The constitutional changes draft has been leaked: the path to an eternal Chavez dictatorship

Today we were treated to the leaked draft on the constitutional changes planned by Chavez. It is a blue print on how to create an authoritarian state by creating a social system from where no opposition could ever have the possibility to rise someday to challenge Chavez. All the changes are engineered to effect this goal.

No more private property besides your personal belongings. That is, there will be some private sector allowed with business of reasonable size but the sate will have the right to expropriate or confiscate at will if it thinks it is necessary to its interests (NOTE: even if it is all made in the name of the "people", since it is the state that translates the "real will" of the people, well, you know which are the interests truly served).

The air borne media will have rights to emit only if they serve educative purpose. The state decides which are the educative goals.

The autonomy of Universities is done with. The state will be deciding which careers should be offered and which is the right curriculum to follow. You can decide on your own how creativity and free thought in a controlled university will prosper.

Decentralization will be done with. Governors and Mayors will be subordinated to special vice presidents. Mayors can be removed almost at will by the National Assembly. And anyway, elected Governors and Mayors will be gutted of most meaningful power they might have. That is, they will be left with picking up the garbage and be blamed for anything else that doe snot work.

And more, including of course unlimited reelection. There are even some gems from the folks discussing the changes, gems showing their fascist frame of mind. For example one of them writes that dual citizenship should be eliminated because, well, these duals tend to be against Chavez anyway.

So, even if this is only a draft, leaked, which is not on the net yet as far as I know, you can see clearly the blueprint of things to come. The state will control anything that could someday create a challenge to Chavez. There is no socialism involved here, no democracy, no nothing: just a group of people who are tightly behind Chavez and are trying to create a system from where no one will remove them through peaceful ways.

When I get my hands on that draft I will give more details.

Added later: meanwhile I got a copy of the International Bar Association report on Venezuela, but in Spanish only (some one can get me the English link?). The report is dire and certainly does not allay the fears raised by the constitutional changes (which the report also addresses, in particular the scandalous secretive nature of the discussion!). When I have more time I will post on this report that documents clearly how Venezuelan liberties have been consistently maimed by the current regime.

-The end-