Posts Tagged ‘Unmasking Disappointment’

“Unmasking Disappointment: Series XVI”

September 15, 2026

“Geometric Allegory” digital painting *2023* by Ricardo Morin (American visual artist born in Venezuela–1954)

*

Scope and Use

This entry forms part of the constitutional corpus presented in the Appendix, comprising the twenty-five constitutions of Venezuela and organized for consultation rather than sequential reading. Comparison proceeds by means of permanent rubric codes whose identities remain constant across the corpus; absent rubrics signify constitutional silence, while retired rubrics are not reassigned. Citations are anchored first on the article number and follow the CIDEP recension linked at the close of each entry. The full corpus definition, methodology, and citation convention are set forth in the Scope and Use note heading the 19th-Century Constitutions, which opens in the installment of “Unmasking Disappointment: Series XI.”

Ricardo F. Morín

September, 2026

Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania

11). The 1901 Constitution

The 1901 Constitución de los Estados Unidos de Venezuela [Constitution of the United States of Venezuela] was enacted by the Asamblea Nacional Constituyente [National Constituent Assembly] in Caracas on 26 March 1901. The Ejecutivo Federal [Federal Executive], presided over by Cipriano Castro, directed its observance through the Cúmplase [order of execution] issued at the Palacio Federal [Federal Palace] on 29 March. Article 153 repealed the Constitution of 21 June 1893.

DOC-PRE—Preamble:

“The National Constituent Assembly, in the name of Almighty God and by the authority of the People of Venezuela, decrees:” (Preamble; cf. 1893, Preamble: “We, the representatives of the people of Venezuela, assembled by virtue of the convocation contained in the Executive Decree of 1 January of the present year, in Constituent Assembly, invoking the favor and inspiration of the Supreme Legislator of the Universe, decree the following.”).

FND-TER—Territory:

The Constitution declared that the territory of the Estados Unidos de Venezuela [United States of Venezuela] was the same as that which had corresponded in 1810 to the Capitanía General de Venezuela [Captaincy General of Venezuela], subject to the modifications resulting from public treaties (Art. 1; cf. 1893, Art. 3: “The territory of the United States of Venezuela is the same as that which in the year 1810 corresponded to the Captaincy General of Venezuela.”). It reconstituted as States the twenty entities that the Constitution of 1864 had declared independent and united, and determined their boundaries by reference to the provincial division of 1856, as modified by the creation of the Distrito Federal [Federal District] and the Territorios Federales [Federal Territories] (Arts. 2–3; cf. 1893, Arts. 1–2: “The States Los Andes, Bermúdez, Bolívar, Carabobo, Falcón, Lara, Miranda, Zamora, and Zulia continue united in forming the Nation under the denomination United States of Venezuela.”).

The States could unite and subsequently reassume their prior condition through a petition from two-thirds of the Concejos Municipales [Municipal Councils], agreement by the respective Asambleas Legislativas [Legislative Assemblies], and a declaration by the Congreso Nacional [National Congress], with effect deferred until the succeeding period (Art. 4; cf. 1893, Art. 4: “The States […] reserve the power to unite two or more to form a single State.”). The national territory could not be alienated in any manner to a foreign power (Art. 5; cf. 1893, Art. 13, base 4: “Not to alienate to a foreign Power any part of their territory.”).

POW-LEG—Congress:

The Poder Legislativo [Legislative Power] was exercised by the Congreso de los Estados Unidos de Venezuela [Congress of the United States of Venezuela], composed of a Cámara del Senado [Senate] and a Cámara de Diputados [Chamber of Deputies] (Art. 31; cont. 1893, Art. 18: “The Congress of the United States of Venezuela shall consist of two Chambers, one of Senators and the other of Deputies.”).

Each State elected one Deputy for every forty thousand inhabitants and one additional Deputy for an excess of twenty thousand; a State whose population did not reach forty thousand elected one. Deputies served throughout the constitutional period (Art. 32; cf. 1893, Arts. 20 and 24: “Each State shall elect one for every thirty-five thousand inhabitants and another for an excess of not less than fifteen thousand”; “Deputies shall serve in their offices for four years.”). The Asamblea Legislativa [Legislative Assembly] of each State elected two principal Senators and two alternates; Senators served six years and one-half were renewed every three years (Art. 36; cf. 1893, Arts. 26 and 29: “Three principal Senators and three alternates”; “They shall serve in their offices for four years and shall be renewed in their entirety.”).

The Chambers convened annually on 20 February for eighty non-extendable days. The Constitution regulated quorum, sessions, immunity, incompatibilities, the powers of Congreso [Congress], and the formation of laws (Arts. 39–69; cf. 1893, Arts. 30–59: “The Legislative Chambers shall convene each year […] on 20 February […] The sessions shall last seventy days, extendable to ninety.”).

ECO-TES—Treasury:

The Congreso [Congress] could decree national taxes, determine all matters relating to the Deuda Nacional [National Debt] and its interest, authorize loans upon the credit of the Nation, and enact annually the Presupuesto General de Rentas y Gastos Públicos [General Budget of Public Revenues and Expenditures] (Art. 54, nos. 2, 9, 10, and 18; cont. 1893, Art. 44, nos. 2, 9, 10, and 17: “To decree national taxes”; “To determine exclusively all matters relating to the National Debt and its interest”; “To authorize loans upon the credit of the Nation”; “To prepare the general budget of public revenues and expenditures.”).

The Ejecutivo Federal [Federal Executive] was required to negotiate loans in accordance with the enactments of Congreso [Congress], supervise the collection of national revenues, and administer the public lands, mines, and salt works of the States (Art. 89, nos. 8, 9, and 19; cf. 1893, Art. 76, nos. 5, 15, and 16: “To administer the public lands, mines, and salt works of the States, in accordance with law”; “To negotiate the loans decreed by Congress”; “To supervise and oversee the collection of national revenues.”).

No expenditure could be made from the Tesoro Nacional [National Treasury] without an express appropriation by Congreso [Congress] in the budget; those who violated the rule incurred civil liability for the amounts paid, and ordinary expenditures took precedence over extraordinary expenditures (Art. 129; cont. 1893, Art. 138: “No expenditure shall be made from the National Treasury for which Congress has not expressly appropriated a sum.”). The issuance of paper money, the compulsory circulation of banknotes, and the importation of currency other than gold were prohibited; the governmental minting or importation of silver or nickel required legislative authorization and was subject to limits per inhabitant (Art. 130; cf. 1893, Art. 13, base 36, which obligated the States “not to coin money or issue paper money.”). Collection offices and payment offices were required to remain separate (Art. 131; cont. 1893, Art. 139: “The offices for the collection of national revenues and those for payment shall always remain separate.”).

POW-EXE—Executive:

The Administración General de la Nación [General Administration of the Nation] not assigned to another authority belonged to the Ejecutivo Federal [Federal Executive], exercised by a magistrate styled Presidente de los Estados Unidos de Venezuela [President of the United States of Venezuela], together with the Ministros del Despacho [Ministers of the Cabinet], who were his organs (Art. 70; cf. 1893, Art. 60: “Everything relating to the General Administration of the Nation that is not assigned to another authority […] belongs to the competence of the National Executive.”). Its functions could not be exercised outside the Distrito Federal [Federal District], except for the constitutional provision permitting the transfer of the public powers during a foreign war (Art. 71; cf. 1893, Art. 61: “The functions of the National Executive cannot be exercised outside the Federal District.”).

The President was required to be Venezuelan by birth and at least thirty years of age. He served for six years, could not be reelected for the immediately succeeding period, and neither a person who had exercised the Presidency during the final year of the preceding period nor specified relatives of either could be elected (Arts. 72–73; cf. 1893, Arts. 63 and 73: “To be elected, one must be Venezuelan by birth and have attained thirty years of age”; “He may not be elected for the succeeding period.”). Presidential vacancies were supplied by a First and a Second Vice President and, in the absence of both, by the President of the Corte Federal [Federal Court], under the electoral rules governing an absolute vacancy (Arts. 75–77; cf. 1893, Arts. 70–72: “The temporary or absolute absences of the President of the Republic shall be supplied by the citizen presiding over the Council of Government.”).

The presidential election was no longer direct. The Concejos Municipales [Municipal Councils] voted for the President and Vice Presidents; each Asamblea Legislativa [Legislative Assembly] canvassed those votes and declared the candidates of the State; the Senado [Senate] conducted the general canvass; and, if no absolute majority existed or the vote was tied, the Chambers constituted themselves as a Cuerpo Electoral [Electoral Body] to perfect the election through the votes of the state delegations (Arts. 82–88; cf. 1893, Arts. 63–69: “The election of the President of the United States of Venezuela shall be made by the citizens of all the States and of the Federal District by direct and secret vote.”).

The President possessed exclusive powers of appointment, diplomatic representation, direction of war, command of the Army, and temporary departure from the capital (Art. 79). The Ejecutivo Federal [Federal Executive] executed the laws, issued regulations, organized the Army and militia, conducted foreign relations, administered the enumerated revenues and resources, exercised the powers of war and restoration of constitutional order, and concluded contracts of national interest subject to legislative approval (Art. 89). The Ministros del Despacho [Ministers of the Cabinet] were the legal, sole, and necessary organs of the President; their countersignature was a requisite for the efficacy of presidential acts, and a written presidential order did not extinguish their personal responsibility (Arts. 90–98; cont. 1893, Arts. 90–99: “The Ministers are the legal, sole, and necessary organs of the President […] and without this requisite the acts shall have no effect”; “Their personal responsibility is not relieved by the order of the President.”).

POW-JUD—Judiciary:

The Poder Judicial [Judicial Power] resided in the Corte Federal [Federal Court], the Corte de Casación [Court of Cassation], and the other courts and tribunals established by law (Art. 99; cont. 1893, Art. 100: “The Judicial Power of the United States of Venezuela resides in the Federal High Court, the Court of Cassation, and such other courts and tribunals as the Law shall establish.”). The Constitution retained two separate high courts. The Asambleas Legislativas [Legislative Assemblies] proposed candidates, the Senado [Senate] conducted the election according to groupings of States, and the members served six years (Arts. 101–110; cf. 1893, Arts. 102–115: “The Federal High Court shall be composed of nine Justices”; “The Court of Cassation […] shall be composed of nine Justices.”).

The Corte Federal [Federal Court] possessed jurisdiction, among other matters, over constitutional accusations against the President, Ministers, the Procurador General de la Nación [Attorney General of the Nation], the Governor of the Distrito Federal [Federal District], and its own members; federal controversies; conflicts of laws; the nullity of acts contrary to the Constitution; controversies arising from contracts of the Nation; and the recognition of foreign judgments (Art. 106). The Corte de Casación [Court of Cassation] heard proceedings against high state officials, appeals in cassation, and conflicts of judicial competence (Art. 110).

The Ministerio Público [Public Ministry] was entrusted to the Procurador General de la Nación [Attorney General of the Nation], elected by the Cámara de Diputados [Chamber of Deputies] for two years. He was charged with promoting the execution of the laws, supervising the performance of federal officials, instituting accusations, exercising the prosecutorial ministry, and representing the Nation in judicial proceedings (Arts. 111–114; cf. 1893, Art. 25, no. 2: “To elect every two years […] the Attorney General of the Nation and two alternates”; the antecedent charter contained no equivalent autonomous section).

POW-SUB—Subnational Government:

The States forming the Union were autonomous and equal as political entities and assumed the obligations of the Bases de la Unión [Bases of the Union] (Art. 6; cont. 1893, Art. 13: “The States forming the Venezuelan Union are autonomous and equal as political entities.”). They were required to organize themselves according to the principles of popular, elective, federal, representative, alternating, and responsible government; recognize municipal autonomy; comply with the Constitution, laws, and legitimate acts of the national powers; abstain from political relations with foreign powers; organize state justice under uniform substantive and procedural legislation; and submit their controversies to the federal tribunals (Art. 6, bases 1–30).

Residual competence remained in the States: “Everything not expressly assigned by this Constitution to the General Administration of the Nation belongs to the competence of the States.” (Art. 115; cont. 1893, Art. 116: “Everything not expressly assigned by this Constitution to the General Administration of the Nation belongs to the competence of the States.”). The States determined in their constitutions the duration and qualifications of their high officials.

CON-AMD—Amending the Constitution:

The Constitution admitted amendments or additions, but the Congreso Nacional [National Congress] could enact them only in ordinary sessions and upon the request of three-fourths of the Asambleas Legislativas [Legislative Assemblies] of the States, themselves meeting in ordinary sessions. They could not enter into force until after the renewal of the public powers that had requested or enacted them (Art. 141; cont. 1893, Art. 151: “This Constitution may be amended or supplemented […] but neither may be put into force until after the renewal of the Public Powers of the Nation that requested or enacted them.”).

Amendments and additions followed the ordinary legislative procedure; once adopted by the national legislature, they were remitted to the Asambleas Legislativas [Legislative Assemblies] for definitive ratification. Congreso [Congress] could also initiate them, but they required ratification by three-fourths of the Assemblies and took effect only in the succeeding period. In every case the definitive vote returned to the Congreso Nacional [National Congress] for canvass and promulgation (Arts. 142–145; cont. 1893, Arts. 152–155: “Constitutional amendments or additions shall be made through the same procedure established for the enactment of laws”; “The definitive vote of the States shall always return to the National Congress.”).

