Venezuela’s Constitutional Reform: Unveiling the Main Axes and Central Actors

This Saturday, February 15th, the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, delivered the proposal for constitutional reform to the President of the National Assembly (AN), Deputy Jorge Rodríguez. The proposal covers three main topics and four modification topics. “There are three vital topics for the debate, plus a point of updating the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela of 1999, in general terms adapted to the new realities of the country,” he said.

From the Elliptical Hall of the Federal Legislative Palace, headquarters of the AN, the head of state pointed out that the Constitutional Reform Project contains almost 80 articles.

He stated that the proposal addresses four key areas for debate:

• • Expansion and improvement of participatory and direct democracy. “It is an effort to build a new democratic state system and incorporate Communal, Social, and Popular Power.”
  • Building a new society, “defining the parameters, values, and principles to be established for a more humane society based on Bolivarianism. We are facing a multi-centered and multi-polar world, and we must move forward in this direction.”
  • A new diversified economic model, “non-dependent and self-sufficient; this model is structural and vital. We have achieved good results through our own efforts. Now, we must advance even further in the construction of a new economy.”
  • Updating the Constitution “in legal, constitutional, and political terms.”

 

“We are ready to open a great national debate, so that Venezuelan society becomes the protagonist of a historic reform, which adapts the 1999 Constitution to the new times, for the advancement of a new era, toward a new modernity… We are at the right moment,” he said.

President Maduro added that this proposal seeks to adapt the 1999 Constitution to the new realities of the country, strengthening participatory and protagonistic democracy, and incorporating Communal Power as a fundamental axis of the State.

He noted that the Draft Constitutional Reform contains 80 articles.

“We are ready to open a great national debate,” said the President, emphasizing the crucial role that Venezuelan society will play in this process. He indicated that the aim is to transform the State system into one that incorporates the voices and needs of Communal, Social, and Popular Power. He pointed out that another topic covered in the proposal is communication, Artificial Intelligence, and everything related to new technologies, as well as issues of physical and mental health.

Constitutional Reform Committee

To this end, the Venezuelan president created and swore in a broad and inclusive national committee, which will be in charge of the consultation process and the preparation of the constituent project for its presentation to the Venezuelan people. This commission will be made up of:

• • Tarek William Saab
  • Delcy Rodríguez
  • Hermann Escarrá
  • Cilia Flores

 

“As the executive secretariat of the national committee, the committee will be chaired by the Attorney General of the Republic, Tarek William Saab,” he announced.

President Maduro also requested that this committee be formed on the basis of the constitutional principle of collaboration of powers:

• • President of the National Assembly, Deputy Jorge Rodríguez.
  • President of the TSJ, Caryslia Rodríguez, and Judge Tania D’Amelio.
  • President of the CNE, Elvis Amoroso.
  • Procurator General of the Republic, Reinaldo Muñoz.
  • Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrino López.
  • Minister Ricardo Menéndez.
  • Minister Ángel Prado.
  • Minister Ernesto Villegas.
  • Minister Gabriela Jiménez.
  • Minister Alfred Nazaret Ñáñez.
  • Minister Eduardo Piñate.

 

Additionally, the committee will include:

• • Jesús Martínez.
  • Pedro Calzadilla.
  • Gustavo Pereira.
  • Grecia Colmenares.
  • Sara Valentina Tabera.
  • Anais Arismendi.
  • Orlando Camacho.
  • Larry Davoe.
  • Noelí Pocaterra.
  • Demetria Casimiro Monasterio.

 

President Maduro gave the committee 90 days to present a project to the country, stating, “so that I can go out on the roads of the country to tell the people that we have a great reform, we are going to advance toward a new, modern, and inclusive, democratic and free society,” he concluded.

 

(Alba Ciudad) by Ana Perdigón with Orinoco Tribune content

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

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