EL UNIVERSAL

President Hugo Chávez late Wednesday made it clear that his intended changes to the Venezuelan Constitution would be introduced by means of a constitutional reform rather than a Constituent Assembly.

However, he claimed that such changes would be subject to referendum for approval by Venezuelans, adding that such consultation could take place by the end of the year.

"We will have to conduct a national referendum. This cannot be more democratic, as at the end of the day people have the last word. By the end of this year, we should be holding a referendum nationwide."

Chávez' remarks came during a ceremony to invest the members of the Presidential Council for Constitutional Reform, headed by the National Assembly (AN) Chair Cilia Flores (ruling party MVR) and comprising the AN second vice-president Roberto Hernández (Communist Party of Venezuela), and lawmakers Carlos Escarrá, Noelí Pocaterra, Ricardo Sanguino and Earle Herrera, as well as Luisa Estela Morales, a justice of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ), the Venezuelan Ombudsman Germán Mundaraín, the Minister of Labor José Ramón Rivero, Solicitor General Gladys Gutiérrez, author Luis Brito García, jurist Jesús Martínez, and Attorney General Isaías Rodríguez.

According to Chávez, his intended constitutional changes are not to affect the structure of the current Constitution and, therefore, a Constituent Assembly is not necessary. However, he vowed that once the reform is completed -following approval of the new articles by the Legislature-, he is to convene a referendum.

During the ceremony, transmitted in a mandatory broadcast on radio and TV nationwide, Chávez also designated the members of is special cabinet to draft an Enabling Law he is submitting to the National Assembly. The taskforce is headed by Executive Vice-President Jorge Rodríguez and includes the Minister of Planning Jorge Giordani, the Minister of Telecommunications Jesse Chacón, the Minister of Light Industries and Commerce María Cristina Iglesias, the Minister of Finance Rodrigo Cabezas, the Minister of Science and Technology Héctor Navarro, the Minister of Labor José Ramón Rivero and the Solicitor General Gladys Gutiérrez.

The Venezuelan ruler explained that both the constitutional reform and the Enabling Law are processes that are running simultaneously and interacting with each other. "They should act as a single team because we may need a law requiring a constitutional reform. The process of the Enabling Law is to feed the constitutional reform and vice versa. Once the reform is passed, we will have a new Constitution. This is the reason why we have extended the term to 18 months, in order to draft a new set of laws within the new constitutional framework."

Further, in his speech Chávez hinted he would likely change the lyrics of the Venezuelan national anthem. Besides, he swore in the Council of Communal Power, another body that will be headed by Vice-President Rodríguez, and which also comprises the Minister of Social Participation and Development David Velásquez, the Minister of Indigenous Communities Nicia Maldonado, the Minister of Popular Economy Pedro Morejón, the Minister of Culture Farruco Sesto, the Minister of Light Industries and Commerce María Cristina Iglesias, the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Yubirí Ortega, the Chair of the Fund for Micro-Financial Development Margaut Godoy, social leaders Santiago Arconada and Fidele Franco Manrique, and the commander of the national military reserve General Gustavo Rangel.

"We are dropping an atomic bomb called communal power. Let us be careful not to let communal councils become a mechanism for transfer of funds only."

Translated by Maryflor Suárez R.
msuarez@eluniversal.com