MEXICO CITY, Mexico, (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro presented a wide-ranging proposal for constitutional reform, aimed at expanding participatory democracy and establishing a long-term economic roadmap for the country.
“We are ready to open a great national debate, so that Venezuelan society can be the protagonist of a historic reform, one that adapts the 1999 Constitution to the new times, for the advancement of a new era,” said Maduro, Saturday from the Elliptical Hall of the Federal Legislative Palace in Caracas.
At the event at the seat of the Legislative Branch, the president established a National Commission to lead the reform process made up of attorney general Tarek William Saab, vice-president Delcy Rodríguez, lawmakers Hermann Escarrá and Cilia Flores, Supreme Court of Justice President Caryslia Rodríguez; National Electoral Council (CNE) president Elvis Amoroso; and minister of defense general Vladimir Padrino López.
The initial proposal includes 80 articles to reform the 1999 constitution, first approved by the Venezuelan people after an extensive consultative process led by a Constituent Assembly in the months following the arrival of Hugo Chávez to the presidency.
The Venezuelan leader said one of the reform’s main purposes is to transform the state to better incorporate the voices and needs of the Bolivarian grassroots organized through popular power structures such as communes, arguing that the country had significantly advanced in political terms in the past 25 years.
Venezuelans recently participated in the third “National Popular Consultation,” where residents from 5,334 communal circuits spanning the Venezuelan territory voted on community projects for government funding as part of a grassroots initiative launched in 2024 to address local issues through popular assemblies.
On the other hand, Maduro set his sights on charting the country’s economic future for the next 30 years.
“Today, we are on the path to recovery. With effort and collective work, we are in a position to enshrine in our Constitution the strategy for a solid and sustainable economy,” he said Wednesday at the first meeting of the National Commission.
Although few details were offered, Maduro said this would imply a diversification of the economy, toward greater self-sufficiency and less vulnerability to external pressures.
Since the discovery of huge crude reserves in the 20th century, Venezuela’s economy has largely been built around oil and its secondary industries. However, following the US-led imposition of unilateral coercive measures, also known as sanctions, the Caribbean nation began facing extreme difficulties to sell its primary export commodity in international markets, as well as secure much-needed investment, causing a significant economic impact.
“Today, after having endured criminal sanctions, missiles aimed at our economy, and while recovering the country, we are building a productive, self-sustaining, new economy that also constructs a social model of equality,” claimed Maduro during Wednesday’s session. The president called on the commission to present a proposal to the public in 90 days.
Invoking the process that led to the 1999 Constitution, the president said the government must engage in an “intense” consultative process as the reforms are debated within Venezuelan society. The final project will be voted on in a national referendum.
The National Federation of Public Employees (Fedeunep) said it hoped that the reform could bring an improvement for the country’s public-sector workers, specifically by converting bonuses into salaries, a longstanding demand of the Venezuelan trade union movement.
Antonio Suárez, a representative with Fedeunep, said they expected to be included as part of Maduro’s call for wide-ranging consultations, adding, “The issue of wages must be addressed urgently.”
Venezuela saw its Constitution last updated in 2009 after a previous proposal was narrowly voted down in 2007. A National Constituent Assembly was elected in 2017 during a period of heightened political tensions and regime-change efforts. Though the body put forward significant legislative initiatives, including the 2020 Anti-Blockade Law, it ultimately dissolved without drafting a new Magna Carta proposal.
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