CIV-SUF—Suffrage:

Venezuelans over twenty-one years of age were electors and eligible for public office, subject to the conditions established by the Constitution and laws (Art. 10; cf. 1893, Art. 6: “Venezuelan males over twenty-one years of age are eligible for office.”). Among the guaranteed rights, suffrage belonged exclusively to Venezuelan males over twenty-one, except those under interdiction declared by a final judgment (Art. 17, no. 11; cf. 1893, Art. 14, no. 11: “Freedom of suffrage, subject to no restriction other than being under twenty-one years of age.”).

The Bases de la Unión [Bases of the Union] required direct and secret voting for the Concejos Municipales [Municipal Councils], Asambleas Legislativas [Legislative Assemblies], and Cámara de Diputados [Chamber of Deputies], and permitted either direct or delegated voting for the remaining popularly elected officials (Art. 6, base 21; cf. 1893, Art. 13, base 24: “To establish direct and secret suffrage in popular elections.”). The Presidency, however, was elected through the indirect sequence of Articles 82–88.

CIV-CIT—Nationality:

Venezuelans were such either by birth or by naturalization (Art. 8; cont. 1893, Art. 5: “Venezuelans are such either by birth or by naturalization.”). The Constitution defined both categories and required that a declaration of intention be made before the Registrador Principal [Principal Registrar] of the State of domicile, entered into the protocol, and published in the Gaceta Oficial [Official Gazette] (Arts. 8–9; cf. 1893, Art. 5, which contained no autonomous registration procedure: “They are Venezuelans by naturalization […] who have established their residence within the territory of the Republic and declared their intention to be Venezuelans.”).

All Venezuelans had the duty to serve the Nation and enjoyed equal rights and bore equal duties throughout the territory (Arts. 11–12; cont. 1893, Arts. 7–8: “All Venezuelans have the duty to serve the Nation”; “They shall enjoy […] the same rights and shall bear the same duties.”). Foreigners enjoyed the civil rights of nationals but incurred the responsibilities of Venezuelans if they participated in political conflicts. Neither nationals nor foreigners could demand indemnification for damages, injuries, or expropriations not effected by legitimate authorities acting in their public capacity, and the Government could not conclude treaties that impaired those principles (Arts. 13–16; cf. 1893, Arts. 9–12: “Foreigners enjoy all the civil rights enjoyed by nationals”; “The law shall determine the rights and duties corresponding to foreigners who are not domiciled.”).

RTS-GAR—Rights:

The Nation guaranteed the inviolability of life and abolished capital punishment; protected property, correspondence, private papers, and the home; and recognized personal liberty, the proscription of slavery, freedom of thought, movement, industry, assembly, association, petition, suffrage, education, and religion, together with individual security and equality (Art. 17; cf. 1893, Art. 14: “The Nation guarantees to Venezuelans the effective enjoyment of the following rights.”).

The 1901 formulation introduced material changes. In freedom of expression it required a final judgment before detention for calumny or insult; in freedom of movement it inserted the limitation “in time of peace”; in individual security it increased the maximum corporal sentence from ten to fifteen years and reformulated the guarantees governing deprivation of liberty for political causes (Art. 17, nos. 6, 7, and 14; cf. 1893, Art. 14, nos. 6, 7, and 14: “The accused may not be detained or imprisoned […] except after the competent Tribunal has rendered the judgment condemning him”; “Nor be sentenced to corporal punishment for more than ten years.”).

The enumeration did not prevent the States from recognizing additional rights. Those who violated the guarantees outside the cases of exception incurred responsibility, and laws impairing the rights were to be declared unconstitutional and without effect (Arts. 18–20; cont. 1893, Arts. 15–17: “The preceding enumeration does not restrict the power of the States to grant other rights to their inhabitants”; “Laws that do so shall be held unconstitutional and shall have no effect.”).

REG-MIL—The Military:

The Fuerza Pública Nacional [National Public Force] was divided into naval and land forces and composed of the citizen militias organized according to law. Each State furnished a contingent proportionate to its population, which could be increased in time of war (Arts. 120–122; cf. 1893, Arts. 125–127: “The National Public Force is divided into naval and land forces and shall be composed of the citizen militias organized by the States.”). Military and civil authority could not be exercised simultaneously by the same person or corporation (Art. 123; cont. 1893, Art. 129: “Military and civil authority shall never be exercised simultaneously by the same person or corporation.”).

During electoral periods, the national public force and the forces of the States were required to remain quartered (Art. 132; cont. 1893, Art. 140: “The national public force or that of the States shall remain quartered during the period of popular elections.”). The armed force could not deliberate; it was passive and obedient and could demand assistance only from the civil authorities in the manner established by law (Art. 137; cont. 1893, Art. 145: “The armed force cannot deliberate; it is passive and obedient.”).

REG-REL—Religion:

The Constitution guaranteed libertad religiosa [freedom of religion] without further qualification (Art. 17, no. 13; cont. 1893, Art. 14, no. 13: “Freedom of religion.”). The Nation, possessing the derecho de patronato eclesiástico [right of ecclesiastical patronage], was to exercise it in accordance with the law of 28 July 1824 (Art. 124; cf. 1893, Art. 130: “It shall exercise it as determined by the law governing the matter.”).

ECO-INF—Infrastructure:

The States were required to cede to the Government of the Nation the territory necessary for forts, wharves, warehouses, shipyards, and buildings indispensable to the Administración General [General Administration] (Art. 6, base 8; cf. 1893, Art. 13, base 7: “The territory necessary to erect forts, warehouses, construction shipyards, and other buildings indispensable to the General Administration.”). They reserved to the Poder Federal [Federal Power] legislative and executive jurisdiction over maritime, coastal, and river navigation, wharves, and national roads, defined by their passage among States, the Distrito Federal [Federal District], or a Territorio Federal [Federal Territory] (Art. 6, base 10; cf. 1893, Art. 13, bases 9–10: “All legislative and executive jurisdiction concerning maritime, coastal, and river navigation and national roads.”).

The Congreso [Congress] regulated the habilitation and security of ports and coasts, the geographical chart, statistics, the census, the posts, and national telegraphs (Art. 54, nos. 3, 11, and 24; cf. 1893, Art. 44, nos. 3, 4, and 11: “To determine all matters relating to the habilitation and security of maritime and river ports and coasts”; “To create and organize the offices of national posts and telegraphs.”). The Ejecutivo Federal [Federal Executive] regulated the federal posts, telegraphs, and telephones and could urgently create or suppress stations or offices, subject to a report to the legislature at its next meeting (Art. 89, no. 13; new as to the constitutional mention of the telephone).

CON-FIN—Final Provisions:

The constitutional periods lasted six years, and the first began on 20 February 1902 (Art. 146; new). At the conclusion of each period, precisely on 20 February, the President ceased to exercise his functions and the President of the Corte Federal [Federal Court], or the person acting in his place, assumed the Presidency to effect the transfer of power (Art. 147; new).

The Constitution established the census approved by Congreso [Congress] as the population basis for the civil and political life of the States; retained the official computation of Independence from 5 July 1811 and of the Federation from 20 February 1859; ordered its promulgation following the Cúmplase [order of execution] of the Ejecutivo Federal [Federal Executive]; regulated electoral dates; and repealed the Constitution of 21 June 1893 (Arts. 149–153; cf. 1893, Arts. 157–162: “The population basis shall be that determined by the latest Census of the Republic approved by Congress”; “This Constitution shall enter into force on the day of its promulgation.”).

Source: original Castilian text of the 1901 Constitution, CIDEP recension: https://cidep.online/files/constituciones/1901.pdf

Antecedent: original Castilian text of the 1893 Constitution, CIDEP recension: https://cidep.online/files/constituciones/1893.pdf

12). The 1904 Constitution

The 1904 Constitución de los Estados Unidos de Venezuela [Constitution of the United States of Venezuela] was enacted by the Congreso Constituyente [Constituent Congress] in Caracas on 27 April 1904. The Ejecutivo Federal [Federal Executive], presided over by Cipriano Castro, issued the Cúmplase [order of execution] on the same date. Article 137 repealed the Constitution of 29 March 1901.

DOC-PRE—Preamble:

“The Constituent Congress of the United States of Venezuela, in the name of Almighty God and by the authority of the Peoples of Venezuela, decrees the following Constitution.” (Preamble; cf. 1901, Preamble: “The National Constituent Assembly, in the name of Almighty God and by the authority of the People of Venezuela, decrees.”).

FND-TER—Territory:

The national territory continued to be defined as that which had corresponded in 1810 to the Capitanía General de Venezuela [Captaincy General of Venezuela], subject to the modifications resulting from public treaties (Art. 1; cont. 1901, Art. 1: “The territory of the United States of Venezuela is the same as that which in the year 1810 corresponded to the Captaincy General of Venezuela, subject to the modifications resulting from public Treaties.”).

The Constitution replaced the 1901 enumeration of twenty States with a division of the territory into Districts and Federal Territories, grouped the Districts into thirteen States, and enumerated the district composition of each (Arts. 2–3; cf. 1901, Arts. 2–4: “The States Apure, Aragua, Bolívar […] which the Constitution of 28 March 1864 declared independent and united, form the Nation.”). The enumerated boundary controversies and those subsequently arising among Districts were to be resolved by the arbitral tribunal prescribed in Article 126.

It recognized Amazonas, Cristóbal Colón, Colón, Delta-Amacuro, and Yuruari as Territorios Federales [Federal Territories] and permitted them to attain statehood if they possessed one hundred thousand inhabitants and demonstrated the capacity to sustain their public services (Art. 4; cf. 1901, Arts. 4 and 6, base 9: “The Federal Territories Yuruary, Colón, Amazonas, and Delta Amacuro.”). It organized the Distrito Federal [Federal District] from the Departments Libertador, Vargas, Guaicaipuro, and Sucre and the island of Margarita, and established the Department Libertador as the seat of the general powers, subject to temporary relocation within the District by the Poder Ejecutivo [Executive Power] (Art. 5; cf. 1901, Art. 6, base 7: “The city of Caracas, which shall be the Capital of the Union, and the parishes El Valle, La Vega, Antímano, Macarao, La Guaira, Maiquetía, and Macuto.”). The territory of the Nation could not be alienated in any manner to a foreign power (Art. 6; cont. 1901, Art. 5: “The national territory may not be alienated in any manner to a foreign power.”).

POW-LEG—Congress:

The Poder Legislativo [Legislative Power] remained vested in the Congreso de los Estados Unidos de Venezuela [Congress of the United States of Venezuela], composed of a Chamber of Senators and a Chamber of Deputies (Art. 30; cont. 1901, Art. 31: “The Legislative Power is exercised by an Assembly denominated the Congress of the United States of Venezuela, composed of two Chambers.”).

Each State directly elected one Deputy for every forty thousand inhabitants and one additional Deputy for an excess of twenty thousand, and Deputies served six years. The requirement that a Deputy be a native or domiciliary of the electing State was eliminated and replaced by Venezuelan nationality by birth and a minimum age of twenty-one (Arts. 31–33; cf. 1901, Arts. 32–34: “To be Venezuelan, a native of the State that elects him or domiciled therein, and to have attained twenty-five years of age.”). Each Asamblea Legislativa [Legislative Assembly] elected two principal Senators and two alternates; Senators served six years, but renewal of one-half every three years was no longer prescribed (Arts. 35–36; cf. 1901, Arts. 36–37: “The Senators shall serve in their functions for six years and shall be renewed by one-half every three years.”).

The Chambers passed from annual sessions beginning on 20 February and lasting eighty days to biennial sessions beginning on 23 May and lasting ninety non-extendable days (Art. 38; cf. 1901, Art. 39: “The Legislative Chambers shall meet each year […] on 20 February […] The sessions shall last eighty non-extendable days.”). The Constitution retained bicameral organization and the regimes governing quorum, immunity, incompatibilities, and legislative procedure, subject to the modifications contained in Articles 38–67.

The powers of Congreso [Congress] were concentrated in eighteen paragraphs. They included receiving presidential resignations, examining ministerial accounts, organizing the Distrito Federal [Federal District] and the Territorios Federales [Federal Territories], decreeing taxes, enacting codes, regulating the currency, national debt, and public credit, approving treaties and contracts of national interest, enacting the budget, electing the Cuerpo Electoral [Electoral Body], and electing the Corte Federal y de Casación [Federal Court and Court of Cassation] (Art. 52; cf. 1901, Art. 54: “The Congress of the United States of Venezuela has the following powers,” distributed among thirty-two paragraphs).

ECO-TES—Treasury:

The Congreso [Congress] retained the powers to decree national taxes, determine matters relating to the Deuda Nacional [National Debt], authorize loans, and enact the Presupuesto General de Rentas y Gastos Públicos [General Budget of Public Revenues and Expenditures] (Art. 52, nos. 5, 9, 10, and 14; cont. 1901, Art. 54, nos. 2, 9, 10, and 18: “To decree national taxes”; “To determine exclusively all matters relating to the national debt and its interest”; “To authorize loans upon the credit of the Nation”; “To debate and enact the General Budget of Public Revenues and Expenditures.”).

