(El Universal) - "Former Venezuelan Vice-President José Vicente Rangel thinks that the draft changes to the Constitution submitted by President Hugo Chávez are the implementation of the legal instrument enacted in 1999.

He made his remarks on leaving a meeting held with the members of the joint taskforce appointed by the National Assembly (AN) to explore the Constitution.

'The President's draft reform is in line with the 1999 Constitution and the implementation of the constitutional fundamental principles. I think that it is the most important stance that should be taken.'

He said no proposal was made to the taskforce because he agreed with all the items included in the President's initiative. The meeting, he added, dealt with delimiting from the historical and ideological viewpoints.

'At this present time, two ideological positions are being discussed -the stance of opposition sectors that are against the reform and the sectors that back, both the 1999 Constitution and the revolutionary process, and this is shown in the constitutional reform,' he said".