News from the Global Women’s Strike in Venezuela

international | anti-capitalism | other press Sunday December 02, 2007 18:39 by Global Women's Strike Ireland at allwomencount dot net 087 7838688

campaigning for the YES to Constitutional Reforms 2 December

Today the people of Venezuela are voting on constitutional reform, amid renewed media attacks and assassination attempts against President Chávez..the advances which are being put forward and the process they come out of have been entirely hidden by the media.

Today the people of Venezuela are voting on constitutional reform, amid renewed media attacks and assassination attempts against President Chávez – a laser point which could have been from a gun was seen on his chest and head, and for some seconds CNN had a clip of Chávez with a title saying “Who killed him?” The media, and the US corporate and political interests they represent, claim that Chávez is using Venezuela’s oil revenue to manipulate the poor in order to stay in power for life. Extensive reports of clashes between students have accused the government of heavy handed repression, while saying little of the violence against pro-reform students whose union offices were set ablaze risking the lives of those who were trapped inside.

The advances which are being put forward and the process they come out of have been entirely hidden by the media. President Chávez proposed 33 changes to the 1999 Constitution to be discussed by the grassroots nationally; and the National Assembly. Consultation has been massive. The National Assembly says that between 16 August and 7 October, 10 million copies of the proposed reforms were distributed, some 9,020 public events were held throughout the country, and a special hotline took over 80,000 phone calls. 77.8 percent of the Venezuelan people report having read and been informed about the proposed changes. (Compare this to the European constitution which was never taken to a referendum in the UK and most people knew hardly anything about, was rejected by voters in France and The Netherlands, and is now being recycled in a shorter version to be adopted without a vote.)

Following these consultations, 25 additional reforms and 11 smaller changes have been put forward – altogether a total of 69 proposed reforms. People will vote on them in two separate blocks, A (46 articles) & B (24), on 2 December.

The constitutional reforms are promoting a Socialist Democracy, an economy that is “diversified and independent” based on “human values of co-operation and the preponderance of the general interest.”

We have spoken to the Global Women’s Strike in Venezuela, which is mobilizing for the reforms and told us that despite media claims to the contrary, the support for the Sí/Yes is massive. These are the proposed reforms they most want people to know about.

Article 21 forbids discrimination – sexual orientation and health have been added.

Article 70 – recognizes all the organizations by which people participate and lead on the road to socialism. They include assemblies and communal councils, councils of workers, students, small farmers, artisans, fisher people, sports people, older and younger people, women, people with disabilities…, and all kinds of cooperatives, networks, micro enterprises, voluntary organizations etc, “created to develop values of mutual co-operation and socialist solidarity.”

Article 82 – the right to adequate housing for all and the protection from judicial sanction of any home which is registered as “principal” with the Poder Popular.

Article 87 – the rights of the self-employed, entitles housewives, domestic workers, street vendors, taxi drivers, transport and motorcycle workers, artisans, barbers and hairdressers, farmers, small-mine workers, fisher people, seasonal workers, cultural workers… to social security, pension, holidays and maternity leave through the creation of a Social Stability Fund for Self Employed Workers to which the State, employers and workers will contribute.

Article 90 – introduces the 6-hour day. The working day is being shortened from 8 to 6 hours so that workers can have more free time to spend with their families, on their own self-development and on community activities. Workers in 24-hour industries such as oil will work four 6-hour shifts rather than three 8-hour shifts; more people will have access to employment.

“In order for workers to have enough time for their full development, the working day-shift will not exceed six hours a day or 36 hours a week, and the night-shift will not exceed six hours a day or 34 hours a week.

No employer will be able to force workers to work overtime. The State will promote mechanisms for a better use of free time to benefit education, training and human, physical, spiritual, moral, cultural and technical development of the workers.

Workers will be entitled to remunerated weekly time off and holidays under the same conditions as the days worked.”

Article 100 – recognizes Venezuela’s African roots and culture.

Article 109 – equal vote for students, professors and staff in the election of university authorities. At the moment staff have no voting rights and professors´ votes count far more than those of the students.

Article 115 – introduces different forms of collective property so that people can have a stronger claim on land and industry through co-operatives and other community organizations.

· Public: Fully owned and managed by the government.

· Social: Owned by the Venezuelan people and either managed by the government or by communities or other institutions.

· Collective: Owned and managed by groups of individuals for their particular uses.

· Mixed: A combination of ownership and management.

People’s involvement at every level and their power to make decisions about resources are being massively encouraged through communal councils and communes.

Article 136 – The people exercise their sovereignty through Popular Power. “This does not arise from elections but from their condition as human groups organized as population. Popular Power is expressed through communities, communes and self-government of cities, communal councils, councils of workers, students, small farmers, fisher people, sports people, young and older people, women, people with disabilities…”

Article 184 – decentralizes power and transfers it to organized communities, communal councils and communes. Promotes co-operatives and workers’ participation in the management of public companies.

Article 230 – the president’s new powers. Elections will be held every seven years rather than six, and there will be no limit to how many times a candidate can stand.

The proposal has the support of the majority of the population as people feel that the revolutionary changes they are working on stand a better chance of success against coup, assassination and destabilization attempts by the racist elite and their US counterparts, if Chávez is in power. It takes decades of organizing to produce a revolutionary leader like Chávez – why would you want to replace him when he is doing such good work? Those who criticize Chávez do not mention that people in Venezuela can revoke their elected officials through a referendum (Chávez won such a referendum by a huge majority in 2004), a choice other democracies do not provide. Also other democratic governments have the right to re-elect their president or prime minister – the US had no time limit until the law was changed after Roosevelt was elected four times, Britain still has no limit and Tony Blair was elected three times on a vote which was nowhere near that of Chávez. The proposal has to be seen in context. In Venezuela where millions of people, especially women, are actively involved in the process of change and want Chávez to stay in power, while the US and the racist Venezuelan elite want him out and even dead, Article 230 signals a determination to protect our leadership so we can move the revolution forward. In Peru, when ex-president Fujimori, who is now being tried for human rights violations, wanted unlimited re-election, it signaled increased exploitation, repression, torture and disappearances – the US and their media did not object.

Article 305 – promotes “agroecology” and food security, communal land and resources for its development.

Article 307 – forbids big land estates in favour of agricultural workers’ co-operatives.

- - - - - - - - - -

Additional points on the proposed reforms taken from Venezuelanalysis website:

· Article 64 – lowers the voting age to 16, following the lead of Austria, Nicaragua and Brazil.

· Article 98 – protects the creation and communication of cultural goods.

· Article 103 – articulates the right to education for all Venezuelans, and mandate that all public education through university be free of charge.

· Article 272 – establishes a penitentiary system based on full rehabilitation of prisoners and respect for their human rights. Work, study, training will be available in jail, and community sentences prioritized over imprisonment.

· Article 337 – calls for the limitation of certain rights during a national emergency, a number of rights would remain, including the right to life and personal integrity, the right to a defense, the right to a fair trial, and the right not to be tortured, disappeared or held incommunicado. This ensures that Venezuela remains consistent with – or in some cases exceeds – its international obligations.

- - - - - - - - - -

For more information or to send statements of support for the SI / YES

Email: [email protected]