It was not a referendum in Venezuela

THE EDITOR: Venezuela is a constitutionally sovereign state (article 7, Constitution of Venezuela 1999). This means that the foundation of Venezuela’s legal system is governed by its constitution, as opposed to its Parliament. Thus, people who exercise a public function, among others, are subject to the constitution.

Further, Venezuela is declared a democracy, according to article 2 of its constitution; its preamble states that the said constitution was created through a democratic referendum. Accordingly, any constitutionally defined process must be fulfilled in a democratic manner. Since the constitution itself was created by a democratic referendum, any undemocratic referendum process flowing from the constitution will be unconstitutional.

On December 3, the Government of Venezuela sought to invoke article 71 of its constitution. This article provides for a "consultative referendum," which allows citizens to provide their opinions on matters of "special national transcendence." The main topic of the process was to determine if the Venezuelan citizens supported their government’s purported takeover of the oil-rich Essequibo region of Guyana, which borders Venezuela.

As noted, it is inherent in the article 71 consultative referendum process that the said procedure will be democratic. However, it is shown that this was not fulfilled.

Firstly, there are many reports that the government falsified the results of the process to give the appearance that Venezuelans were overwhelmingly in favour of the takeover (The Financial Times); it is claimed that around 25 per cent of voters actually attended the process. Reports, both national and international, also support that the purported turnout does not correspond with the scenes at polling stations.

Accordingly, there was a lack of institutional safeguards to protect the attempted referendum process. For example, the lack of independent reporting of the queues and the results of the process. The effect is that due to the absence of independent reporting, the process is undemocratic and unconstitutional.

In conclusion, Venezuela has not engaged in a consultative referendum. Although it is widely referred to as a referendum, it is really a nullity that represents a political statement.

N MAHARAJ

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