitZRElmUGplOHh3NWs1d2wzVzdRS1JvNU1kVmUxQVRESU9LbEVSOVwvR1F4aG1PV1NlS0ZZcng4NzBcLzVNZ09JOUxiZU5TTEVPekVHayttOTRqQkQ5TkNzWGN08RlowQTZ0UzlUK0pDdm9PVGlcLyJ9|url-status=live}}</ref>