Hugo Chavez has tossed out a controversial intelligence decree that would have forced Venezuelans to become informants and spy on their neighbors or face prison time, the AP reported.
President Chavez says the National Assembly will draft a new law from scratch in response to resounding criticism.
He says "errors" were made in the decree that must now be corrected. But he denies that his government is on the defensive. He said Tuesday that this is a simple matter of fixing a mistake.