[NYTr] Venezuela Launches Nationwide Debate on Constitutional Reform

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Venezuelanalysis - August 20, 2007
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=2393


Venezuela Launches Massive Plan to 
Debate Constitutional Reform Proposal

By Kiraz Janicke

Caracas -- A massive debate in all areas of Venezuelan society called
by President Hugo Chavez has begun over his proposed constitutional
reforms. The text of Chavez's proposed changes are being distributed in
hard copy and CD format, house by house.

In order to facilitate discussion of the proposed reforms, the National
Assembly has also launched the National Plan to Debate the
Constitutional Reform. The plan states the objective is ?to activate a
national political debate and the participation of the people in the
process of constitutional reform aimed to strengthen revolutionary
consciousness, stimulate popular mobilization, and guarantee the
sovereign expression of the majority on the occasion of the referendum.?

Four strategic lines of action are outlined in the plan, including
activating ?parliaments of the streets,? a massive information
campaign, promotion of the campaign internationally, and ?formation and
orientation,? in order to encourage a ?yes? vote.

The plan, which has already begun, aims for the formation of 80,000
promoters of the constitutional reforms, for which 200 initiators were
chosen in late July by the National Assembly, with each initiator being
responsible for the formation of 20 facilitators over the first two
weeks of August, with a goal of reaching 4,000 facilitators. The
distribution of initiators, facilitators, and promoters will be in
accordance with the population density of every state, for example the
Capital District will have 15 initiators, 308 facilitators and 6,155
promoters, whereas the state of Zulia there will be 36 initiators, 526
facilitators and 10,517 promoters. Forty-five percent of the promoters
will be concentrated in the five most populous states of Venezuela:
Zulia, Miranda, Lara, Carabobo, and the Capital District.

It is expected that the 80,000 promoters will emerge from the most
active militants that have been participating in the battalions of the
new United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which is still under
construction. National Assembly Deputy Francisco Ameliach argued last
week that the socialist battalions of the PSUV should be a nucleus for
the debate over the constitutional reform and that ?this would be a
motor for driving forward the battalions.?

In conjunction with the convocation of three extraordinary sessions of
the National Assembly to debate the proposed reform, the plan proposes
four stages of activities to be carried out over a period of seven
weeks. The first stage over two weeks involves the formation of the
facilitators and promoters, the beginning of the house-by-house
campaign, with the goal of visiting and delivering the constitutional
reform proposal to 5,400,000 households, with each promoter expected to
visit six households per day over a period of eleven days. Also part of
stage one is the opening of ?interactive spaces? for people to discuss
the proposals ? today the National Assembly convoked an open meeting of
diverse social organizations to debate the reforms today in the Teresa
Carreño Theater in Caracas.

The second two-week stage involves the consultations of interest groups
such as workers, students, businesses, campesinos, and professionals,
among others, the convocation of community round-tables for
consultation and debate, followed by the systematization of key themes,
and the second extraordinary session of the National Assembly

The third stage, also to be carried out over two weeks, involves the
presentation of the results and key themes to various municipal and
state assemblies and the election of spokespeople from these assemblies
to make presentations to the National Assembly.

The last stage involves the convocation of the National Assembly of
Popular Power, where the elected spokespeople from state and municipal
assemblies will deliver proposals and suggested changes to the National
Assembly, followed by the third extraordinary session of the National
Assembly and systematization and publication of the documents,
including any changes to the proposals, which are then required to be
put to a referendum.

The international campaign aims to provide information and encourage
participation of Venezuelans living outside the country. The plan also
calls for accredited diplomatic bodies, delegations of Venezuelans,
social movements, parliamentary friendship groups, Bolivarian Circles,
and other Venezuela solidarity organizations to hold activities such as
forums in universities and media and information campaigns about the
reforms.