The Ejecutivo Federal [Federal Executive] negotiated the loans authorized by Congreso [Congress], supervised the collection of revenues, and administered public lands, mines, salt works, and the tobacco and spirits revenues (Art. 80, nos. 12–14; cf. 1901, Art. 89, nos. 8, 9, and 19: “To negotiate loans authorized by Congress”; “To supervise and oversee the collection of national revenues”; “To administer the public lands, mines, and salt works of the States.”). The Ministers presented reasoned and documented reports every two years, together with the general budget and the accounts for the preceding two years (Art. 86; cf. 1901, Art. 96: “The Ministers shall render account to the Chambers each year.”).

No expenditure could be made from the Tesoro Nacional [National Treasury] without an express appropriation by Congreso [Congress]; violators incurred civil liability, and ordinary expenditures took precedence over extraordinary expenditures (Art. 116; cont. 1901, Art. 129: “No expenditure shall be made from the National Treasury for which Congress has not expressly appropriated a sum.”). The prohibition of paper money and compulsory circulation of banknotes, the requirement of congressional authorization for acceptance of silver or nickel currency, and the separation of collection from payment offices persisted (Arts. 117–118; cf. 1901, Arts. 130–131: “It may not issue […] paper money or declare any class of Bank Notes to be of compulsory circulation”; “The offices for collection […] and those for payment shall always remain separate.”).

POW-EXE—Executive:

The Constitution abandoned the electoral sequence initiated in the Concejos Municipales [Municipal Councils]. During the first fifteen days of its session, Congreso [Congress] elected a Cuerpo Electoral [Electoral Body] of fourteen members of Congress, one from each political entity and an additional Deputy for the Distrito Federal [Federal District]. That body elected the President and two Vice Presidents by an absolute majority of its entire membership (Arts. 70–72; cf. 1901, Arts. 82–88: “The Municipal Councils of each State shall assemble and vote for President, First Vice President, and Second Vice President”; “The general canvass shall be conducted by the Senate of the Republic.”).

The President was required to be Venezuelan by birth and over thirty years of age, took the legal oath before Congreso [Congress], and could not be reelected for the immediately succeeding period (Arts. 73 and 77; cont. 1901, Arts. 72–74: “To be President of the Republic, one must be Venezuelan by birth and have attained thirty years of age”; “He may not be reelected for the immediately succeeding constitutional period.”). Presidential vacancies were supplied by the First and Second Vice Presidents; if the Second Vice President assumed office upon the absolute absence of the first two officeholders, he was required to convene the Senado [Senate] to elect a substitute (Art. 74; cf. 1901, Arts. 75–77: “The temporary or absolute absences of the President […] shall be supplied by a First Vice President and those of the latter by a Second Vice President”; in the absence of both, “by the President of the Federal Court.”).

The President appointed and removed Ministers, received foreign public ministers, administered the Distrito Federal [Federal District] and Territorios Federales [Federal Territories], directed war and the Army, and could absent himself temporarily from the capital or from the exercise of office (Art. 75). He was required to present Congreso [Congress] with a concise message concerning his acts, the condition of the Republic, and advisable legislative reforms (Art. 76; cf. 1901, Art. 79, no. 7, and Art. 96: “To address to the Congress of the Union […] a concise message concerning the political and administrative course of the country.”).

The Ejecutivo Federal [Federal Executive] executed the Constitution and laws, issued regulations, convened Congreso [Congress], organized the Army and militia, exercised powers of war and internal disturbance, directed the Procurador General de la Nación [Attorney General of the Nation] to seek nullity and responsibility, granted amnesties and pardons, negotiated loans, administered revenues and resources, conducted diplomacy, concluded treaties and contracts, regulated communications, and exercised the remaining enumerated functions (Art. 80; cf. 1901, Art. 89: “The following are powers of the Federal Executive.”).

The redistribution encompassed powers of particular consequence. In 1901 it belonged to Congreso [Congress] “to decree war and require the Federal Executive to negotiate peace,” and the Executive could declare war only after Congress had decreed it (1901, Arts. 54, no. 15, and 89, no. 18). In 1904 the enumeration of congressional powers omitted that competence, and Article 80, no. 6, conferred upon the Ejecutivo Federal [Federal Executive] the power “to declare war.” Likewise, amnesty, which in 1901 belonged to Congreso [Congress] (Art. 54, no. 21), passed to the Executive together with the pardon (1904, Art. 80, no. 11: “To grant amnesties and pardons.”). The admission of foreigners into the service of the Republic also passed from congressional to executive competence (1901, Art. 54, no. 22; 1904, Art. 80, no. 21).

The Ministros del Despacho [Ministers of the Cabinet] remained the legal, sole, and necessary organs of the President. Their countersignatures conditioned the efficacy of presidential acts; a presidential order did not relieve their responsibility; and they answered for treason, constitutional or legal violation, expenditures beyond the budget, bribery, misappropriation, and common crimes (Arts. 81–88; cont. 1901, Arts. 90–98: “The Ministers are the legal, sole, and necessary organs of the President”; “Their personal responsibility is not relieved by order of the President.”).

POW-JUD—Judiciary:

The Poder Judicial [Judicial Power] resided in the Corte Federal y de Casación [Federal Court and Court of Cassation] and the other tribunals and courts established by law (Art. 89; cf. 1901, Art. 99: “The Judicial Power of the Republic resides in the Federal Court, the Court of Cassation, and the other Courts and Tribunals.”). The reform united the two high courts of 1901 into a single Tribunal Supremo de la Federación y de los Estados [Supreme Tribunal of the Federation and the States], composed of seven Justices elected by Congreso [Congress] for six years and eligible for reelection (Arts. 91–94; cf. 1901, Arts. 101–110).

The Corte Federal y de Casación [Federal Court and Court of Cassation] accumulated the constitutional, federal, and cassation jurisdictions formerly distributed between two courts. It heard accusations against high federal and state officials; diplomatic proceedings, civil actions against the Nation, and prize cases; appeals in cassation; political controversies and judicial conflicts; the nullity of laws and acts contrary to the Constitution; controversies arising from presidential contracts; and the recognition of foreign judgments (Art. 95; cf. 1901, Arts. 106 and 110: “The following are powers of the Federal Court”; “The Court of Cassation has the following powers.”).

The Court was required to report every two years to Congreso [Congress] concerning its work and obstacles to uniformity in civil, criminal, and commercial legislation. Its Justices could not accept offices dependent upon the Ejecutivo Federal [Federal Executive] while exercising their functions, and their salaries were fixed by law (Arts. 96–98).

The Ministerio Público [Public Ministry] remained entrusted to the Procurador General de la Nación [Attorney General of the Nation], elected for two years and eligible for reelection. He was required to be Venezuelan by birth, over thirty years of age, and an attorney of the Republic; he promoted the execution of laws, rendered legal opinions, supervised federal officials, instituted accusations upon presidential direction, exercised the prosecutorial ministry, and represented the Nation (Arts. 99–102; cont. 1901, Arts. 111–114: “The Public Ministry is entrusted to the Attorney General of the Nation.”).

POW-SUB—Subnational Government:

The States were declared autonomous and equal as political entities and, for the first time in this immediate constitutional chain, the Constitution stated that they “retain in their entirety the sovereignty not delegated by this Constitution.” (Art. 7; cf. 1901, Art. 6: “The States forming the Venezuelan Union are autonomous and equal as political entities.”). The clause coexisted with a federal reorganization that grouped the Districts into thirteen States and subjected numerous functions to federal jurisdiction.

The Bases de la Unión [Bases of the Union] obligated the States to adopt constitutions conforming to the Pacto Fundamental [Fundamental Compact]; recognize district autonomy; obey legitimate acts of national power; abstain from foreign relations; cede territory for federal works; leave the Territories under national administration; reserve specified jurisdictions to the Poder Federal [Federal Power]; maintain uniform civil, commercial, criminal, and procedural legislation; participate in forming the Corte Federal y de Casación [Federal Court and Court of Cassation]; adopt common electoral rules; provide education and military contingents; submit interstate controversies to the Court; and accept the constitutional revenue regime (Art. 7, bases 1–29; cf. 1901, Art. 6, bases 1–30: “The States forming the Venezuelan Union are autonomous and equal as political entities, and bind themselves.”).

Competence not expressly assigned to the Administración General de la Nación [General Administration of the Nation] remained in the States. Their constitutions were required to establish three-year periods for their public powers beginning on 1 January 1905 (Art. 103; cf. 1901, Art. 115: “Everything not expressly assigned to the General Administration of the Nation […] belongs to the competence of the States.”).

State tribunals remained independent (Art. 105; cont. 1901, Art. 117: “The Tribunals of Justice in the States are independent.”). The Corte Federal y de Casación [Federal Court and Court of Cassation] was required to nullify acts of the Chambers or the Ejecutivo Federal [Federal Executive] that violated the rights or autonomy of the States (Art. 106; cont. 1901, Art. 119: “Every act of the Legislative Chambers or the Federal Executive that violates the rights guaranteed to the States or attacks their autonomy shall be declared null.”). The National Government could maintain within the States only those resident officials exercising jurisdiction who were expressly excepted by Article 112 (cf. 1901, Art. 125: “The National Government shall have no resident officials within the States exercising jurisdiction or authority other than officials of the States themselves.”). District boundary controversies were entrusted to arbitrators arbitradores [authorized to decide in equity] freely appointed by the Ejecutivo Federal [Federal Executive] (Art. 126; new).

CON-AMD—Amending the Constitution:

The Constitution could be amended or supplemented, but the Congreso Nacional [National Congress] could enact neither except in ordinary sessions and upon the request of three-fourths of the state Asambleas Legislativas [Legislative Assemblies] meeting in ordinary sessions (Art. 127; cf. 1901, Art. 141: “Neither may be put into force until after the renewal of the Public Powers of the Nation that requested or enacted them.”). The 1904 reform removed from this article the mandatory postponement until renewal of the requesting or enacting powers.

Amendments followed the procedure for the formation of laws. Once adopted by Congreso [Congress], they were remitted to the Asambleas Legislativas [Legislative Assemblies] for definitive ratification. Congress could also initiate them, always subject to ratification by three-fourths of the Assemblies, and the definitive vote was required to return to Congress for canvass and promulgation (Arts. 128–131; cont. 1901, Arts. 142–145: “Constitutional amendments or additions shall be made through the same procedure established for the enactment of laws”; “The definitive vote of the States shall always return to the National Congress,” except for the disappearance of the rule deferring effectiveness until the succeeding period).

CIV-SUF—Suffrage:

Venezuelans over twenty-one years of age were electors and eligible for office, subject to the conditions established by the Constitution and laws (Art. 10; cont. 1901, Art. 10: “Venezuelans over twenty-one years of age are electors and eligible for public office.”). The Constitution guaranteed freedom of suffrage under those general restrictions (Art. 17, no. 11; cf. 1901, Art. 17, no. 11, which expressly reserved it to “Venezuelan males over twenty-one years of age” and excepted those under judicial interdiction).

The Bases de la Unión [Bases of the Union] retained direct voting for the Concejos Municipales [Municipal Councils], Asambleas Legislativas [Legislative Assemblies], and Cámara de Diputados [Chamber of Deputies], and direct or delegated voting for other popular officials, always secret and founded on the electoral census (Art. 7, base 19; cont. 1901, Art. 6, base 21: “To adopt […] direct voting, and for their remaining popularly elected officials direct or delegated voting; in both cases it shall be secret.”). Deputies were directly elected (Arts. 31 and 33). The President and Vice Presidents, however, were elected by the Cuerpo Electoral [Electoral Body] designated by Congreso [Congress] (Arts. 70–72; cf. 1901, Arts. 82–88: “The general canvass shall be conducted by the Senate of the Republic.”).

The national public force and the forces of the States were required to remain quartered during popular elections (Art. 119; cont. 1901, Art. 132: “The national public force, or that of the States, shall remain quartered during the period of popular elections.”).

CIV-CIT—Nationality:

Venezuelans were such by birth or naturalization. Venezuelans by birth comprised all persons born in the territory and children of Venezuelan parents regardless of place of birth. Naturalized Venezuelans comprised persons born in the Spanish American republics who acquired domicile and declared their intention; persons who obtained letters of naturalization; persons acquiring nationality under special laws; and foreign women married to Venezuelans while the bond subsisted, subject to the prescribed condition thereafter (Art. 8; cf. 1901, Art. 8: “Venezuelans are such either by birth or by naturalization,” followed by a narrower enumeration and distinctions relating to parentage and diplomatic missions).

The declaration of intention was made before the Registrador Principal [Principal Registrar], entered in the protocol, and remitted to the Ejecutivo Nacional [National Executive] for publication in the Gaceta Oficial [Official Gazette] (Art. 9; cont. 1901, Art. 9: “The declaration of intention to be Venezuelan shall be made before the Principal Registrar.”). The duty of service, territorial equality of rights and duties, responsibility of foreigners who participated in political conflicts, exclusion of indemnification for acts not performed by legitimate authorities, and prohibition of treaties contrary to those principles persisted (Arts. 11–16; cf. 1901, Arts. 11–16: “All Venezuelans have the duty to serve the Nation”; “Foreigners, if they participate in political conflicts, shall be subject to the same responsibilities as Venezuelans.”).

