Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Tuesday that he is scrapping plans for a tax increase and will veto a controversial law that critics argued would have dramatically increased government control of universities. The announcements came the night before a new National Assembly takes office with a larger opposition contingent, and amid criticism that Chavez used the outgoing legislature in its final weeks to concentrate his powers and gain new abilities to crack down on dissent.
Chavez said during a televised Cabinet meeting that the law on universities passed by his congressional allies had some weaknesses and he will veto it. He said his willingness to veto the measure after widespread criticism shows Venezuela has a democratic government that "listens and is willing to rectify."
The law on universities was one in a series of measures approved in December by the previous National Assembly, under the overwhelming control of Chavez loyalists. Thousands of students protested in the streets after its approval, saying the law would give too much power to Chavez's education minister and increase controls on universities that have been a bastion of opposition to the president.
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