Friday, November 02, 2007

This is truly an historic day, not only for Venezuela, but for the whole world!

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=76669

VHeadline commentarist Oscar Heck writes: This is an historic day! Friday, November 2, 2007! And the elected Venezuelan National Assembly (AN) has just voted with the necessary majority to allow the proposed rewritten constitutional Articles (69 Articles) to go ahead to a national referendum.

After weeks of revamping, reviewing, and re-writing 69 Articles of the 1999 Constitution … with the collaboration of all levels of Venezuelan society … the vote has come to pass.

• I am watching live on VTV Television … and the president of the AN, Celia Flores, did not even have to count hands in favor.

When the question was asked for approval, almost the entire AN stood up. There were few who voted against … and, as I write this, it looks like it is a big party at the Venezuelan National Assembly. After the show of hands, Celia Flores allowed at least one AN member who voted against, to speak his mind … she, sort of sarcastically, said “Yes, speak, you might change the result of the vote.”

The man blabbed on, using almost the same words that the rabid anti-Chavez sectors and much of the US mass media have been using for the last two or three weeks to try to discredit the Venezuelan participatory democratic process … and to discredit Chavez and his government in the same sweep.

(By the way, Chavez has only recommended changes on 33 — of 350 Articles — but The People, throughout the process, and in conjunction with the AN, added changes to 36 additional Articles.)

But the best part, I found, happened when the AN member who spoke last, just prior to the vote, opened his mouth. I paraphrase … it went something like this … “This process of reviewing and amending the 1999 Constitution is an intermediary step toward Socialism, toward the inclusion of The People in the process of self-determination. This process is only a step … because the old gang has not all died out yet (referring to members of the AN) whilst the new ones have not all yet finished their birthing process. It’s time to decide … if you are with the process or not … if you are going to say it outright … the class struggle against US imperialism.”

It went something like that and … compared to other AN speakers, several of whom I was able to watch … he hit it right on the nose. When his speech was finished, almost the entire assembly gave him a standing ovation.

What he said is true … it’s time to stand up and face the facts, make the statements, call it by the names (class struggle, racism, classism), to stop hiding behind bushes of old “politically-correct” words … and live by them. He mentioned that there are still too many pro-imperialist leftists and socialists amongst them, which I find to be true since we, at VHeadline.com, personally know some of these people.

Viva Venezuela!

Viva true Participative Democracy … not that fake democracy which the “west” touts as such a gift to humanity. The democracy model of the “west” is a representative democracy … where those in power, once elected, the elite, do what they want for the continued benefit of themselves, their clans and the large corporations … and with little to no consideration for the abused and exploited, for the poor and the hungry, for the street people and the unfortunate … or for women and children or Natives … and this they do with very little or no input from us, The People.

Their type of “democracy” is a sham … a Christmas gift, wrapped in beautiful made-in-Mexico paper and expensive made-in-China bows … but inside lies a made-in-the-USA bomb ready to blow the life out of the innocent victim.

This is truly an historic day … I was about to finish this article … but … it is 17:00 on Friday, November 2, 2007 … about one hour after the approval by the AN to deposit the changes to the Constitution for national referendum.

As I write, it is now 17:06 of the same day … the president of the AN, accompanied by a whole lot of AN members are there presenting to the president (and members) of the Venezuelan National Electoral College (CNE), the proposal to take the Constitutional changes.

Boy, do these people move!

I was just commenting to Roy Carson, by phone, that in Canada, such a process would take months, not days or weeks … and certainly not, only a few hours!

If anyone out there thinks, or dares to think, that Venezuelans are a bunch of “backward” people, forget it! Where in the world do elected National Assembly members of any government work so hard and with such timely efficiency … especially on a Friday afternoon? Certainly not in Canada!

I’m watching this stuff happening live. I’m astounded. Celia Flores just finished her deposition speech and now, after several questions of process and reason, the CNE president, Tibisay Lucena is signing the deposition, stating thereafter that the CNE will update as to what the next steps will be, including a possibility for an extraordinary session of some sort.

The meeting is now over … it is 17:15 … and the people at the meeting are filing out.

(Note that both Celia Flores, president of the AN, and Tibisay Lucena, president of the CNE, are women. I think this note is very relevant.)

This is truly an historic day, not only for Venezuela, but for the whole world … and example to follow for the sake of humanity … for the welfare of all people, women, children and Natives included … and not only for the minority 20% wealthier people of this world who have for centuries been using the majority innocent and humble “poorer” people for cheap labor and slavery.

Amazing stuff … and I am proud to be part of it all. Celia Flores is now ‘live,’ in a sort of press conference, announcing all what just happened and said that the AN vote to go for referendum was much above the required majority vote (which I believe is something like 2/3 majority of the AN).

It was obvious, from the ‘live’ footage, that the vast majority of the AN voted for the go-ahead … my estimate, about 85-90% of the AN voted in favor, at least from what I could see.

The will of the people is being done .. and we will see, probably on December 2, 2007, the tentative date for the referendum, exactly what percentage of the population will vote “YES” for the new proposed changes.

• In 1999, the people voted 72% in favor of the proposed changes to the previous Constitution.

Meanwhile, financed and backed by the US government, the minority on the violent Venezuelan opposition will certainly cause all sorts of street violence, as the did yesterday, and as they did in 2002 and 2003 in their violent efforts to thwart the will of The People.

Let’s see what happens … I’m sure we will see much more violence … and remember … most of the violent Venezuelan minority opposition is composed mostly of the whiter-skinned, mid-to-upper wealthier classes … those who have, in the image of their US-God, exploited and abused the majority darker-skinned majority for hundreds of years.

The People have spoken … again … in this one step … and the People will continue to speak.

Now, Celia Flores is warning that the violent opposition is the same violent opposition that has been around causing all the problems … and that she believes they will continue to cause problems like in the past.

I’m waiting, before finishing this article, to see if Chavez is going to say something from wherever he is now. He was not at the AN nor was he at the deposition of the AN members (at) the CNE.

(I just found out … yes … the AN did actually physically go to the CNE offices to make the deposition.)

Well … I guess that is all for now (although I may regret it) … Chavez has not spoken … yet … it is 18:18 November 2, 2007 … Viva Venezuela!

I wait … Now it is 18:50 … still on VTV … Aristobulo, Chavez’ ex-minister of Education, a person I have personally spent some time with … and who I admire … is talking, as usual, with that same conviction which he exudes wherever he is … pro-Chavez … pro-People.

This is certainly an historic day!

Oscar Heck
oscar@vheadline.com