RTS-GAR—Rights:

The Constitution guaranteed life and abolished capital punishment; protected property, correspondence, and the home; recognized personal liberty and freedom of thought, movement, industry, assembly, association, petition, suffrage, education, and religion; and established guarantees of individual security and equality (Art. 17; cf. 1901, Art. 17: “The Nation guarantees to Venezuelans the effective enjoyment of the following rights.”).

The reformulation was not merely verbal. In expression it removed the prohibition against detaining the accused before a final judgment. In movement it omitted the express freedom to depart from the Republic, return, and transport property. In individual security it eliminated, among other express guarantees, the prohibition against quartering soldiers in a home, the three-day limit on police detention, the particular regime governing detention for political causes and separation from persons accused or convicted of common crimes, the prohibition against a second trial for the same act, and the prohibition of torture (Art. 17, nos. 6, 7, and 14; cf. 1901, Art. 17, nos. 6, 7, and 14: “Arrests by the police [may not] exceed three days”; “Nor be tried a second time for the same act, nor subjected to any form of torture.”).

The enumeration did not restrict the States from recognizing additional rights (Art. 18; cont. 1901, Art. 18: “The preceding enumeration does not restrict the power of the States to grant other rights to their inhabitants.”). The rights could be suspended only in the cases and under the formalities governing the exceptional powers of the Ejecutivo Federal [Federal Executive] (Art. 19; cf. 1901, Arts. 19 and 89: “Those who, outside the case of Article 89, issue […] decrees […] that violate any of the rights […] are guilty.”). Officials who violated guarantees outside those cases incurred responsibility, and laws impairing the rights were to be declared unconstitutional (Arts. 20–21; cont. 1901, Arts. 19–20: “The rights […] shall not be impaired or injured by laws regulating their exercise.”).

REG-MIL—The Military:

The Fuerza Pública Nacional [National Public Force] was divided into naval and land forces and composed of the citizen militias. Each State furnished a contingent proportionate to its population, which could be increased in time of war (Arts. 107–109; cont. 1901, Arts. 120–122: “The National Public Force is divided into naval and land forces and shall be composed of the citizen militias”; “In time of war, the contingent may be increased.”).

Military and civil authority could not be exercised simultaneously by the same person or corporation, but the 1904 Constitution introduced the exception “in cases of disturbance of the public order.” (Art. 110; cf. 1901, Art. 123: “Military and civil authority shall never be exercised simultaneously by the same person or corporation.”).

All instruments of war belonged to the Nation (Art. 114; cf. 1901, Art. 126: “All instruments of war existing within the territory of the Republic upon the promulgation of this Constitution belong to the National Government.”). During elections, the national and state forces remained quartered (Art. 119; cont. 1901, Art. 132: “The national public force, or that of the States, shall remain quartered during the period of popular elections.”). The armed force could not deliberate; it was passive and obedient and could demand assistance only from the civil authorities according to law (Art. 122; cont. 1901, Art. 137: “The armed force cannot deliberate; it is passive and obedient.”).

REG-REL—Religion:

Libertad religiosa [freedom of religion] became subject to the laws and the “supreme supervision of the President of the Republic.” (Art. 17, no. 13; cf. 1901, Art. 17, no. 13: “Freedom of religion.”). The Ejecutivo Federal [Federal Executive] could prohibit and prevent the entry of foreigners specially devoted to the service of any cult or religion, regardless of their order or rank (Art. 80, no. 23; new).

The Nation retained the derecho de Patronato Eclesiástico [right of Ecclesiastical Patronage] and was to exercise it under the law of 28 July 1824 (Art. 111; cont. 1901, Art. 124: “The Nation, being in possession of the right of ecclesiastical patronage, shall exercise it as determined by the law of 28 July 1824.”).

ECO-INF—Infrastructure:

The States were required to cede to the Government of the Federation the territory necessary for forts, wharves, warehouses, shipyards, penitentiaries, and other works indispensable to the general administration (Art. 7, base 7; cf. 1901, Art. 6, base 8: “The territory necessary to erect forts, wharves, warehouses, construction shipyards, and other buildings indispensable to the General Administration,” without reference to penitentiaries). They reserved to the Poder Federal [Federal Power] legislative and executive jurisdiction over maritime, coastal, and river navigation, wharves, and national roads, and permitted restrictions only where navigation had required special works (Art. 7, base 9; cf. 1901, Art. 6, base 10: “All legislative and executive jurisdiction concerning maritime, coastal, and river navigation, wharves, and national roads.”).

The Ejecutivo Federal [Federal Executive] regulated the federal posts, telegraphs, and telephones; it could urgently create or suppress stations or offices and report to Congreso [Congress] at its next meeting (Art. 80, no. 17; cont. 1901, Art. 89, no. 13: “To regulate the Federal Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones.”). It issued navigation patents to national vessels (Art. 80, no. 19; cont. 1901, Art. 89, no. 2: “To issue navigation patents to national vessels.”). The States could not establish customs houses, for only national customs houses could exist (Art. 7, base 13; cont. 1901, Art. 6, base 14: “Not to establish Customs Houses for the collection of import duties, for there shall be only national ones.”).

CON-FIN—Final Provisions:

The Constitution retained the residual competence of the States but fixed three-year constitutional periods for their public powers beginning on 1 January 1905 (Art. 103; cf. 1901, Art. 115: “Everything not expressly assigned to the General Administration of the Nation […] belongs to the competence of the States.”). It prohibited every magistrate, authority, or corporation from exercising functions not expressly assigned by the Constitution and laws (Art. 104; cont. 1901, Art. 116: “Every Magistrate, authority, or corporation is prohibited from exercising any function not expressly assigned to it.”).

The general provisions regulated state judicial independence; nullity of acts injuring state autonomy; the public force; ecclesiastical patronage; federal officials resident within the States; instruments of war; official responsibility; budgetary appropriation; currency; separation of collection and payment; electoral quartering; international arbitration; incompatibilities; military discipline; oaths; public-interest contracts; the Derecho de Gentes [Law of Nations]; and arbitration of district boundaries (Arts. 105–126; cf. 1901, Arts. 117–140: “The Tribunals of Justice in the States are independent”; “No contract of public interest […] may be transferred, in whole or in part, to a foreign government”; “The Law of Nations supplements the national legislation.”).

Contracts of public interest could not be transferred, in whole or in part, to a foreign government. They were deemed to incorporate a clause submitting their controversies to Venezuelan tribunals and excluding foreign claims; corporations formed to perform them were required to be Venezuelan and legally domiciled in the country (Art. 124; cf. 1901, Art. 139: “They shall be decided by the competent Tribunals of Venezuela in conformity with its laws, and under no circumstance […] may they give rise to foreign claims.”).

The Derecho de Gentes [Law of Nations] formed part of national legislation but could not be invoked against the Constitution and laws (Art. 125; cf. 1901, Art. 140: “The Law of Nations supplements the national legislation; but it may never be invoked against the provisions of this Constitution and the individual rights it guarantees.”). The 1904 text omitted the express 1901 provisions concerning civil war, humanitarian practices, and legislative instructions for the Army.

The constitutional periods of the Poder Federal [Federal Power] lasted six years beginning on 23 May 1905. Upon the conclusion of each period on that date, the President ceased to exercise his functions and the Ministro de Relaciones Interiores [Minister of Interior Relations] assumed the Presidency for the transmission of power (Arts. 132–133; cf. 1901, Arts. 146–147: “The constitutional periods shall last six years, and the first shall begin to run on 20 February 1902”; “The President of the Federal Court […] shall enter upon the exercise of the Presidency of the Republic.”).

The Constitution retained the latest approved census as the population basis for the civil and political life of the States and the official dates of Independence and the Federation; ordered immediate promulgation following the Cúmplase [order of execution] of the Ejecutivo Federal [Federal Executive]; and repealed the Constitution of 29 March 1901 (Arts. 134–137; cf. 1901, Arts. 149–153: “The population basis shall be that determined by the latest Census of the Republic approved by Congress”; “The Constitution of 21 June 1893 is repealed.”).

Source: original Castilian text of the 1904 Constitution, CIDEP recension: https://cidep.online/files/constituciones/1904.pdf

Antecedent: original Castilian text of the 1901 Constitution, CIDEP recension: https://cidep.online/files/constituciones/1901.pdf

Tags:Cipriano Castro, Constitution of 1901, Constitution of 1904, constitutional law, Electoral Body, Federal and Court of Cassation, Federal Executive, Ricardo F. Morin, Unmasking Disappointment, Venezuela
Posted in Constitutional History, Venezuela, 20th-Century Constitutions | Leave a Comment »

“Unmasking Disappointment: Series XI”

June 15, 2026

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Scope and Use

This series constitutes a referential corpus in the Appendix. Its components are organized for consultation rather than sequential reading, and are presented in comparative rubrics that record institutional continuities, modifications, and reconfigurations across the constitutional texts.

Corpus definition: This corpus is limited to constitutions that were formally adopted and entered into force. Constitutional projects, draft constitutions, proposed reforms that were not ratified, and other constitutional texts that did not acquire legal force are excluded. The corpus therefore follows the constitutional order as constituted in law rather than the broader history of constitutional proposals. The corpus functions more like an archive than an argument. It attempts to establish a stable descriptive record of what each constitution contained and how it differed from its immediate predecessor. The consequence is that the corpus remains open to multiple lines of inquiry without privileging any one of them.

Rubric codes: Each rubric carries a permanent identifier in the form FAMILY-MEMBER, capitalized and hyphenated: for example POW-LEG for the legislative power, or REG-SLA for slavery. The family prefixes group rubrics by kind: FND (foundations of the State), CIV (civic status and participation), POW (public powers), ECO (fiscal, economic, and public works), RTS (rights and guarantees), REG (special regimes and institutions), and CON (constitutional self-regulation). These codes denote identity, not sequence: the order in which rubrics appear within any entry implies no precedence, and each constitution presents only the rubrics that pertain to it, in whatever arrangement best suits its text.

Append-only vocabulary: A code, once assigned, is never reassigned or reused. A rubric absent from a given constitution is simply omitted, signifying silence rather than oversight; a rubric that lapses from constitutional life is retired in place and marked with the span of charters to which it applied—thus REG-SLA (1811–1854) is not carried forward after abolition, and its code is never reoccupied. Matters introduced by later charters enter as new members appended to the appropriate family. Comparison therefore proceeds by matching codes across the twenty-five constitutions, not by position on the page.

Citation: References are anchored first on the article number—continuous within each text and therefore collision-proof—followed by the text’s own structural division as a secondary locator, named as that charter employs it (Capítulo and Sección in the 1811 constitution; Título and Sección in 1821). Spanish citations follow the CIDEP recension linked at the close of each entry.

Terms: “Constitution,” “charter,” and “corpus” refer throughout to the documents under study; “entry” and “installment” refer to the published pieces of this appendix. The rubric apparatus describes the former.

Translation Convention

Institutional and technical names are given first in italicized Latinate Castilian and followed by their contemporary Latinate English equivalents in brackets. All constitutional quotations appear in italic type between quotation marks and are rendered in contemporary Latinate English, faithfully preserving the substance and distinctions of the original charters. Comparative references are restricted to 1830 against 1821 and 1857 against 1830. The apparatus retains the classifications cont., cf., and new.

Ricardo F. Morín

June 7, 2026

Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania

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A-1). VENEZUELAN CONSTITUTIONS 1811-1999

19^th-Century Constitutions:

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1). The 1811 Constitution

The 1811 Constitution (Constitución Federal para los Estados de Venezuela) was adopted on December 21, 1811, by the Confederación Federal de Estados Venezolanos [the Federal Confederation of Venezuelan States], and was repealed following its collapse on July 21, 1812. It was promulgated shortly after the declaration of Venezuelan independence [July 5, 1811] and established a federal union of autonomous states under a common national framework.

DOC-PRE—Preamble

(translated by the author in a contemporary register)

“ENACTED by the Representatives of Margarita, Mérida, Cumaná, Barinas, Barcelona, Trujillo, and Caracas, assembled in General Congress

“IN THE NAME OF ALMIGHTY GOD

“We, the People of the States of Venezuela, exercising our sovereignty and seeking to establish among ourselves the best administration of justice, to promote the general welfare, to ensure domestic tranquility, to provide for our common defense, to uphold our liberty and political independence, to preserve pure and inviolate the sacred religion of our forebears, to secure in perpetuity for our posterity the enjoyment of these blessings, and to draw ourselves together in the most steadfast union and sincere friendship, have solemnly resolved to confederate and to form and establish the following Constitution, by which these States shall be governed and administered.”

