Chávez calls for changes to Venezuela Constitution
Wants no limits on his reelection
CARACAS -- President Hugo Chávez called for radical changes last night to the Venezuela Constitution, proposals that would eliminate current limits on his reelection and would extend presidential terms.
Chávez, speaking to the National Assembly, said presidential terms should be extended from six to seven years. But the self-styled revolutionary who is seeking to transform Venezuelan society along socialist lines denied that he wants lifelong power as his opponents allege.
"I propose to the sovereign people the 7-year presidential term, the president can be reelected immediately for a new term," Chávez said. "If someone says this is a project to entrench oneself in power -- no, it's only a possibility, a possibility that depends on many variables."
Chávez also proposed an end to the autonomy of Venezuela's central bank, which would give him access to billions of dollars from the banks reserves, creating types of property that would be managed by cooperatives and "a popular militia" that would form part of the military.
Critics accuse Chávez of seeking to remain president for decades to come, like his close friend Fidel Castro in Cuba. Many fear he is steering this oil-rich South American nation toward Cuba-style communism.
Chávez, a former paratrooper commander who was first elected in 1998 and was reelected to a new six-year term in December, rebuts allegations that he copying Cuba and insists that personal freedoms will be respected.
He and his supporters say democracy has flourished under his administration, noting he has repeatedly won elections by wide margins.
Chávez pushed through a new constitution in 1999, shortly after he was first elected. He said the charter must be redrafted so that Venezuela's capitalist system "finishes dying" to make way for socialism.
The Venezuelan leader's political allies firmly control the National Assembly, which is expected to approve the changes within months. The plan then would have to be approved by citizens in a national referendum.
"There are 33 articles that starting tomorrow will begin to be read, analyzed, criticized," Chávez said, adding that with the speech "a great debate" begins.
Before lawmakers, Chávez held up a small copy of the country's current constitution and called it one of the world's "most advanced." He said, however, that he and members of a presidential commission have been "working intensely" on ways to improve it.
"They accuse me of making plans to be in power forever or to concentrate power. We know it isn't like that. It's power of the people," Chávez said in the speech.
"So many lies in the world. I doubt there is any country on this planet with a democracy more alive than the one we enjoy in Venezuela today."
His opponents, meanwhile, attacked the changes.
"Chávez is seeking to reduce the territory held by the opposition and give his intention to remain in power a legal foundation," said Gerardo Blyde, an opposition leader and former lawmaker.
Venezuela's Roman Catholic Bishops' Conference has also contended that Chávez's proposals were drafted without public involvement.
In Washington, Sean McCormack, State Department spokesman, said yesterday that the United States would wait for details of Chavez's proposal before commenting on it. 