2007 Venezuelan constitutional referendum

Protesters set a poster on reform

Preparations for the election Venezuelan

A constitutional referendum will be held in Venezuela on 2 December 2007 to ammend a 69 articles to the constitution, with the intent to enable the first stages towards socialism and overthrowing capitalism.

The proposed reforms include abolishing presidential term limits, increasing presidential terms from six to seven years, removing the central bank autonomy, and empowering community and worker councils with legal and constitutional rights and recognition. Article 70 states workers' councils will enable workers to democratically manage any enterprise that is direct or indirect social property. The changes will also lower the voting age to 16 and institute a six-hour work day. There are 69 constitutional amendments in the referendum in total, 33 of which were proposed by Hugo Chavez and an additional 36 by the National Assembly of Venezuela.

Preliminary process

File:Raul isaias baduel.jpg

Raúl Isaías Baduel, former Minister of Defense and until recently one the closest allies of President Chávez, expresses his concerns over the approval of the reform.

The reform has to be approved thrice by parliament; the first vote was successfully held on 21 August 2007, the second vote on 11 September 2007 and the third vote on 25 October 2007. Final approval was given on 3 November 2007.

In November 2007, demonstrations arose in Caracas and six other cities, along with severe rioting by opposition students over the proposed constitutional changes. The number of people demonstrating reached an estimated 40,000. On November 8, after an opposition march, around 250 students surrounded the School of Social Work, a centre of pro Chavez activities on the university, on the campus of the Central University of Venezuela. Throwing molotov cocktails and stones, destroying toilets and burning the door of the Student Centre. Around 150 bolivarian students were held captive inside[1]. Live footage was cought on tape [2]and aired on state TV unedited, after students trapped inside were able to call the station. Opposition TV stations reported masked chavista gunmen fired on the crowd. Government officials said the media was partly to blame for inciting discontent and disorder.

In a meeting with trade unionists on November 22 from Union Bolivariana de Trabajadores (UBT), Fuerza Bolivariana de Trabajadores (FBT) and Fuerza Socialista (FS) as well as student activists, Hugo Chavez stated that 46% of the 2008 budget will be allocated to social projects and infrastructure, with 5% of it being directed by community councils[3].

On Novemeber 29 it is estimated that "tens of thousands" marched for the "NO" vote in the final mass march by the opposition before the election, though an opposition politician estimated the crowd at 160,000. Marisabel Rodríguez, Chávez ex-wife, has called the proposed changes an attempt to achieve “an absolute concentration of power”. Raúl Isaías Baduel, former Minister of Defense and one the four founding members of the MBR-200, express his concern by describing the reform as "nothing less than an attempt to establish a socialist state in Venezuela...(which) is contrary to the beliefs of Simón Bolívar and it is also contrary to human nature and the Christian view of society, because it grants the state absolute control over the people it governs"..

On Novemeber 26 Venezuelan authorities claimed a CIA memorandum, authored by Michael Middleton Steere, dated November 20, had been obtained and made public. The supposed document was discussed and read on Venezuelan state TV, Chavez has announced that if this operation was activated or specific portions were to be activated in the future, he would cut all oil shipments to the US. US officials have denied the claim calling it "rediculous"..

Polls

While the referendum is expected to pass, polls from November saw very close results. A poll on November 2007 by Keller & Asociados concluded that the "NO" vote will win with 45%, over the "YES" vote with 31%; about 65% of elegible people plan to vote. Reportedly, some moderate Hugo Chávez backers are likely to vote "NO" despite their support for him.

External links

• Forero, Juan (November 30 2007). "Chavez Opposition Swells Ahead of Referendum". NPR. Retrieved 2007-12-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Gould, Jens Erik (November 29 2007). "Venezuela's Fateful Coice". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-12-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Gould, Jens Erik (November 29 2007). "Venezuelan President's Power Extends to His Family". NPR. Retrieved 2007-12-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Ingham, James (November 30 2007). "Chavez puts reforms to the test". BBC News. Retrieved 2007-12-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Padgett, Tim (November 29 2007). "Challenging Chavez in the Streets". Time magazine. Retrieved 2007-12-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Romero, Simon (November 30 2007). "In Chávez Territory, Signs of Dissent". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-12-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Strange, Hannah (November 30 2007). "100,000 march against Hugo Chavez reforms". Times Online. Retrieved 2007-12-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)