CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The concentration of power in the executive by President Hugo Chavez’s government and its removal of human rights safeguards have given Venezuelan officials free rein to intimidate, censor and prosecute critics and challengers, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.

The independent advocacy group’s 134-page report, “Tightening the Grip: Concentration and Abuse of Power in Chavez’s Venezuela,” comes four years after its regional director and his deputy were forcibly expelled from Venezuela after presenting a report that reached a similar conclusion.