[NYTr] Venez Indigenous Want to Re-launch Campaign for Constitutional Reform
 
Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2007 18:31:36 -0600 (CST)

Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
[As many knowledgeable people have commented, the defeated referendum
on December 2 failed in part because there were so many provisions
proposed for two large up-or-down votes.  In addition, some of
the proposed programs could be launched by the government without a
Constitutional change. This is not true of the voting age, however.
Abstentionism seems to have been a major problem with the vote on
Sunday, and the real killer item, for those who voted, may well have
been the elimination of term limits and the propaganda about
"dictatorship" that was disseminated by the US.  One of the more
important pieces of the package was the banning of foreign funding of
political activity, which in other countries (like the US) is
controlled not by constitutional amendment but by laws that require
non-citizens to register as "agents of a foreign government."  It's
difficult to know how easy it would be for groups such as the CIA and
its proxies like the National Endowment for Democracy to get around
such laws if they existed. It would mean they'd have to find a way to
covertly fund the "opposition" even more sneakily than they do now. 
NYTr.]

Prensa Latina, Havana
http://www.plenglish.com

Venezuelan Indigenous Want Constitutional Reform Reinitiated

Caracas, Dec 7 (Prensa Latina) Members of the National Indigenous
Movement of Venezuela (MNIV) took part in a strategy meeting on Friday
to re-launch President Hugo Chavez' proposal of constitutional reform.

MNIV coordinator Facundo Guanipa said the meeting, attended by
delegates from the states of Anzoategui, Monagas, Sucre and Trujillo,
considered collecting signatures to present the project again.

Guanipas explained that the meeting was also a bright opportunity to
assess the causes of the defeat of YES in the December 2 referendum and
agree on steps to convince people of the benefits of the initiative.

He noted that according to referendum data, over 98 percent of the
indigenous population voted to modify the Constitution; therefore, they
will mobilize to re-launch the proposal, as established under the
Constitution.

Under the Venezuelan Constitution, the president can convene a
referendum to introduce changes to the law, but if the people present a
demand signed by 15 percent of voters and the approval of the National
Assembly, they also can convene a referendum.

rma ccs rma iep PL-42

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