FND-TER—Territory

The 1811 Constitution defined Venezuela as a confederation of sovereign provinces that retained full authority over their internal government and administration, except where powers were expressly delegated to the national government (Preliminar; Bases del Pacto Federativo). It affirmed that any territories later admitted—whether by division of existing provinces or by subsequent accession—would enter the Union on the same basis of reserved sovereignty (Preliminar; Arts. 128-32). Congress was granted exclusive authority over: foreign relations, common defense, trade regulation, war-making, and national taxation (Preliminar). The charter also imposed strict limits on provincial action: without prior congressional consent, no province could conclude special treaties or alliances, impose tonnage or custom-duties, raise or maintain armed forces in peacetime, or initiate war (Arts. 119-23). Provincial laws had to be submitted to Congress to avoid conflicts with federal statutes, and Congress held exclusive competence to admit or separate provinces and to dispose of national territory and property (Art. 124; Arts. 128-32). Finally, the Union guaranteed to each province a republican form of government, protection of its sovereignty, and—upon formal request—the suppression of internal violence. And in this way, a framework was established for mutual guarantees and collective securities among the provinces (Arts. 133-4; Preliminar).

POW-LEG—Congress (Legislative)

The 1811 Constitution vested legislative authority in the General Congress of Venezuela, composed of a House of Representatives and a Senate (Art. 1, Cap. II). Laws could originate in either chamber (Art. 21), though legislation concerning taxation could only be initiated in the House of Representatives (Art. 22). Enactment of any law required three readings in each chamber on different days (Art. 23). Once passed, laws were submitted to the Executive for promulgation, with procedures established for cases involving objections (Arts. 24–5). Each chamber regulated its internal proceedings, enforced discipline, and exercised exclusive authority over its members (Arts. 18, 26–28).

Representatives were elected every four years by a multi-tiered electoral system involving parish and chapter assemblies (Arts. 3, 6–8); senators served six-year terms and were elected by the provincial legislatures (Arts. 11–13). The Senate judged impeachments brought by the House of Representatives (Arts. 16, 29), and both chambers held shared prerogatives concerning internal order and legislative conduct (Arts. 16, 18). Congress convened annually in a designated capital city, with limited provisions for extending or relocating sessions (Art. 20). Congress held legislative authority over military affairs, taxation, commerce, currency, the postal system, foreign policy, infrastructure, naturalization, bankruptcy, and the establishment of lower courts (Art. 30). The legislative branch embodied the principle of separation of powers and functioned as part of the confederal structure based on the pact among sovereign provinces (Preliminar; Bases del Pacto Federativo).

ECO-TES—Treasury:

Article 108 of Chapter III, Section V designated provincial executive authorities to act on behalf of the Poder Ejecutivo Federal [Federal Executive] in matters not expressly delegated by the Congreso General [General Congress] to other officials in the Armada [Navy], Ejército [Army], or Tesorería Nacional [National Treasury] (Art. 108, Cap. III, Secc. V). The Constitution contained no additional provisions concerning the structure, functions, or oversight of the Tesorería Nacional, nor did it establish a separate fiscal department. The Tesorería Nacional was mentioned only nominally (Art. 71, Cap. II, Secc. VII).

POW-EXE—Executive:

Note on terminology: in cases where the structure of executive power differs, each constitution described in this appendix uses ‘executive’ or ‘president’ according to its constitutional context. ‘Executive’ refers to the branch of government that includes the president and the ministerial countersignatures required for the validity of executive acts. ‘President of the republic’, or simply ‘the president’, designates the individual in whom executive power is vested.

Under the 1811 Constitution, the Ejecutivo Federal [Federal Executive] resided permanently in the capital city and was entrusted to a Three-Member Executive Council [the Poder Ejecutivo] chosen every four years (Arts. 72, 75). Candidates had to be born on the American continent (or be Spaniards, who had been there from 1810), had to have lived in the Union during the previous decade, and had to be freeholders of property (Arts. 73, 74). The electors met on 16 November of the electoral year, wrote three names on their ballots (at least one from another province), and forwarded the tallies to the President of the Senate (Arts. 76–79); if no slate obtained an absolute majority of electors, the Cámara de Representantes voted on the nine highest candidates, and, if no majority was reached, it fell to the Senado to elect the candidate (Arts. 81–82). Executive acts required the countersignature of the State’s ministers—Interior and Justice, Finance, War and Navy, and Foreign Affairs—, who were appointed by the Executive and bore responsibility for official measures (Arts. 105, 107–108). The Three-Member Executive Council—with Senate consent—oversaw the appointment of military, civil, and judicial officers; negotiated treaties; granted pardons for political offenses; convoked Congress in ordinary and extraordinary sessions; ensured the execution of laws; and presented an annual account of revenues, expenditures, and general administration (Arts. 86, 88, 92–94, 100–104). The Three-Member Executive Council could be suspended under strict conditions. If the Executive or any of its members was accused and convicted by the Senate of treason, corruption, or usurpation, they were to be removed from office and subjected to the penalties established in Article 58 (Arts. 89, 91, 109).

POW-JUD—Judiciary:

The 1811 Constitution vested the judicial power of the Confederation in a Supreme Court of Justice located in the capital of the Confederation, along with subordinate and lower courts created by Congress (Cap. IV, Secc. 1, Art. 110). The Executive appointed all justices (Art. 111). Congress set their number and required that appointees be licensed lawyers, citizens of good standing, and at least thirty years of age for the Supreme Court and twenty-five for the other courts (Art. 112). Justices received fixed salaries that could not be reduced during their tenure (Arts. 113–114). The Judicial Branch exercised jurisdiction over cases concerning the Constitution, treaties, diplomatic agents, maritime matters, and intergovernmental conflicts, including disputes between provinces, or between Venezuelan and foreign parties (Secc. 2, Art. 115). The Supreme Court exercised appellate jurisdiction in most matters and original jurisdiction in cases involving ambassadors or provinces (Art. 116). It required jury trials in ordinary criminal cases, to be held in the province of the offense or, if committed abroad, in a location designated by law (Art. 117). The Court also examined and approved lawyers nationwide, including those credentialed abroad (Art. 118).

CON-AMD—Amending the Constitution:

The 1811 Constitution permitted amendments when two-thirds of both Cámaras del Congreso [Chambers of Congress] or of the Legislaturas Provinciales [Provincial Legislatures] separately proposed and reciprocally approved a reform or alteration, which would then be incorporated into the Constitution (Cap. VI, Art. 135). The constitutional provisions remained in effect until such reciprocal approval was finalized (Art. 136). Each province was to express its decision—whether to accept, reject, or propose modifications to the Constitution—through specially convened asambleas [assemblies], by electores de capítulo [chapter electors] appointed for that purpose, or by votantes parroquiales [parish voters] forming primary assemblies for the election of representatives (Cap. VII, Art. 137). Once the text had been read before the provincial body and modifications adopted by majority vote, its observance was to be solemnly sworn, followed within three days by elections of national representatives conducted by the designated electors (Art. 138). The municipalities reported the results to the respectivos gobiernos provinciales [respective provincial governments], which then transmitted them to Congress upon its assembly (Art. 139). Provinces rejoining the Confederation were to observe the same procedures; if prevented from doing so at the time by urgent or insurmountable causes, they could fulfill the requirement later through formal petitions addressed to Congress or the Poder Ejecutivo [Executive] (Art. 140).

CIV-SUF—Suffrage:

The 1811 Constitution granted suffrage to varones libres [free-born males], who were at least 21 years old, or if younger, married, and who resided in the parroquia [parish] where they cast their vote (Cap. II, Secc. 2, Art. 26). In provincial capitals, voters were required to hold property or assets valued at 600 pesos for an unmarried man, or 400 pesos for a married man; in smaller towns, the thresholds were 400 pesos for singles and 200 pesos for married men (Art. 26). Alternatively, voters qualified if they held a degree in the liberal or mechanical arts or owned or leased productive land of equivalent value to those assigned for the respective cases of single or married (Art. 26).

The Constitution disenfranchised those declared insane, deaf and dumb, publicly bankrupt, indebted to the treasury, vagrants, persons under serious criminal indictment, and married persons living apart without legal cause (Art. 27). Parish assemblies appointed one parish elector for every 1,000 inhabitants every two years, and these assemblies were presided over by municipal authorities (Arts. 20–24, 40). Parish electors were required to reside within the electoral district and to meet higher property qualifications, including ownership or assets valued at 6,000 pesos if unmarried or 4,000 pesos if married in Caracas, with proportionally lower requirements in other cities (Art. 28). Public officials, who earned at least 300 pesos annually, were permitted to vote in parish assemblies, and those earning at least 1,000 pesos could vote in electoral congregations, but they were barred from legislative office, unless they resigned their posts and incomes (Art. 29).

Municipal authorities maintained official lists of eligible voters and electors and convened election assemblies on scheduled dates. If municipal authorities failed in convening these assemblies, the citizens gathered on the appointed day to hold elections; however, municipal authorities were prohibited from conducting any other business during these meetings (Arts. 30–38). Public voting stood as a governing principle, while electors presided over parish assemblies and resolved any disputes concerning voter qualifications or electoral procedures, which were subject to final appeal before the provincial legislature (Arts. 41–42).

CIV-CIT—Citizenship:

The 1811 Constitution contained no discrete naturalization clause and no grant of citizenship to foreigners by term of residence. Political membership was framed around free-born men (hombres libres) and exercised through the residence, property, and occupational qualifications of the electoral provisions (Art. 26 ff.).

Foreigners “of any nation” were to be received in the State and to enjoy the same security of person and property as citizens, provided they respected the Catholic religion and recognized the independence and sovereignty of the constituted authorities (Art. 169)—a guarantee of civil protection, not of citizenship.

Durational requirements appeared only as conditions of office and presupposed existing citizenship rather than conferring it: five years’ standing as a citizen to sit in the House of Representatives (Art. 15), and ten years’ domicile for the Senate (Art. 49) and the Executive (Art. 73), the latter also requiring birth in Spanish America, with an exception for peninsular Spaniards resident in Venezuela who had sworn and supported independence (Art. 74). A formal mechanism of naturalization (carta de naturaleza) would first appear in 1821.

RTS-GAR—Rights:

The 1811 Constitution declared that all legitimate political authority originated with the people, in whom sovereignty resided by its very nature and in its first instance (Prelim., Bases del Pacto Federativo). It set forth a broad catalogue of individual guarantees: every citizen had the right to liberty, equality, property, and security; deprivation of liberty or punishment had to occur strictly according to law; no one could be declared guilty except by lawful judgment; and no one could be compelled to testify against himself or his close relatives (Arts. 1, 2, 7, 8, 11).

The Constitution protected an individual’s home from arbitrary intrusion. Also protected was private correspondence, and private papers; it prohibited ex post facto laws, excessive bail, disproportionate penalties, confiscation, torture, and inherited civic or legal privileges—particularly aristocratic distinctions or feudal entitlements (Arts. 3, 9, 10, 13). It also mandated that ordinary criminal trials not initiated by congressional accusation would be conducted by jury, once trial by jury had been established by law, and held in the province where the offense was committed (Art. 117).

Citizens had the right to publish opinions, to bear arms, to move freely among the provinces, to petition the government, and to pursue any lawful occupation. Foreigners could reside in the country and enjoy civil rights under the same conditions as citizens, provided they respected the Catholic religion and Venezuelan independence (Arts. 4, 5, 6, 12). Property could be expropriated only by a law that declared a public necessity and provided just compensation to the owner; no tax or public contribution could be imposed without the consent of the people through their representatives (Arts. 14, 15). Along with these guarantees, the Constitution imposed obedience to the law, service to the public and national defense, and loyalty to the Republic (Arts. 16, 17). Any law contravening the rights set forth in the Constitution was declared “absolutely null and void” (Art. 18).

REG-MIL—The Military:

The 1811 Constitution treated national defense as a civic duty (Art. 178). Congress could raise regular forces only when necessary and could raise militias to suppress insurrections, or repel invasions (Art. 71). Supreme command of land and naval forces was vested in the Three-Member Executive Council (Art. 86); provincial governors acted solely as administrative agents (Art. 108). The 1811 Constitution defined a well-regulated and trained militia composed of citizens as the most secure safeguard of a free state. During peacetime, only a limited permanent force could be maintained with prior authorization from Congress (Art. 178). It affirmed the subordination of military authority to civil power by declaring that citizens not engaged in active service were not subject to military jurisdiction (Art. 176). It further required civil authorization for quartering troops in private homes (Art. 177), and affirmed the right of citizens to possess lawful arms (Art. 179). The Constitution did not provide for provincial armies and imposed no standing military obligations beyond lawful service when summoned (Art. 178).

REG-REL—Religion:

The 1811 Constitution declared the Roman Catholic Church as the sole religion of the Confederation and did not recognize any other faith (Cap. I, Art. 1). This provision retained the exclusive public status of Catholicism already established under colonial law (Recop. Leyes de Indias, Lib. I, Tit. I, Ley 1).

