August 31, 2007
Venezuela's Constitutional Reform remains subject to the will of the people
Published by VHeadline.com
By Luis Britto García

"Presidential Comission for Constitutional Reform member Luis Britto García writes: In December 1999, the Venezuelan people took on a new venture: approving a new Constitution through universal, direct and secret election. Seven years later, the march towards the XXI Century Socialism creates the need to eradicate some neoliberal infiltrations from the Constitution, as well as to provide the people with power to create a new society.

President Hugo Chávez has proposed a constitutional reform, which will also be subject to the Venezuelan people's will.

The main topics are summarized here below:

Territory and geographical space

For the last decades, a neoliberal decree imposed an absence of territorial awareness, decentralization and strategic weakness over our countries. The proposed reform reshapes the torn urban space of the Republic's capital city, and brings the Distrito Federal (Federal District) back to life.

To guarantee security, defense and development, it also includes the creation of new entities, such as special military regions (Article 11), cities, provinces, federal territories and districts, and island districts (Article 15). Likewise, the reform proposes the creation of a primary territorial unity around a city, settlement comprised by communes, which are formed by communities.

Elections and participation

Grassroots protagonism is the foundation of the process. The reform orders that candidates for popular-elected posts must be elected from the grassroots, and allows the State to finance electoral activities, as well as legislate on financing, use of public spaces and access to the media during campaigns.

Likewise, it prohibits financing political associations or participants in electoral processes with funds or resources coming from foreign governments, and public or private bodies (Article 67). In my opinion, it should go further and penalize it.

The reform also widens the people's sphere of participation, letting them exercise their sovereignty to build socialism: election of public officers, referendum, popular consultation, revoking posts, legislative initiatives, open council meetings, assemblies of citizens, Councils of Popular Power (community councils, workers' councils, students' councils, peasants' councils, among others), democratic management of workers in companies of direct or indirect social property, community self-management, community financial organizations, communal property cooperatives, free-associated producers networks, volunteer work, community companies and other forms of associations to develop values such as cooperation and socialist solidarity (Article 70). The reform proposes to extend the presidential term to seven years, and states that the President of the Republic can be immediately reelected for a new term (Article 230).

Social and working rights

A participating people can not be unprotected. The reform includes social security to independent workers such as taxi drivers, merchants, craftsmen and women among others, thanks to the contribution they will make together with the state to nourish a Fund of Social Stability for Independent Workers (Article 87).

Likewise, it proposes improving the standard of living as Article 90 states that the daytime working day will not exceed six hours per day or thirty six hours per week, and the night working day will not exceed six hours per day or thirty four per week.

Culture

The reform's Article 100 acknowledges that the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is the historical product of a meeting point of several cultures, thus the State acknowledges the diversity of its expressions and takes into account indigenous, European and African roots giving rise to our great South American nation. Therefore, popular cultures, such as indigenous and African making up the Venezuelan way of life, enjoy special attention. acknowledging them and respecting their cross-cultural nature based on the principle of cultural equality.

Economic Model

A complete social life requires a socialist economy. The reform's Article 112 states an intermediate, diversified and independent Productive Economic Model, based on humanistic values such as cooperation and the importance of common interests over individual ones thus meeting the social and material needs of the people, and achieving the greatest possible measure of political stability, social security and happiness.

Likewise, the Republic will foster and develop different forms of companies and economic units of social property, being they direct or communal, and indirect or state-owned. These companies may be jointly owned by the State, the private sector, and community power, thus creating the better conditions aimed at the collective and cooperative construction of Socialist Economy.

Article 113 categorically prohibits monopolies, and states that the State can reserve the exploitation of natural resources or any other strategic assets as property of the Nation, as well as offering vital public services.

The State can still grant concessions for a certain period to manage the good property of the Nation and other public services. This creates a need to implement restrictive measures regarding this issue.

Private, collective, social and public property

A new XXI Century Socialism needs new forms of property. Reform Article 115 acknowledges:

1) Public property, which belongs to bodies of the State.
2) Social property, which belongs to the people as a whole and future generations; it can be indirect, exercised by the State on behalf of the community; direct, whose nature is communal when the State assigns it to the communities, or communes; or the citizen's, when it is assigned to cities.
3) Collective property, which belongs to social groups or people so that they can use them.
4) Joint property, comprising the public, social, collective and private sectors in different combinations to use resources or carry out activities by respecting the Nation's economic and social sovereignty.
5) Private property, belonging to legal entities or individuals, is acknowledged and exercised in capital or consumer goods, as well as legally acquired means of production.

