Buscador
Venezuela and the consolidation of a dictatorship with elections
The democratic opposition does not only face the challenge of channeling fragmented social demands: it faces a punitive legal framework designed to prevent its consolidation.
Venezuela: From fraudulent elections to clandestine elections
When voting has no consequences, there is no incentive to participate. Venezuelans decided to abstain from regional and municipal elections.
What changes should be made to Venezuela’s constitution?
In response to the proposed constitutional reform in Venezuela, led by the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and spearheaded by the Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, public opinion aligned with the opposition has expressed the need to organize a united front in defense of the National Constitution. This Constitution was enacted during Hugo Chávez’s presidency in 1999—a document that, ironically given the current context, both Maduro and William Saab helped draft as members of the original constituent assembly. The question of why change a Constitution created by the very political system still in power today is easy to answer: law and democracy prove inconvenient for those who hold power. According to the ruling party, the “bourgeois State model” must be “overcome.” Unfortunately, this behavior is not new in Venezuela’s republican tradition. Since 1811, the country has had 25 Constitutions, many of them crafted solely to ensure the continued rule of the leader in power at the time. However, given the geopolitical and technological shifts underway in the global system, it is pertinent to have a deeper discussion—without adopting the official narrative. We must ask: What changes are truly necessary in Venezuela’s Constitution to restore full democracy in the country, while also addressing the...
