MARÍA DANIELA ESPINOZA
EL UNIVERSAL

Three months and 18 days after he stopped being the Minister of Defense and retired, and following some "reflection," Monday retired General in Chief Raúl Isaías Baduel felt "the moral obligation and duty" to warn Venezuelans against the "dreadful backlash" the proposed changes to the Constitution involve, adding that approval of the reform would amount to a "coup d'etat."

In a news conference, Chávez' former Defense Minister urged the people and particularly his fellow military officers to "assess carefully" the changes both the Venezuelan ruler and the National Assembly have advanced "in a hastily way and through fraudulent procedures."

"I am cautioning the nation, the Venezuelan people to defend our Constitution, not to stay indifferent in the face of this serious issue that will change the life of all the inhabitants of this country. I am calling upon relevant authorities and bodies not to become accomplices of this illicit. The only democratic, legal weapon we have left if voting No (in a referendum on the constitutional reform), and fight against the plans to implement this undemocratic imposition leading to a dreadful backlash," the former minister added.

"Do not be fooled"
Holding the 1999 Constitution in his hand and surrounded by three officers wearing civilian clothes, Baduel arrived in a modest Caracas hotel to speak up against the intended constitutional reform in Venezuela.

In a seven-page paper, Baduel explained that the proposed changes filed with the National Electoral Council (CNE) "are not a constitutional reform, are not a partial review, are not a substitution of some provisions, but they are intended to transform the State and involve a significantly different model of country." Therefore, he claims such modifications should have been the subject "of a more comprehensive debate through a National Constituent Assembly." Baduel boldly stressed that the Executive Branch and the Legislative Power are "usurping roles that do not pertain to them."

"Do not be fooled," he told the Venezuelan people, after he warned that Venezuelan authorities "are making the people believe that the benefits proposed regarding property, labor and others are good for them, in exchange for the people to let the Executive Branch manage both the countries and its wealth."

"The dangerous thing here is not only the fact that the Executive Branch drops the private sector with the alibi of a better distribution of wealth among the people, but also the fact that the Executive Branch sets aside the people, grabbing every possible space meant to be for society," said the former minister.

In his view, the reform under way should have strengthened the model of country as provided under the Constitution in place, rather than "depriving the people from their rights and conferring upon the Executive Branch powers that make it unaccountable to the other powers and to the citizens it rules."
 
"This projected new Constitution promotes polarization and encourages clashes among Venezuelans, as it is absurd to build the new Constitution upon an ideology, rather than upon a social pact agreed to by consensus. Otherwise, the majority will try to change it, even though they have to resort to violent means to do it."

He urged the Venezuelan people "to demand to be told clearly what our future is and not to be deceived with an alleged socialism in the Venezuelan manner."

Baduel refused claims that his statements came as retaliation because he was not appointed as the CEO of state oil conglomerate Pdvsa.

While he stressed he could not act as the spokesman of the National Armed Forces, he stated that "you cannot underrate the capacity of analysis and reasoning of the military."

Translated by Maryflor Suárez R.
Msuarez@eluniversal.com