11-17-07, 9:28 am

Caracas, November 14 2007 () - Speaking to national and international media at a press conference at the Miraflores Presidential Palace yesterday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez denied opposition claims that proposed constitutional reforms are aimed at increasing personal power, rather, he explained, they are necessary to strengthen the independence of the Venezuelan state and transfer power to the people.

'For many years in Venezuela they weakened the powers of the state,' Chavez explained, 'as part of the neoliberal imperial plan that aimed to weaken the economies of countries to insure domination.'

'While we remained weak, imperialism was strengthened,' he added.

As an example Chavez pointed to a proposal in the constitutional reform that would remove the autonomy of the Central Bank, and place it under the control of the executive. This would strengthen Venezuelan independence and could be used to transfer power to the people he argued.


The idea of the autonomy of the Central Bank and control of international reserves, applied to the majority of poor countries including Venezuela, Chavez explained, 'Is part of the imperialist project, how the global capitalist dictatorship managed to impose its norms, its laws, on almost the whole world.'

In the United States, China and some European countries the reserves are not managed in total isolation from the state Chavez argued.

The neoliberal idea of autonomy of the Central Bank was imposed in Venezuela, Chavez said. He pointed out that although the Central Bank is formally constituted as a public institution, it is not accountable to the any of the constitutional public powers including the legislature, the judiciary, the electoral power, the citizen power or the executive.

'Who is it accountable to then?' Chavez asked.

In reality, Chavez continued, the Central Bank in Venezuela has never been autonomous; 'rather it was managed from Washington, through the International Monetary Fund as the financial and political arm of North American imperialism.'

However, Chavez declared, 'The reserves of the country do not belong to the Central Bank, they belong to the people of Venezuela.'

'We have 30 billion in reserves, we will finish [the year] with 32 billion; I at least consider, based on studies, that Venezuela does not need 32 billion dollars in reserves, this figure places us [on the same level] as one of the developed countries in Europe, now it won't be the Central Bank that decides over these reserves.'

The reserves would be used to giver power to the people, through social and economic development projects Chavez said.

However, the most important aspect of the reforms Chavez stressed, 'is the transfer of power to the people,' vested in the communal councils, workers councils, student councils and campesino councils, regional and national federations of these councils, as well as the formation of 'communes' which will 'constitute the basic nucleus of the socialist state.'

If approved, the reforms require five percent of the national budget to be given to the grass roots communal councils.

On Monday Minister of Energy and president of the state owned oil company, PDVSA, Rafael Ramirez, affirmed that all PDVSA owned gas stations were ready to be handed over to the communal councils after Chavez argued last week that democratizing the economy, 'is the only way to defeat poverty, to defeat misery and achieve the largest sum of happiness for the people.'

Recently returned from the Ibero-American Summit in Chile where 'social cohesion' was the key issue under discussion, the Venezuelan president also assured that 'true social transformation is necessary in the whole world before one can begin to think of social cohesion.'

The situation of inequality and social and economic differences that still exists in Latin America as a result of the capitalist and neo-liberal policies of the developed countries is the principle obstacle to achieving social cohesion, Chavez concluded.

Chavez also denied opposition claims that those who don't agree with socialism will be excluded if the reforms are passed, 'This is a lie, it's totally false.'

The opposition has also criticised another proposed change, which would remove limits on presidential terms and allow Chavez to stand for re-election in 2013, claiming that Chavez 'wants to be in power for life,' however this would not effect the electoral process in Venezuela, and still allows for a presidential mandate to be revoked half way through the presidential term through a recall referendum. Government supporters say this is really an admission by the opposition that they don't have a candidate as popular as Chavez.

Chavez has also pointed out that more than 170 countries around the world do not place limits on re-election, including France, Australia, the United Kingdom and others.

Similarly, contrary to many claims in the international media, a ‘state of emergency' clause would not remove an individual's right to due process, and is entirely consistent with international law, with many countries such as Australia and the United States, among others possessing similar laws.

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