Venezuela: Maduro announces he wants a “major constitutional reform”

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced Thursday that he intends to pass “a major constitutional reform” during his third consecutive term.

“I formed a team with great international advisors, great national advisors, to reflect, with our people, on a major constitutional reform that further democratizes Venezuelan society and gives more power to citizens,” argued Nicolas Maduro during an official speech.

In Venezuela, constitutional amendments must be ratified by popular vote.

A constituent assembly in 2017

Nicolas Maduro called for the creation of a constituent assembly in 2017 in order to “pacify” the country, marked by a wave of demonstrations to demand his departure.

The institution, which declared itself plenipotentiary, ended in 2020 without having amended the Constitution, which dates from 1999 and was promoted by socialist leader Hugo Chavez.

Experts agree that she only sought to appropriate the powers of Parliament, then under the control of the opposition.

The opposition calls fraud

Nicolas Maduro’s announcement comes three weeks before he is sworn in for a third six-year term (2025-2031), following his re-election in July. After being declared the winner, however, he never published the details of the vote, claiming to be the victim of computer hacking.

The opposition calls fraud and claims the victory of its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia. She published the minutes collected by her scrutineers and claims that she received more than 67% of the votes.

The United States, the European Union and many Latin American countries do not recognize the re-election of Nicolas Maduro.

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