Chavez foe seen victim of anti-Semitism in Venezuela

[ronnie624]

70. From the Venezuelanalysis article you posted:

Before Chávez came to power Venezuela was formally bound by human rights standards, but in practice often violated them. Torture, censorship, and violations of the right to assembly were quite common, especially during the second presidency of Carlos Andres Perez (1989-1993). Those who suffered from these human rights violations were to a very large extent the same people who swept into power with the election of Chávez as president. Many of these individuals thus participated in the formulation of the new constitution as members of the constitutional assembly. As a result, they gave human rights a central place in the constitution. However, the human rights that the constitution mentions go far beyond what most constitutions incorporate. Not only civil rights, such as the freedom of expression, assembly, and political participation are included, but so are social human rights, such as the right to employment, housing, and health care. For example, with regard to health care, the constitution states, “Health is a fundamental social right, an obligation of the state, which guarantees it as part of the right to life.” In practice, this has opened health care to many Venezuelans who previously did not have access to it.

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The referendum took place on April 19 and had two questions. The first was whether or not to convoke the assembly and the second was whether or not voters accept the procedures set forth by the president. 92% of those voting voted “yes” in response to the question about convoking a constitutional assembly and 86% approved of the procedures set forth by the president (with an abstention rate of 63%). Two months later, on July 25th, the vote for the members of the constitutional assembly took place. The procedure was such that 24 members to the assembly were elected nationally, three as representatives of the indigenous population, and the rest, 104 were elected as representatives from their respective states. All together there were 131 members of the constitutional assembly, all of which were elected directly, via a simply majority. As a result of Chávez’ overwhelming popularity 95%, or 125 of the representatives, were allied with Chávez’ political project. Only six belonged to the opposition

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There is a large consensus both within Venezuela and among foreign observers that Venezuela now has one of the world’s most “advanced” constitutions. However, what does this mean? For the most part those who praise the constitution mean that it provides for broad citizen participation, making Venezuela a “participatory democracy,” rather than merely a representative one. Also, the constitution provides for some of the most comprehensive human rights protections of any constitution in the world. Finally, its inclusion of special protection for those traditionally marginalized, such as women and the indigenous population and of the environment makes Venezuela’s constitution one of the most responsive to the needs of the less powerful

http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/70