REG-SLA—Slavery:

The 1811 Constitution did not abolish slavery but incorporated the prohibition of the slave trade previously decreed by the Junta Suprema de Caracas [Supreme Junta of Caracas] on 14 August 1810 (Capítulo IX, Art. 202; Gaceta de Caracas, No. 20, 21 Aug. 1810). Prior to the promulgation of the 1821 Constitution [October 6], the Congreso de Cúcuta [Congress of Cúcuta] enacted the Ley de Libertad de los Vientres [Law of the Freedom of the Womb] on 21 July 1821, which established that children born to enslaved mothers from that date onward were to be considered free (Ley del 21 de julio de 1821 sobre la libertad de los nacidos de madres esclavas, Colección de Leyes y Decretos del Congreso de Colombia, 1821, Tomo I, pp. 31–34). These children were required to remain in the service of the enslaver until the age of eighteen and were subject to reimbursement for maintenance costs, as determined by local juntas de manumisión [manumission boards]. These boards were authorized to register eligible births, manage emancipation funds, and supervise the process of coartación (gradual self-purchase).

CON-FIN—Final Provisions:

The 1811 Constitution directed provincial governments to establish schools and integrate indigenous peoples into civic life; it prohibited their compulsory services and recognized communal land ownership (Art. 180). Federal officials’ salaries were to be paid from a common treasury, with no disbursements without legal authorization; direct taxes had to be proportional to population, and provinces were prohibited from granting preferential commercial advantages to their own ports (Arts. 188–189). The Constitution designated January 1, 1811, as the commencement of the Era Colombiana [the Colombian Era], a new civic calendar marking the beginning of the independent republican order (Art. 223).

DOC-CLO—Closing Statement

(translated by the author in a contemporary register)

“Article 228. Until a civil and criminal code is drafted—decreed by the Supreme Congress on the eighth of March last and suited to the form of Government established in Venezuela—the Code that has governed us until now remains in full force in all matters that do not directly or indirectly conflict with the provisions of this Constitution.”

“The Supreme Legislator of the Universe has seen fit to inspire in our hearts the sincerest friendship and union, both among ourselves and with the other inhabitants of the Colombian Continent who wish to join us in defending our Religion, our natural Sovereignty, and our Independence. We, therefore, the people of Venezuela—having freely ordained the foregoing Constitution, which sets out the rules, principles, and objects of our Confederation and perpetual alliance, and invoking God Himself as witness to the sincerity of our intentions while humbly imploring His powerful assistance—do solemnly bind ourselves to observe and fulfill inviolably each and every provision it contains, so that we may forever enjoy the blessings of liberty and the imprescriptible rights that His generous beneficence has granted us, from the moment this Constitution is ratified in the manner it prescribes.”

“We further declare our intention to amend and revise these resolutions at any time, in keeping with the will of the majority of the peoples of Colombia who may choose to form a national Body for the defence and preservation of their liberty and political independence. Any such amendments and adjustments shall be made in due course, by plurality and mutual agreement among ourselves, on all matters directly affecting the general interests of those peoples, as agreed through their lawful Representatives assembled in a General Congress of Colombia, or of any considerable part thereof, and ratified by the constituents.”

“In the meantime, each and every province that has taken part in forming this Union mutually guarantees to the others the integrity of their respective territories and essential rights, pledging their lives, their fortunes, and their honor to that end. We entrust the inviolability and preservation of this Constitution to the fidelity of the Legislative Bodies, the Executive Powers, the Judges, and all officers of the Union and of the Provinces, and to the vigilance and virtue of the fathers of families, mothers, wives, and citizens of this State.”

“Issued at the Federal Palace of Caracas, on the twenty-first of December, in the year of Our Lord eighteen hundred and eleven, the first year of our Independence.”

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Note:

The original Spanish text of the 1811 Constitution is available at CIDEP (Recopilación de Leyes y Decretos de Venezuela): https://cidep.online/files/constituciones/1811.pdf

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2). The 1821 Constitution

The Constitution of 1821 (the Constitution of the Republic of Colombia, commonly known as the Constitution of Cúcuta) was adopted by the General Congress of Colombia at Cúcuta on 30 August 1821, ratified that same day, and promulgated by President Simón Bolívar on 6 October 1821. Two texts of 1819 preceded it, which this corpus does not record, as neither satisfied the requirement of entry into force: the Constitution of Angostura [15 August 1819], enacted by the Congress of Angostura for the Republic of Venezuela, and the Fundamental Law of the Republic of Colombia [17 December 1819], which provisionally established the union of Venezuela and New Granada (present-day Colombia and Panama) and which the Constitution of Cúcuta superseded. The new constitutional framework instituted a unified government for these two regions, with the incorporation of the territory of Quito (present-day Ecuador) envisaged though not effected until 1822.

DOC-PRE—Preamble

(translated by the author in a contemporary register)

“IN THE NAME OF GOD, AUTHOR AND LEGISLATOR OF THE UNIVERSE

“We, the Representatives of the Peoples of Colombia, assembled in General Congress, in fulfillment of the wishes of our constituents—to establish the fundamental rules of their union and to create a form of government that secures for them the blessings of liberty, security, property, and equality, insofar as this is possible for a nation just beginning its political life and still fighting for its independence—do ordain and establish the following

“CONSTITUTION”

FND-TER—Territory:

The 1821 Constitution declared that Colombia’s territory comprised the lands of the former Virreinato de la Nueva Granada (Viceroyalty of New Granada) and the Capitanía General de Venezuela (Captaincy General of Venezuela) (Art. 6) and any town liberated thereafter would enter the Republic with equal rights and representation (Art. 7). It ordered a hierarchical division into Departments, Provinces, Cantons, and Parishes (Art. 8) and instructed Congress to create six or more Departments (Art. 150). Each Department was led by an Intendente, the President’s “natural and immediate agent,” who was appointed for a three-year term with powers set by law (Arts. 150-2). Every Province was placed under a Governor, subordinate to the Intendente, and held office also for three years; if the Intendente resided in a Province, he served concurrently as its Governor (Arts. 153-4). The existing colonial-era cabildos, transitioning into municipal councils of the cantons, continued to govern local affairs, while Congress determined their number, boundaries, and functions (Art. 155). Following the 1821 constitutional mandate, Congress’s Ley de División Territorial of October 8, 1821, divided the nation into the Departments of Venezuela (capital: Caracas), Cundinamarca (capital: Bogotá), and Quito (capital: Quito).

POW-LEG—Congress (Legislative)

The 1821 Constitution enumerated twenty-six legislative powers—from annual budgets and public credit to war, peace, education, and extraordinary wartime authority (Art. 55 §§ 1–26; new). It fixed the opening of regular sessions on 2 January for ninety days, extendable by thirty, barred adjournment or relocation without bicameral consent, and empowered the Executive to resolve venue deadlocks (Arts. 68–70; new). Each chamber established internal rules for conducting sessions, debates, and deliberations; kept daily journals with roll-call votes upon request; and retained the power to enforce order or impose penalties for disrespect, obstruction, or threats to its proceedings or members (Arts. 56–63; new).

Members, elected by the nation, enjoyed indemnity and personal immunity but could not hold executive, judicial, or administrative office deemed incompatible with legislative service (Arts. 64–67; new). Legislative bills had to be read on three different days in their chamber of origin—first for introduction, second for discussion, and third for approval—unless urgency was formally declared (Arts. 41–43). Revenue bills could only originate in the Chamber of Representatives (Art. 42).

Once approved by both chambers, bills were submitted to the Executive, who had ten days to return objections, or two days in urgent cases; if no response was given within the deadline, or if both chambers reaffirmed the bill by a two-thirds vote, it became law without requiring Executive signature (Arts. 46–50; new). Legislative acts were issued in duplicate, dated, accompanied by an explanation of their grounds, and archived in the chamber of origin (Arts. 51–54; new). In election years, Congress tallied the national ballots for President, Vice-President, and departmental Senators (Art. 71; new). The House impeached high officials (Art. 89), and the Senate tried them, with conviction requiring agreement by two-thirds of the senators present (Art. 101). Procedural features retained from the 1811 charter included the bicameral structure, the origination of tax bills in the lower chamber, the three-reading rule, and specified voting thresholds, including two-thirds majorities for expulsion or censure (cont. 1811 Cap. II §§ 1, 4–10, 59–62).

ECO-TES—Treasury

The 1821 Constitution, consistent with the 1811 charter, did not establish a specific treasury department (continu. 1811 Art. 108). Congress was vested with exclusive authority over the annual budget, management of national property, imposition of taxes and customs duties, and contracting of public debt (Tít. VII, Art. 55 §§ 1–4; new). The President was required to submit annual reports to Congress detailing revenue, expenditures, and fiscal resources (Tít. IX, Art. 129). Fiscal administration was assigned to the Secretario de Hacienda [Secretary of the Treasury], one of five ministerial offices established under the Executive (Tít. IX, Art. 136), with the President authorized to distribute functions among the secretaries in accordance with congressional law (Tít. IX, Art. 137). The Constitution did not define mechanisms for oversight, financial jurisdiction, or audit within the treasury system.

POW-EXE—Executive

The 1821 Constitution vested executive authority in a single Presidente de la República [President of the Republic], elected for a four-year term with the possibility of one immediate re-election, assisted by a Vicepresidente [Vice President], and provisionally replaced in cases of dual vacancy by the Presidente del Senado [President of the Senate] (Arts. 105–112; continu. 1811 Arts. 62–63; cf. 1811: plural executive body). This arrangement replaced the three-member Consejo Ejecutivo [Three-Member Executive Council] established in 1811.

The Constitution established a Consejo de Gobierno [Council of Government] composed of the Vicepresidente, one member of the Alta Corte de Justicia [High Court of Justice], and the five Secretarios de Estado [State Ministers]; the President was required to consult this Council on matters such as declarations of war, treaties, senior appointments, emergency measures, and other issues of gravity, though he was not bound to follow its opinion.

The Council’s deliberations were to be recorded and submitted annually to the Senate (Arts. 133–135; new; cf. 1811: no equivalent consultative body). The President directed the general administration of the Republic and exercised extraordinary powers during foreign invasion or civil unrest, either with prior authorization from Congress or, if Congress was in recess, on his own initiative, provided he convened Congress immediately and limited his actions to what was strictly necessary (Art. 128; new; cf. 1811: no express emergency powers clause).

The Constitution established five Secretarías de Estado—Interior, Relaciones Exteriores, Hacienda, Guerra, and Marina—whose holders served as mandatory countersignatories of presidential acts; no executive act could acquire legal force without the signature of the competent Minister (Arts. 136–138; new; cf. 1811 Arts. 91–92: no explicit requirement of countersignature). Congress held the authority to modify the number of ministries, while the Executive assigned their functions by regulation (Art. 137; new).

The President further commanded the armed forces, enforced laws, supervised elections, promulgated legislation, nominated diplomatic and military officials with Senate approval, and submitted annual reports to Congress on political, military, and fiscal matters (Arts. 113–117, 119–123, 129; new; cf. 1811 Arts. 64, 84, 86: powers previously distributed across other bodies). Several of these provisions extended or reaffirmed earlier principles established in 1811, including the supremacy of civil power, administrative leadership, joint responsibility through ministerial countersignature, protection from arbitrary detention, and the lawful delegation of executive functions (Arts. 113–114, 124–127, 136–138; continu. 1811 Arts. 19–20, 64, 84, 86, 91–92).

POW-JUD—Judicial

The 1821 Constitution preserved the Alta Corte de Justicia [High Court of Justice] and fixed a minimum of five members and reaffirmed eligibility criteria of thirty years of age, active legal practice, and qualification as an elector (Arts. 140–141; continu. 1811 Arts. 110–114). For each vacancy, the President submitted a list of three candidates; from this, the Cámara de Representantes [Chamber of Representatives] selected a shortlist, and the Senado [Senate] made the final appointment.

During congressional recess, the Executive could provisionally fill vacancies (continu. 1811 Art. 142). The Court retained jurisdiction over foreign relations—including embassies, consulates, diplomatic agents, and the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores [Minister of Foreign Affairs]—as well as treaty interpretation and conflicts among higher tribunals, with further jurisdictional details to be defined by law (continu. 1811 Arts. 143–144). Justices held offices during good conduct and received fixed, non-reducible salaries (continu. 1811 Arts. 145–146).

The Constitution also authorized Congress to establish tribunales superiores [superior courts] throughout the Republic and to assign their jurisdictions to facilitate timely administration of justice (Art. 147; new). Judges of these courts were to be appointed by the Executive from ternas [lists of three candidates] submitted by the High Court and received the same tenure protections as the high justices (Art. 148; new). Tribunales inferiores [lower tribunals] remained governed by transitional legislation until Congress completed judicial reorganization (continu. 1811 Art. 149). The Constitution also included a provision for Congress to gradually introduce trial by jury in forms and cases it deemed appropriate (Art. 175; new).

CON-AMD—Amending the Constitution

The 1821 Constitution introduced staggered renewal of the Senado [Senate] to prevent constitutional amendments by a Congress that had not undergone partial replacement (Tít. II, Secc. 7, Art. 94; new). Senators were divided into two classes within each departamento [department], with the first class serving four years and the second serving the full eight-year term (Art. 94; new). A lottery held during the Senate’s first session determined which senators would be subject to early replacement (Art. 94; new). Amendments required a two-thirds vote in both the Cámara de Representantes [Chamber of Representatives] and the Senado (Tít. IV, Secc. 1, Art. 190; new). However, no amendment could be proposed until at least half the members of both chambers were renewed through regular elections (Art. 190; new).

