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Venezuelans to vote on People's Power

Bolivar Avenue in the center of Caracas was once again covered in a sea of red on Nov. 4 as 100,000 Venezuelans demonstrated in support of the Bolivarian Revolution. Red is the color of the revolution and is worn to indicate allegiance to the “proceso.” Venezuelans refer to a person’s political affiliation as “with or against the process.”

That day launched the “Campaign for the Yes,” a political campaign to educate and mobilize the people to vote on Dec. 2 for reform of the 1999 Constitution. The choices are “Yes” to approve the reform and “No” to disapprove. This reform is the legal, electoral vehicle to put into practice the changes needed to deepen the revolution and steer it towards a socialist path—the political platform on which Hugo Chávez won his last election by a 61 percent vote.

On Aug. 15 Chávez presented his project for constitutional reform to the National Assembly (NA). It contained 33 changes. On Nov. 2, when the NA submitted its proposal to the National Electoral Council, the number of changes had jumped to 69. This was the result of intense debates within the NA, including proposals submitted to the legislative body from social groups and organizations.

If the reform passes on Dec. 2, Venezuela’s Constitution will be the most advanced in Latin America, with the exception of revolutionary Cuba. It will transfer and guarantee power to the people, making participatory democracy a strong vehicle by, among other things, restructuring local government to facilitate the revolutionary organization of various social formations and the government funding of communal projects proposed and directed by the people themselves.

This territorial restructuring, according to the text of the Reform Project, includes the establishment of communes, which “will constitute the basic and indivisible territorial nucleus of the Venezuelan Socialist State where the citizens will have the power to construct their own geography and history.”

Among other changes: the government will have a larger role in the Central Bank; diversity will be recognized, including rights for gays and people with disabilities, and discrimination will be prohibited; the president will serve a term of seven years instead of the present six and can be re-elected as many times as the people want; the work day will be reduced from eight to six hours and the voting age will be lowered to 16.

The development of a socialist structure in all institutions and the recognition of Poder Popular (People’s Power) in all areas of the government apparatus exist throughout the Reform Project.

There is a special section on international relations. A paragraph in Article 152 states, “The exterior policy of the Republic should orient itself in an active way towards the configuration of a pluripolar world, free from the hegemony of any center of imperialist, colonialist or neocolonialist power.”

Article 302 addresses the rich resources of the country: “For reasons of sovereignty, national development and interests, the state earmarks for itself the activities of exploration and exploitation of liquid, solid or gaseous hydrocarbons ... especially those in the Orinoco strip.”

In general, these reforms increase the potential for autonomy and sovereignty of the nation—key goals of the Bolivarian Revolution, in order to further development on behalf of the masses and attain social justice.

It is not surprising, then, that Washington, the Venezuelan pro-imperialist oligarchy and their stooges would be especially infuriated with these proposals. The opposition both inside and outside Venezuela has used the media to air charges of a “constitutional coup,” “the loss of freedom and civil rights,” and that President Chávez will be “dictator for life.”

They are particularly angered by the proposed changes in the presidential elections, as if Chávez is the only president in the world to propose this. A good response was given by Giusto Catania, vice president of the Commission for Freedom of the European Parliament. He said, “This constitutional reform absolutely responds to European standards. In almost every European country exists the possibility that a president of a republic, elected by the people, or a prime minister, can repeat his mandate indefinitely. It happens in Spain, France, Great Britain and Italy.” (www.guengl.org)

On Nov. 1, a group of opposition students went to the NA demanding the reform be delayed. After deputies in the NA cordially received their written demands, the students left in anger and chained themselves to the NA’s gate as part of an opposition demonstration. Rocks, bottles and other objects were thrown at the police and attempts were made to set ablaze police cars. When it was over, seven plastic bottles filled with gasoline were found on the street. The right-wing media gave the protest extensive coverage.

On Oct. 29, Carolus Wimmer, a member of the Latin-American Parliament and of the Venezuelan Communist Party, had denounced U.S. plans to stop Venezuela’s constitutional reform. He stated that “senior United States officials met with Venezuelan opposition groups in Prague between Oct. 7 and 9 to demand that the Venezuelan opposition ask the Supreme Court to consider the proposed reforms as a ‘constitutional coup’ and that they should call for social upheaval, organize acts of economic sabotage against infrastructure, destroy the food transport and delivery chain ... and organize a military coup with all means possible, including bloodshed by means of Colombian paramilitaries infiltrated in Venezuela.” (Venezuelanalysis, Diario VEA, Tribuna Popular)