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A12 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 12 February 2020

A protester from the pro-life group Derecho a Vivir stands outside
the Spanish parliament in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020.
Associated Press
Spanish government

renews efforts to

legalize euthanasia Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido speaks during a visit hosted by Speaker of the House

Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020.
By BARRY HATTON Associated Press
Associated Press Opposition backers in Venezuela
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Spain's new Socialist-led govern-
ment has launched another attempt to legalize euthana- ask what's next for Guaidó
sia and doctor-assisted suicide.
After early elections twice last year thwarted the govern-
ment's efforts to change the law, the Socialist party thinks B Few places in Venezuela Guaidó, 36, is at a critical begun to fade after sev-
this time it has the support needed. have a higher concentra- moment in his year-long eral months when a quick
A parliamentary debate was taking place Tuesday in tion of backers for opposi- campaign to oust Madu- transition failed to material-
Madrid in which the lower house was being asked to ac- tion leader Juan Guaidó ro, which appeared to be ize. Guaidó's effort to spark
cept the Socialists' legislative proposal for consideration. than the campus of the flagging in recent months. a military uprising failed in
The move would open the way for Spain to become Central University of Ven- The opposition leader said April and once-large dem-
the fourth European Union country — after Belgium, Lux- ezuela, a hotbed of anti- in a video circulated on- onstrations by supporters
embourg and the Netherlands —- to allow euthanasia, government sentiment at line late Monday from an thinned. Maduro remains
which is when a doctor kills patients at their request. As the heart of the crisis-torn undisclosed location that firmly in control of all levers
well as those countries, assisted suicide — where patients nation's capital, Caracas. he's planning his return to of government.
administer the lethal drug themselves, under medical su- Students say their expecta- Venezuela. He called on Guaidó's visit to Washing-
pervision — is also permitted in Switzerland and some U.S. tions have soared in recent his countrymen to mobilize. ton revived hopes among
states. If the proposal passes in a vote later Tuesday, it days since U.S. President "Venezuelans have the supporters. He was a sur-
goes to a parliamentary health committee, then to the Donald Trump showered support and respect of the prise guest at Trump's an-
Senate, before returning to the lower house for a final Guaidó with attention on world," Guaidó said. "We've nual State of the Union ad-
vote. There is no fixed timetable for those stages. a stop in Washington. Still, got to come together like dress, where Trump recog-
Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez urged politicians to they're left with questions never before to continue nized Guaidó as the only
move forward quickly. about what comes next for our fight inside and outside "legitimate president of
"We know that many people are waiting, that there is no the challenger following a of Venezuela." Venezuela" and said that
time to lose," Sánchez wrote on his Twitter account. tour of nations that back his This message came three Maduro's hold on power
Both euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide are currently effort to oust socialist lead- weeks after Guaidó qui- "will be smashed and bro-
illegal in Spain, and carry prison sentences of up to eight er Nicolás Maduro. etly slipped out of Venezu- ken." Trump followed that
years. Left-wing parties have tried on a dozen occasions "This country needs more ela to rally international with a 45-minute meeting
since 1997 to pass bills to help facilitate assisted dying. than tours," said medical backing, breaking a travel with Guaidó.
The parliament in Spain's neighbor Portugal, where So- student Edgar Julio, 25, ban imposed by the gov- Eric Farnsworth, Washing-
cialists are also in power, will discuss later this month a seated at an open-air caf- ernment-friendly supreme ton D.C.-based vice presi-
similar proposal to allow euthanasia and assisted suicide. eteria talking with class- court. It included meetings dent of the Americas Soci-
Recent Spanish opinion polls have indicated broad pub- mates. "We need action. with European leaders like ety think tank, said from a
lic support for the left-of-center coalition government's We need answers." British Prime Minister Boris public perspective, Guaidó
plans. The issue has met resistance from conservative pol- On campus, students Johnson, French President may have even exceeded
iticians and the Catholic church. complain of a shortage of Emmanuel Macron and expectations by scoring
The Spanish Bishops' Conference says on its website that teachers due to mass emi- German Chancellor Ange- a coveted White House
euthanasia "is always a kind of murder" and proposes im- gration, and classrooms at la Merkel. This played out meeting, though that pos-
provements to palliative care. That proposal is backed the sprawling campus of- a year after Guaidó an- es risks.
by the conservative Popular Party which, along with far- ten lack electricity and run- nounced he was assuming "You're raising expectations
right party Vox, are the only opposition in parliament to ning water, reflecting dete- interim presidential powers again," Farnsworth said. "If
the Socialist party's proposal. rioration across the nation. as head of the National As- the expectations are raised
The proposed law in Spain would apply to people suffer- "Our position as medical sembly, arguing that Mad- but not met, then you have
ing an incurable condition, with the patient waiting no students is based on what uro's reelection had been a real problem."
longer than a month for the procedure after requesting it. we see every day in the invalid. He won backing White House officials have
The request triggers a consultative process, with the pa- hospital with our patients," from nearly 60 nations, in- piled up sanctions on Ven-
tient's doctor required to obtain a second opinion from a said Julio, noting that pa- cluding the United States, ezuelan officials in attempt
colleague outside his team. After two weeks, the patient tients suffer and die for a his Guaidó's most impor- to pressure Maduro out
must repeat the initial request, which is then forwarded to lack of basic antibiotics. tant international ally. and say they're weighing
a committee for assessment. q "That for us is a sin." The buzz, however, had more.q