The Constitution excluded from amendment the fundamental provisions defining national unity and the form of government, as established in Tít. I, Art. 1 and Tít. II, Art. 2 (Art. 190; new). A full constitutional revision could only take place through a general convention, which could not be convened until ten years had passed or until the national territory had been completely liberated (Tít. VIII, Art. 191; new). Existing laws remained in force insofar as they did not conflict with the Constitution or with laws enacted under its authority (Tít. VII, Art. 188; continu. 1811 Art. 108).

CIV-SUF—Suffrage

The 1821 Constitution retained the system of indirect suffrage by parroquia [parish] and electoral assemblies established in 1811 (1821 Tít. III; cont. 1811 Cap. II), but introduced a more elaborate and hierarchical electoral structure: asambleas parroquiales [parish assemblies] convened every four years in every parish regardless of population (Art. 12; new), presided over by local judges and four reputable witnesses (Art. 13; new), and were responsible for appointing electores parroquiales [parish electors] in open sessions (Arts. 18, 24–25; new).

Voting eligibility required Colombian nationality, either marriage or age over twenty-one, and property or occupational qualifications: ownership of real estate worth at least 100 pesos or independent engagement in a trade, profession, or commerce (Art. 15; new). Although the 1821 text included literacy as a condition, its enforcement lapsed unfulfilled when Gran Colombia dissolved, and a literacy qualification entered Venezuelan electoral law separately in 1840 (Ley de Reforma Electoral, Gaceta de Venezuela, 16 de mayo de 1840; sesiones del Congreso Nacional, 1840).

Disqualifications in the 1821 charter included criminal conviction or pending criminal charges, declared insolvency by competent authority, vagrancy, or engaging in corrupt practices such as buying or selling votes (Arts. 16–17; new). Each parish vote was recorded and sealed for transmission to cantonal councils, which compiled the tallies and declared electors by the highest number of votes or, in the case of a tie, by drawing lots (Arts. 26–28; new), then they forwarded results to the provincial capital (Art. 29; new).

Electors were distributed among cantons based on population—one per 4,000 inhabitants plus one extra for every additional 3,000 inhabitants, with a minimum of one per canton (Art. 20; new)—and had to meet stricter criteria than parish voters: they had to be literate, at least twenty-five years old, and either own property worth 500 pesos, earn 300 pesos annually, the profit of equivalent value, or hold a scientific degree or profession (Art. 21; new). These electors formed the asambleas electorales provinciales [provincial electoral assemblies], which met every four years (Art. 31; new) to elect representatives, departmental senators, and the President and Vice-President (Arts. 30, 34; new). Votes for each office were recorded in separate registers (Art. 35; new).

The results of presidential, vice-presidential, and senatorial elections were sent from parish assemblies to departmental capitals, and from there transmitted to the Senado [Senate] for final verification and proclamation (Arts. 36–38; new). Results of elections for representatives were certified by local authorities and submitted directly to the Cámara de Representantes [Chamber of Representatives] for review (Art. 39; new).

Citizens thus continued to vote in parish assemblies to choose parish electors, who then participated in provincial assemblies to elect members of the lower house; senators were selected by departmental assemblies from lists submitted by the provincial legislatures, and the President and Vice-President were elected by a majority of the departmental assemblies from a list of candidates proposed by Congress (Arts. 30–34; new).

CIV-CIT—Citizenship

The 1821 Constitution retained the provisions of the 1811 charter on citizenship (continu. 1811 Art. 7). It recognized as citizens all free-born men within Colombian territory or abroad to Colombian parents (Art. 4.1; continu. 1811 Art. 7). It also granted citizenship to foreign-born residents at the time of independence and remained loyal to the Republic (Art. 4.2; new). It allowed naturalization by carta de naturaleza (Art. 4.3; new). In addition, the Constitution codified civic obligations and required its obedience by citizens who had to respect authorities, to pay taxes, and—when necessary—to offer their property or lives in defense of the Republic (Art. 5; new).

RTS-GAR—Rights

The 1821 Constitution reaffirmed rights first recognized in 1811. It upheld freedom of expression, permitted citizens to write, print, and publish their thoughts without prior censorship (Art. 156; continu. 1811 Art. 4). It also preserved the right to petition public authorities and to seek legal remedies against violations of property, honor, or reputation (Art. 157; continu. 1811 Art. 5).

The Constitution guaranteed the presumption of innocence and due process (Arts. 158–159; new). In cases of in flagrante delicto, any citizen could perform the arrest, which had to be brought immediately before a judge (Art. 160; new). Warrants had to specify the grounds for arrest, be issued by a competent authority, and be delivered in writing to the detainee (Arts. 161–162; new).

Detainees had the right to communicate freely, unless a judge imposed a restriction of three days at a maximum; both arresting officers and jailers faced penalties for violating these safeguards (Arts. 163–164; new). If the grounds for detention ceased, the authorities had to release the detainee or admit him to bail, and the court was required to disclose the testimony of witnesses within three days (Art. 165; new). Criminal trials had to be conducted by established courts; the Constitution barred ex post facto laws and prohibited self-incrimination and testifying against a spouse or close relatives (Arts. 166–168; new). It protected the inviolability of the home except by judicial order (Art. 169; new), and guaranteed the privacy of correspondence and personal papers unless otherwise provided by law (Art. 170; new). Judicial decisions had to be reasoned and could be appealed up to three times; judges were forbidden to rule in cases involving their self-interest (Arts. 171–172; new).

The Constitution stated that the infamy of a criminal offense could not extend to the offender’s family (Art. 173; new) and prohibited the military trial of civilians, including the militia, during peacetime (Art. 174; new). Troops could not be quartered in private homes without consent during peacetime (Art. 176; new). It affirmed the right to property, labor, commerce, and industry, and permitted expropriation only when justified by public necessity and then compensated accordingly (Arts. 177–179; new). It also abolished hereditary privileges and noble titles (Arts. 179, 181–182; new). Acceptance of foreign honors required prior congressional authorization (Art. 182; new). Foreign residents received equal protection under the law (Art. 183; new), and the Constitution allowed foreigners, who distinguished themselves in the war of independence, to hold office, even if they did not meet the ordinary citizenship criteria (Art. 184; new).

REG-MIL—The Military

The 1821 Constitution preserved the military framework set in 1811, including congressional control over national defense, reliance on a trained militia over a standing army, civil supremacy over military authority, and presidential command subject to legislative oversight (continu. 1811 Arts. 71, 86, 108, 176–179). It introduced a new provision authorizing the President to assume extraordinary powers during foreign invasion or domestic insurrection, either with prior congressional approval or—if Congress was in recess—on his own initiative, provided he convened the legislature immediately and limited such powers to circumstances of urgent necessity (Art. 128; new).

REG-REL—Religion

The 1821 Constitution maintained Roman Catholicism as the sole public faith and upheld the obligation of public authorities to protect it (Art. 2; continu. 1811 Art. 1). It additionally required the respect of the citizens and resident foreigners to it (Art. 2; new).

REG-SLA—Slavery

The 1821 Constitution did not abolish slavery but retained the prohibition of the slave trade previously codified in 1811 (Tít. IX, Art. 124; continu. 1811 Cap. IX, Art. 202). It empowered Congress to enact laws concerning the condition of enslaved persons and manumission under its general authority to legislate on all matters “conducive to the wellbeing of the general public” [todo lo que conduzca a la felicidad general] (Tít. VII, Art. 55 §26; new), without any further provision.

ECO-INF—Infrastructure

The 1821 Constitution codified the State’s responsibility to promote public education, support the advancement of science and the arts, and regulate commerce and agriculture (Tít. IX, Arts. 160–161; new). It also required Congress and the Executive to enact laws aimed at improving national industry and general prosperity (Art. 161; new). To support these objectives, the Executive had to submit to Congress an annual report of national income and expenditures, which served as a fiscal mechanism to finance public functions (Tít. VII, Art. 129; new). The Constitution further mandated the publication of the national budget to ensure transparency in the administration of public funds. These provisions replaced the more general statements on education and commerce found in the 1811 charter (1821: Tít. IX, Arts. 160–161; Tít. VII, Art. 129; new. 1811: Arts. 108, 133, 135).

CON-FIN—Final Provisions

The 1821 Constitution was formally adopted by the General Congress of Colombia and signed by its president, vice president, and all present deputies at the Villa del Rosario de Cúcuta on 30 August 1821 (Acta de Sanción, Villa del Rosario, 30 de agosto de 1821). And it was promulgated and executed by the Executive on October 6, 1821, bearing the signature of President Simón Bolívar and the countersignatures of the Minister of Navy and War [Secretario de Marina y Guerra], Pedro Briceño Méndez, the Minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs [Secretario de Hacienda y Relaciones Exteriores], Pedro Gual, and the Minister of Interior and Justice [Secretario de Interior y Justicia], Diego B. Urbaneja.

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Note:

The original Spanish text of the 1821 Constitution is available at CIDEP (Recopilación de Leyes y Decretos de Venezuela): https://cidep.online/files/constituciones/1821.pdf

Tags:1811 Constitution, 1821 Constitution, CIDEP, citizenship, Constitution of Cúcuta, constitutional reform, Era Colombiana, Federalism, Gran Colombia, manumission, religion, Ricardo Morín, separation of powers, Simón Bolívar, slavery, suffrage, Unmasking Disappointment
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“Unmasking Disappointment: Series VII”

April 22, 2026

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Author’s Note

This installment examines how ideological labels, liberal, socialist, democratic, are deployed as instruments of alignment rather than as enforceable commitments. Venezuela is approached not as an exception, but as a case in which administrative practice, international positioning, and partisan abstraction converge to obscure responsibility. What follows traces how power is exercised through method rather than doctrine, how ideological language displaces accountability, and how clarity, rather than consensus, emerges as the first condition for recovery.

Ricardo F. Morín, January 12, 2026, Oakland Park, FL.

Chapter XIII

The Fifth Sign

The Pawned Republic

The Venezuelan economic crisis developed within a political environment in which control over foreign currency, public spending, and State revenues became increasingly concentrated in State-controlled allocation systems and extra-budgetary fiscal mechanisms. After exchange controls were established in 2003, access to foreign currency was centrally allocated through State mechanisms such as CADIVI, and by 2013 even government authorities were publicly acknowledging fraud in the assignment of preferential currency, including allocations to fictitious entities. At the fiscal level, parallel funds such as FONDEN administered substantial appropriations outside substantive parliamentary scrutiny, while public information on State spending and earmarked funds became increasingly unavailable. Under these conditions, the diversion of public resources did not appear as isolated misconduct but as a recurring feature of governance in which formal procedures governing budget approval and reporting remained nominally in place while independent verification and public disclosure diminished. What emerged was not the failure of a declared doctrine, but the consolidation of an administrative method in which access to public resources depended less on transparent procedure than on the concentration of discretionary control.

Debates that oppose socialism to capitalism misidentify the operative field. These terms describe beliefs about ownership and social purpose; they do not describe how economies are administered. Economic stability does not follow from declared purpose but from enforceable limits on taxation, spending, and contract execution. It depends on whether taxation follows rule, whether contracts are enforced without exception, whether budgets are bounded by procedure, and whether authority is exercised within limits enforced through budget law, contract enforcement, and institutional oversight. Where these conditions are absent, ideological designation does not fail; it becomes irrelevant.

As State procurement in sectors such as oil, infrastructure, and food imports became subject to political discretion, auditing functions weakened and oversight bodies lost operational independence. Revenues and contracts controlled by the State were increasingly used to redirect resources through discretionary allocation. Public authority ceased to function as a mediating structure and became an object of appropriation. The result was not episodic corruption but a stable arrangement in which diversion operated as an expected outcome of governance.

The mechanism did not explain action; it displaced its examination. Ideological language did not clarify operations; it rendered them inaccessible. Official discourse invoking class struggle and anti-imperialism redirected public attention from currency allocation, public spending, and procurement practices toward symbolic political conflict. These appeals replaced the examination of procedures with narratives of opposition that carried no capacity for control.

This substitution extended beyond the national sphere. Governments identifying with liberal or democratic traditions supported sanctions presented as instruments of pressure. In practice, these measures intensified economic hardship without altering the internal configuration of power. ^[1] At the same time, States maintaining political and economic alignment with the Venezuelan government, including China, Russia, and Cuba, permitted the attenuation of electoral oversight, judicial independence, and legislative authority and presented inaction as fidelity to principle. ^[2] Across these positions, ideological designation did not guide action. It concealed a convergence: measures that weakened society without altering authority, and positions that preserved authority without regard to how it was exercised.

What is presented as a divide between opposing systems resolves, in operation, into a convergence of practices. External pressure that weakens a population without altering authority, and external tolerance that preserves authority without regard to institutional dismantling, produce the same condition: the isolation of society from judicial, electoral, and legislative means of contesting authority.