Public Power

New arrangements for productive forces and production relations require a reshaping of powers. Reform Article 136 acknowledges an additional power: Popular Power, expressed by groups of individuals organized in communities, communes and city self-governments through community councils, workers' councils, peasants' councils, students' councils and other bodies provided by law. Article 141 grants Constitutional authority to one of the Venezuelan process' main instruments: missions, which are acknowledged as organizations meeting urgent necessities, demanding special systems that will be managed and organized by regulations.

Economy and public finance

The reform seeks to extend and strengthen control over our national wealth. Article 156, Section 17 grants the National Power 'the management of mines and liquid, solid and gas hydrocarbons, uncultivated lands, the preservation, development and exploitation of forests, soil and water, salt mines and other elements of the country's natural wealth.

Likewise, it also allows for the 'management and development of non-metallic minerals to be granted to states' and prohibits the Government from granting mining concessions for an undefined time.

It acknowledges the new nature of salt mines, which were unconstitutionally privatized by Governor Ramon Martinez, as national public assets.

Control over regional administrations

Section 13 of article 156 confirms that taxes are a national legal reserve and can not be attributed by State Law or municipal regulation: thus the anarchy that tried to divide the Republic into 20 antagonist tax systems.

Section 22 assign the macroeconomic, financial and tax policies to the National Power of the Venezuelan Republic; as well as tax control, which allows reorganizing control of state or municipal taxation that was mostly dominated by institutions.

Apart from granting National Power control over the national system of navigation and air, land, sea, river and lake transport; ports, airports and its infrastructure; Section 27 reassigns conservation, administration and use of highways and national roads, that had been used by local government leaders for toll revenues.

The administration must be integrated with the people's power, some of which have constitutional status.

Article 184 establishes that a national Law will create mechanisms so that the National Power, the states and municipalities decentralize the services they administrate and transfer to organized Communities and Communal Councils, Communities among others. It would be necessary for organic laws to specify the terms of this important and useful cooperation.

Regional Finance

Article 167 establishes that State, Federal Territory ; Federal Municipality , Communities and the Federal District budget will be provided with a minimum of 25% of the ordinary incomes established in the Annual Budget Law. The States will set aside a minimum of 50% of the amount assigned to investment. The Municipalities of each State will have -- in every tax contribution -- a participation of not less than 25% of the budget and the rest of the ordinary incomes of the State.

Monetary Policy and Reserves

The reform in the Article 318 eliminates the autonomy of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) for the formulation of its policies and states that they will be attached to the economic general policy and the Development General Plan. It also establishes that the BCV will share the creation and implementation of exchange and monetary policy with the Executive; as well as currency regulation, credits and the establishment of interest rates. International reserves will be administrated by the BCV under the administration of the President.

Agriculture Reform

Political control of the land represents sovereignty, and its social control, socialism. Thus, the reform of Article 305 grants rights to the State to assume sectors of agriculture, livestock, fish production, and intends to auto-stock up.

Article 307 categorically bans land state and assumes the transfer of lands and non-productive lands to institutions and public companies or social property.

Likewise, it recognizes the private property of peasants and other farmers; it defines the State as the booster of social land property and proposes the creation of taxes on productive lands where the owners do not make them produce.

In addition, it widens a range of actions to seize funds, in case where landowners carry out irreversible acts of environment destruction; use them to produce psychotropic substances or drugs, People Trafficking or allow them to be used to commit crimes against the security and defense of the nation.

Armed Forces

For a society with new principles, new defense strategies Article 328 omits the apolitical aspect that is usually assigned to the Bolivarian Armed Force (FAB) and explains its patriotic, popular and anti-imperialist ideal; the FAB was assigned participation in the popular war of resistance, control of citizen security and active participation in economic, social, scientific and technological development plans for the nation. It also bans all the things that can be at the service of the oligarchy or imperial foreign power.

Article 329 adds the Navy, Air Force and National Guard to the traditional Army and orders that they have to be organized by combined units of training and joint operations. The popular Army and people's defense represent the guarantee of a people's revolution.

The (Venezuelan) people have the decision".