Venezuela NGOs fear new bill will put stranglehold on civil society

Legislation would force organisations to provide financial records to government with threat of bans for political or security reasons

New legislation proposed by the Venezuelan government to regulate civil society groups would kill the last functioning remnant of the country's democracy and take it a step closer to a police state, leading NGOs have warned.

The bill passed its first reading in the country's legislature on Tuesday and, if approved in a second reading, will obligate NGOs to provide the government with all their financial records so that their political agendas and funding can be scrutinised.