Constituent, a work in progress

By Luis Manuel Aguana

Versión en español

One of the most common mistakes made by journalists and interviewers, and in general by most people, when they are confronted for the first time with the Constituent idea, asking about the process promoted by ANCO, is to think that th
e reason that motivates the proposal is that the constituent proposal is one more way to put an end to the regime that plagues Venezuela. And from there originates an exchange that completely distorts the message we are trying to send to Venezuelans, raising a discussion -in my opinion completely erroneous and sterile- that has as its central axis that the regime will prevent such a process. And the truth is that if people have this doubt, it is because they have not fully understood what our proposal is about, or unfortunately we have not been able to explain it well. And that is the reason for this new attempt. And we have to explain, explain and explain again, with a lot of patience, as many times as necessary.

And this is a discussion that concerns all those who think the same way. There are only two ways of approaching the constituent discussion, the first being, as the most obvious, the one that proposes that this is an alternative to get out of the regime. And that could not be more wrong. Let me explain it in more detail again, because that goes to the very basis of the very concept that such a process raises.

A Constituent Assembly intends to gather the legitimate representatives of the people to decide about the Pact that should exist in every country between the governors and the governed. The very definition of the Republic and the scope of its Public Powers, its fundamental republican values, the main guidelines for the distribution of the income that belongs to all, justice, who decides the laws, the role that the Armed Forces should play in guaranteeing that this Pact will be respected. Those are just some of the master aspects described in that Pact which, once it is put in black and white, is called the Constitution.

The convocation of the people to carry out something of such transcendence and importance for the life of a Nation, can in no way be to remove any ruler from power. The rulers, however long they may last in power, are nothing more than accidents in the history of a country. What is fundamental is what the citizens as a whole decide to do. Hence, the discussion proposed by ANCO is PRECISELY THAT, the in-depth discussion among all Venezuelans of that Social Pact, which the Catholic Church has rightly called the Refoundation of the Nation, and which defines the rules that will govern between the rulers and the ruled, and which urgently requires an update in light of the current reality of Venezuela. THAT IS THE FUNDAMENTAL DISCUSSION we want to give, not to remove Maduro or whomever from power in Venezuela. We will detail this later.

For this in-depth discussion, ANCO has presented the country with a working paper entitled "The Great Change" (see in Spanish, The Great Change, A Proposal for the Refoundation of Venezuela, in https://ancoficial.blogspot.com/p/documentos-fundamentales.html). The ANCO representatives throughout the country should be questioned about this document, which is little read and little known. Forums, discussions, consultations and counter-proposals should be made on that working paper. Unfortunately we have seen very little of that from those who object to our proposal, and much less from those who do social communication. They all erroneously focus it as "one more way to remove Maduro" or whether or not the regime will allow this process.

Now, this great confusion may be caused by the possible consequences that the Constituent process may have, particularly for the Executive Branch. And that is relative. In the ideal case that all political and civil society forces converge, because they are so convinced, that a Constituent process is the most convenient solution to address the crisis plaguing the country, only the Constituent, once elected, could dispose of the Public Powers. And it could be the case that the Constituent may decide to leave the Executive Power intact -that is, to leave Maduro in place- until the holding of free, fair and verifiable elections, previously guaranteeing the necessary conditions of transparency of the Electoral Power.

Hence, the Constituent Assembly cannot be sold in any way to the country as a sort of "only-killers-chavistas-maduristas" bomb, but as an inclusive solution to achieve the reconstruction of the country in peace, with the collaboration of all Venezuelans, regardless of their political condition. And this is in fact what the International Community is clamoring for, and those who have the political responsibility to make them understand it, are using this deep aspiration of all to accommodate their own electoral aspirations.

The worst part of this situation is that even if they hypothetically manage to win these elections in 2024, and about which they are announcing primaries now, the fact of only changing the Executive Power of a totalitarian system that has in its hands the rest of the Public Powers and that has not disguised its intentions to remain in power forever, by appointing a Supreme Court of Justice completely accommodated to that objective, will hardly guarantee the peace and democratic stability that the Nation needs, without counting on the systematic destruction that will continue unabated until that date.

The opposition forces should abandon their legitimate aspirations for power, to proceed to Refound the Nation BEFORE calling again for an election in Venezuela, guaranteeing themselves, through the support of this initiative, the existence of a credible Electoral Power for Venezuelans, through a National Constituent Assembly.

If everyone, opposition politicians and civil society, rowed in the same direction, I am sure that we could, as a block, and with the help of the International Community, with the US at the forefront, bend the regime towards negotiations to reach that solution. But let's face it, with the current political opposition it has been impossible. They have a different agenda and interests, with approaches that do not coincide in prioritizing the urgent situation of Venezuelans, considering first the country and those of us who are victims of this tragedy. It is unfortunate to say, but they have demonstrated it with facts.

Faced with this reality, ANCO decided since its foundation to walk the path as a civil society, accompanied by those political factors that understand the depth of the problem, convincing and seeking the support of Venezuelans, organizing State by State those citizens who are not afraid to walk a different path, convincing them in every corner of Venezuela of this inclusive approach. We have the endurance and patience. For us this is not a race to win the Presidency of the Republic, it is a hard united effort to carry out a work that is still in progress to Refound Venezuela.

Caracas, May 13, 2022

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