Declaration of Deans and university professors the undersigned, Deans and Professors of Colleges of Law and Political Sciences University of the country, Individuals Number Academy of Political and Social Sciences, and members of the Center for Constitutional Studies School of Law and Policy Central University of Venezuela, during the academic gathering to defend the Constitution convened on June 29, 2009, aimed to establish a position on the national status, we do it in these terms:
1. - The Constitution is primarily a legal rule designed to recognize and guarantee human rights and assumes a principle of community integration. The Constitution should be the plural platform on which citizens of all shades can find for the joint construction of our future. The failure or misrepresentation of the Constitution weakens the institutional fabric and opens the door to arbitrariness.
2 .- 02 December 2007, the Venezuelan people expressed in a referendum refers to his rejection of a concrete proposal for constitutional reform. Despite the rejection he got such a proposal, the President of the Republic and National Assembly insisted on it, the first through Decree with Force of Law in 2008, and the second by laws issued this year as the Organic Law Reorganization of the Internal Market of Liquid Fuels, the Law Reserving to the State Property and Services Primary Activities Related to Oil and Organic Law of the petrochemical assets, approved without having completed the public consultation required by the Constitution with virtually no parliamentary debate and undermine the rights to economic freedom and property Private, with serious damage also to the enjoyment of social rights of workers .
3 .- The President of the Republic aims to set the "XXI Century Socialism" and the "New Geometría del Poder”, violentando la voluntad popular con el auxilio de la Asamblea Nacional. Ello se ha puesto de manifiesto, además de en decretos-leyes ya promulgados, en proyectos de ley que están siendo tramitados ante dicha Asamblea, entre los cuales se destacan: el Proyecto de Ley Orgánica para la Ordenación y Gestión del Territorio ; el Proyecto de Ley de Reforma de la Ley de los Consejos Comunales; el Proyecto de Ley de Propiedad Social; el Proyecto de Ley Orgánica de Educación, el Proyecto de Ley de Cooperación Internacional y el Proyecto de Ley Orgánica de Procesos Electorales. Lo mismo ocurrió with the laws and subsequent acts implementing centralized constitutionally enshrined as exclusive powers of the States. The will of the people was also unknown Special Law on the Organization and the Capital District and other regulatory instruments associated with it, which curtailed the scope of the metropolitan authority elected by the people, to deliver substantially otherwise designated by the President of the Republic , thereby also breaking the political-territorial unit in the city of Caracas.
4 .- The State recognized the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is neither socialist nor liberal, neither capitalist nor Marxist, is "democratic and social state of law and justice." The State can not be appropriated by a ruling government or by a party in power, not by an ideology of power, but that is plural and inclusive expression of the whole society with its different manifestations of democracy.
5 .- In education, the draft Law on Education has the same orientation ideologizing indicated, to the detriment of the constitutional design of education governed by freedom of thought, pluralism, tolerance and other democratic values.
6 .- As was the case with the void elimination of constitutional limits on presidential re-election, which always puts the presidential candidate a clear advantage, now wants to reverse another historic achievement of constitutionalism Venezuela as is the principle of proportional representation, based on our electoral system. It was unfortunate that those in power try to close by the Draft Law on Elections, the paths of integration and democratic pluralism Constitution wished to safeguard.
7 .- We observe with great concern the use of threats, coercion, and prosecution as a deterrent against social media, journalists, workers and owners of the media, using the whole government apparatus and the judiciary in order to prevent the report and discuss freely about the country's reality and the problems that afflict many believe it. D e must remember that under the jurisprudence of American Court of Human Rights, the Freedom of expression constitutes one of the essential foundations of a democratic society and one of the basic conditions for its progress and development of every human being. E s applicable not only to "information" or "ideas" that are favorably received or perceived as a matter of indifference, but also those that offend, displease or disturb the State or any sector of the population. These are the demands of pluralism, tolerance and open-mindedness, which imposes a truly democratic society. It is also serious attempt to criminalize the lawyers in the legitimate exercise of their profession, have assumed the defense of people linked to media that are being harassed by the government.
8 .- The constitutional independence of the judiciary is also being affected established under the enactment of the Organic Law Justice System, for the reasons explained in a statement issued by Academy of Political and Social Sciences, and Code of Ethics of Venezuelan Judges and Justice of Venezuela, because subjects judges suitability to control that tends to invade its judicial autonomy, among other reasons. The latter additional regulatory text puts at risk the independence of the lawyers guild, by subjecting its members to the disciplinary authority of the courts therein provided.
9 .- All authentic Constitution imposes limits on the power. The preservation of democracy depends precisely on the observance of all boundaries of form and substance to the exercise of power. Hence the imperative of reconstitucionalización the country that we must all undertake. We urge the convening authorities plural of all political and social sectors, to initiate an early dialogue process encourage the identification of common denominators in a collective effort towards institutional strengthening of Venezuela.
Román Duque Corredor-, Hernández Jesús María Casal,
Eugenio Hernandez-Breton, Inocencio Figueroa ,
José Guillermo Andueza, Rogelio Pérez Perdomo,
Ramón Crazut, Alfredo Morles,
Humberto Njaim , Alberto Arteaga Sanchez,
Enrique Lagrange, José Luis Aguilar,
Alberto
Baumeister, Carlos Leañez Sievert,
Raul Arrieta, Israel Argüello,
Victorino Márquez, Marcos Carrillo,
Alicia Monagas, Gonzalo Himiob,
Freddy J. Orlando, André Carrasquero,
Adolfo Salgueiro , Ruth Capriles,
Adrian Thomas , John William Aveleda,
Enrique Sánchez Falcón, Luis E. Queremel Franco,
Raul A. Queremel Castro, Ludwig Schmidt,
Planchart Pedro, Gustavo Linares Benz
Luis Alfonso Herrera Orellana , Asdrubal Aguiar,
Araujo Ana Elvira, Luis Eduardo Henríquez ,
José Luis Villegas , Milagros Betancourt,
David Gómez Gamboa, Roberto Ruiz Baez,
Parés Alfredo Salas, Carlos Weffe ,
Miriam Rodriguez, Elsa Cardozo ,
Rafael Tobia , José Barnola ,
Eduardo Piacenza , Nelson Socorro,
Isaías Medina, Ninoska Rodríguez Laverde,
Irma Lovera, Norma Perez,
Emilio J.
Urbina Mendoza, Tulio Alvarez,
Liliana Fasciani M., Margarita Escudero,
José Antonio Muci , Angelina Jaffé Carbonell,
Frank Vecchionacce Jorge Faroh,
Carlos Ayala, Natan Zaidman,
Tamara Alter Bechar, Carlos Guillermo Arocha,
Gerardo Fernandez, Elias Bittar ,
Juan Manuel Raffalli , Carolina Pacheco de Ramos,
Maria Helena Fernandes , Luis Oca Arris,
Maoly Carrasquero , Laura washer,
Janesky Lehmann, Gustavo Tarr,
Peter Calvani, Andrés Halvorssen ,
Ricardo Antela , Alma Chacón,
Jesus Maria Alvarado, Thamara Adrian,
D'Ascoli Alexys Pinto, Lourdes Wills,
Luisa Sanchez, Irma Buninow.