The most surprising thing about the
new proposal by Chavismo to suddenly insert into the proposed
Constitutional reform, the removal of due process and the right of
information whenever a state of exception were to be declared, is that
anyone was surprised by it.
The whole project of
the reform has been mired by illegalities, manipulation and the lack of
scruples that characterizes the robolution. From the fact that the
reform modifies fundamental principles of the Constitution, simply by
defying Venezuela as a socialist state is a very fundamental change
which would require a Constituent Assembly, to now sneaking into it,”
new” and “improved” facets, proves how the reform is being used to
please the autocrat and his comrades, and now to introduce without much
discussion concepts which will help solidify the autocracy with legal
instruments.
It was simply cynical of the President of the Assembly
to argue
that these mechanisms would stop conspirators and couspters, a s if
people have forgotten how Chavez forced a nationwide “cadena” in 2002,
while people were being killed in the streets, attempting to illegally
withhold from the people the same right of information that he now
wants to be able to remove anytime that he unilaterally deems it
necessary.
The same way that the proposed reform
is unilaterally being manipulated at each step as the revolutionaries
find they want to redefined what they wish to do, irrespective of
whether it is legal or not or whether it can even be done.
Thus,
what began as an illegal and rigid change in the Constitution continues
to be illegal but all of a sudden Chavismo wants to introduce new
reforms, after the project was already discussed twice. These reforms
are major, thus by law, the whole project should have to be sent for a
new first discussion, but this would upset the timetable established by
the autocrat of having it approved before year’s end.
Similarly
the early rigidity that it was a single proposal to be considered as a
unit has now been forgotten, while retaining the desired rigidity on
how it will be approved as a unit by the “people”, all in the name of
democracy.
And indeed these are very dangerous
changes being inserted into the Venezuelan Constitution, but this is
nothing new, so why be surprised by it? The whole proposal is aimed at
concentrating more power on the autocrat, diminishing democratic rights
and insuring that Chavez can bend the country’s economic future into
his ill defined, unknown and certainly to be disastrous XXIst. Century
Socialism. Disastrous, because when you leave aside economic knowledge,
innovate without any basis and concentrate all decisions in the hands
of an ignorant autocrat that thinks he knows everything, nothing good can come
out at the end.
And thus we will go from
surprise to surprise between now and the Constitutional referendum,
after which there will be newer, better and improved surprises that
should at last wake up those that still think this is a democracy or
private property rights will be respected.