Within that condition, the population is not situated between competing models of governance. It is rendered instrumental to positions that do not operate upon the mechanisms that sustain or constrain power. The language of alignment, whether in the form of solidarity, neutrality, or caution, does not alter this configuration when it remains detached from the procedures through which authority is exercised. ^[3]

Where accountability is not enforced, other forms of organization emerge without constraint. Criminal and informal economic networks operating without judicial or regulatory enforcement expand into the space left unregulated. Their growth does not require ideological justification; it follows from the absence of enforceable limits. ^[4] What is described as crisis does not begin with collapse. It begins when constraint is withdrawn from the exercise of power and remains abrogated without consequence.

Endnotes on Chapter XIII

[1] Francisco Rodríguez and Jeffrey Sachs, “Economic Sanctions as Collective Punishment: The Case of Venezuela,” The Lancet 393, no. 10178 (2019): 2584–2591; Center for Economic and Policy Research, “Sanctions in Venezuela: Economic and Humanitarian Impacts,” 2019.

[2] R. Evan Ellis, “The Maduro Regime’s Foreign Backers: China, Russia, Iran, and Cuba,” Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), November 6, 2020; United Nations Human Rights Council, “Report on the Situation of Human Rights in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” 2022.

[3] Javier Corrales, “Democratic Backsliding Through Electoral Irregularities: The Case of Venezuela,” Perspectives on Politics 18, no. 2 (2020): 311–327.

[4] Insight Crime, “Venezuela’s Criminal Landscape: A Country of Collusion,” 2021; Transparency International, “Venezuela: Corruption Perceptions Index,” 2022.

Chapter XIV

The First Issue

Resisting Partisan Control: Civil Society’s Stance in Venezuela

Democratic life is not secured by a single principle but by the interaction of distinct forms: pluralism, partisanship, nonpartisanship, and antipartisanship. These forms do not resolve into unity. They define how authority is organized, contested, and limited within institutions such as parties, courts, and legislatures.

Pluralism establishes the condition under which difference can appear without being suppressed. Its function is to ensure that multiple positions can enter public space without requiring prior alignment. Where institutions fail to protect participation through electoral access and legal safeguards, participation contracts and representation narrows.

Partisanship organizes competition through structured alignment. Its function depends on a limit: that allegiance to a party does not supersede adherence to the rules governing the contest itself. When that limit dissolves, competition persists in form while its constraints disappear.

Nonpartisanship suspends alignment in order to preserve procedure. Its role is not neutrality in the abstract, but the maintenance of conditions under which decisions remain accountable to rule rather than to affiliation.

Antipartisanship emerges when these arrangements fail. It rejects parties as vehicles of representation, but in doing so it removes the structures through which accountability is exercised. Where this rejection becomes programmatic, it does not remove power. It removes the structures that limit it, leaving power to concentrate without opposition.

In Venezuela, antipartisanship became a governing strategy through the delegitimization of established parties and the centralization of authority in the executive. Public disillusionment with established parties permitted the emergence of a singular political alternative that did not operate outside institutions but reorganized them. Institutional limits were recast as impediments, and their removal was presented as restoration. What was removed, however, was not obstruction but constraint. ^[1]

Under Chávez, this method extended through the redirection of the State resources. Oil revenues were deployed to consolidate political alignment across sectors. Access to State-distributed resources increasingly depended on political alignment, particularly through government programs and public employment, establishing dependence in place of institutional trust. Under Maduro, this structure persisted under contraction: as resources diminished, the requirement of alignment intensified while preserving the same operational logic.

Clientelist practices were not introduced but expanded and centralized. What had been dispersed became systemic. Programs such as the Misiones Bolivarianas, funded through oil revenues and administered through State-aligned structures, illustrate this transformation. Their stated function was social provision; their operation linked access to political identification. In programs such as Barrio Adentro, healthcare delivery was administered through structures coordinated with the governing apparatus. ^[2]Benefits did not follow need alone, but alignment.

Policies of expropriation and currency control further restricted independent economic activity. By reallocating assets through administrative decision, these measures reduced the space within which alternative forms of organization could emerge. Economic contraction followed as a consequence of constrained operation.

The weakening of institutional structures displaced rather than eliminated organized activity. Civil society organizations assumed roles in legal defense, human rights documentation, and service provision where State institutions failed to operate consistently.

Organizations such as Provea, Foro Penal, and Transparencia Venezuela document violations, provide legal defense, and maintain records of administrative conduct. Electoral observation organizations document voting conditions and irregularities despite legal and operational restrictions. Community-based structures such as Mesas Técnicas de Agua coordinate access to basic services such as water supply in the absence of reliable State provision. These activities maintain a verifiable link between documented actions and their consequences, between public claims and records, and between authority and its legal limits. Where institutions no longer secure these relations, they are sustained through practice.

These formations do not constitute an alternative system of governance. They operate within limits imposed upon them, and their continuity remains contingent. Legislative measures increasing oversight of non-governmental organizations have further reduced their operational space.

What persists is not a program but a set of practices that maintain a verifiable link between action and consequence, authority and limit, and decision and verification. Where these relations are sustained, even in restricted form, the possibility of reconstruction remains.

Democratic recovery does not begin with alignment or design. It begins with the reestablishment of constraint upon power and the restoration of procedures through which actions can be examined and limited. Where these conditions are absent, declarations of principle do not fail; they do not operate.

Endnotes on Chapter XIV

[1] Javier Corrales and Michael Penfold, Dragon in the Tropics: Hugo Chávez and the Political Economy of Revolution in Venezuela (Washington: Brookings Institution Press, 2011), 19–24, 30–34.

[2] “Barrio Adentro: Complementariedad entre Cuba y Venezuela,” YouTube video, https://youtu.be/y8GXPozsSWQ.

Tags:Authoritarianism, Civil Society, Democratic Backsliding, ideology, Political Accountability, Sanctions, Unmasking Disappointment, Venezuela
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

“Unmasking Disappointment: Series II”

January 21, 2026

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Author’s Note

Reflections from previous chapters eventually lead to a more historical inquiry, in which the following archive, Chronicles of Hugo Chávez, becomes another lens through which I approach the Venezuelan experience.

Ricardo F. Morín, December 12, 2025, Oakland Park, Florida.

Chapter VI

Chronicles of Hugo Chávez

Hugo Chávez, who spearheaded the Bolivarian Revolution, was born on July 28, 1954, in Sabaneta, Venezuela. He died on March 5, 2013, at 4:25 p.m. VET (8:55 p.m. UTC) in Caracas, at the age of 58. As the leader of the revolution, Chávez left a discernible imprint on Venezuela’s political history. To reconstruct this history is to revisit a landscape whose consequences continue to shape Venezuelan life.

At the core of Chavismo lies a deliberate fusion of nationalism, centralized power, and military involvement in politics. This fusion shaped his vision for a new Venezuela, one that would be fiercely independent and proudly socialist.

_{Hugo Chávez at age 11, sixth grade, 1965 (Photo: Reuters)}.

Hugo Chávez’s childhood was spent in a small town in Los Llanos, in the northwestern state of Barinas. This region has a history of indigenous chiefdoms (i.e., “leaderships,” “dominions,” or “rules”) dating back to pre-Columbian times. ^[1] Chávez was the second of six brothers, and his parents struggled to provide for the large family. As a result, he and his older brother Adán were sent to live with their paternal grandmother, Rosa Inés, in the city of Barinas. After her death, Chávez honored his grandmother’s memory with a poem; it concludes with a stanza that reveals the depth of their bond:

Entonces, / abrirías tus brazos/ y me abrazarías/ cual tiempo de infante/ y me arrullarías/ con tu tierno canto/ y me llevarías/ por otros lugares/ a lanzar un grito/ que nunca se apague. ^[2]

[Author’s translation: Then, / you would open your arms / and draw me in / as if returned to childhood / and you would steady me / with your tender voice / and you would carry me / to other places / to release a cry / that would not be extinguished].

In his second year of high school, Chávez encountered two influential teachers, José Esteban Ruiz Guevara and Douglas Ignacio Bravo Mora, both of whom provided guidance outside the regular curriculum. ^[3][4] They introduced Chávez to Marxism-Leninism as a theoretical framework, sparking his fascination with the Cuban Revolution and its principles—a turning point more visible in retrospect than it could have been in the moment.

At 17, Chávez enrolled in the Academia Militar de Venezuela at Fuerte Tiuna in Caracas, where he hoped to balance military training with his passion for baseball. He dreamed of becoming a left-handed pitcher, but his abilities did not match his ambition. Despite his initial lack of interest in military life, Chávez persisted in his training, graduating from the academy in 1975 near the bottom of his class.

Chávez’s military career began as a second lieutenant; he was tasked with capturing leftist guerrillas. As he pursued them, he found himself identifying with their cause and believed they fought for a better life. But by 1977, Chávez was prepared to abandon his military career and join the guerrillas. Seeking guidance, he turned to his brother Adán, who persuaded him to remain in the military by insisting, “We need you there.” ^[5] Chávez now felt a sense of purpose and understood his mission as a calling. In 1982, he and his closest military associates formed the Bolivarian Revolutionary Movement-200: they aimed to spread their interpretation of Marxism within the armed forces and ultimately hoped to stage a coup d’état. ^[6]

On February 4, 1992, Lieutenant Chávez and his military allies launched a revolt against the government of President Carlos Andrés Pérez. Their rebellion, however, was swiftly quashed. Surrounded and outnumbered, Chávez surrendered at the Cuartel de la Montaña, the military history museum in Caracas, near the presidential palace, on the condition that he be allowed to address his companions via television. He urged them to lay down their arms and to avoid further bloodshed. He proclaimed, « Compañeros, lamentablemente por ahora los objetivos que nos planteamos no fueron logrados . . . » [Author’s translation: “Comrades, unfortunately, our objectives have not been achieved… yet,”].^[7] The broadcast marked the beginning of his political ascent. His words resonated across the nation and sowed the seeds of his political future.

**_{Chávez announces his arrest on national television and urges insurgent troops to surrender}.**

In 1994, newly elected President Rafael Caldera Rodríguez pardoned him. ^[8] With this second chance, Chávez founded the Movimiento V República (MVR) in 1997 and rallied like-minded socialists to his cause. ^[9] Through a campaign centered on populist appeals, he secured an electoral victory at age 44.

In his first year as President, Chávez enjoyed an 80% approval rating. His policies sought to eradicate corruption in the government, to expand social programs for the poor, and to redistribute national wealth. Jorge Olavarría de Tezanos Pinto, initially a supporter, emerged by the end of the elections as a prominent voice of the opposition. Olavarría accused Chávez of undermining Venezuela’s democracy through his appointment of military officers to governmental positions. ^[10] At the same time, Chávez was drafting a new constitution, which allowed him to place military officers in all branches of government. The new constitution, ratified on December 15, 1999, paved the way for the “mega elections” of 2000, in which Chávez secured a term of six years. Although his party failed to gain full control of the Asamblea Nacional (National Assembly), it passed laws by decree through the mechanism of the Leyes Habilitantes (Enabling Laws). ^[11][12] Meanwhile, Chávez initiated reforms to reorganize the State‘s institutional structure, but the constitution’s requirements were not met. The appointment of judges to the new Corte Suprema de Justicia [CSJ] was carried out without rigor and raised concerns about its legitimacy and competence. Cecilia Sosa Gómez, the outgoing Corte Suprema de Justicia president, declared the rule of law “buried” and the court “self-dissolved.” ^[13][14]

Although some Venezuelans saw Chávez as a refreshing alternative to the country’s unstable democratic system, which had been dominated by three parties since 1958, many others expressed concern as the Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela (PSUV) consolidated power and became the sole governing party. ^[15] Legislative and executive powers were increasingly centralized, and the narrowing of judicial guarantees limited citizens’ participation in the democratic process. Chávez’s close ties with Fidel Castro and his desire to model Venezuela after Cuba’s system—dubbed VeneCuba—raised alarm. ^[16] He silenced independent radio broadcasters, and he antagonized the United States and other Western nations. Instead, he strengthened ties with Iraq, Iran, and Libya. Meanwhile, domestically, his approval rating had plummeted to 30%, and anti-Chávez demonstrations became a regular occurrence.

On April 11, 2002, a massive demonstration of more than a million people converged on the presidential palace to demand President Chávez’s resignation. The protest turned violent when agents of the National Guard and masked paramilitaries opened fire on the demonstrators. ^[17] The tragic event—the Puente Llaguno massacre—sparked a military uprising that led to Chávez’s arrest and to the installation of a transitional government under Pedro Francisco Carmona Estanga. ^[18] Carmona’s leadership, however, was short-lived; he swiftly suspended the Constitution, dissolved the Asamblea Nacional and the Corte Suprema, and dismissed various officials. Within forty-eight hours, the army withdrew its support for Carmona. The vice president, Diosdado Cabello Rondón, was reinstated as president and promptly restored Chávez to power. ^[19]

The failed coup d’état enabled Chávez to purge his inner circle and to intensify his conflict with the opposition. In December 2002, Venezuela’s opposition retaliated with a nationwide strike aimed at forcing Chávez’s resignation. The strike targeted the state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), which generated roughly 80% of the country’s export revenues. ^[20] Chávez responded by dismissing its 38,000 employees and replacing them with loyalists. By February 2003, the strike had dissipated, and Chávez had once again secured control over the country’s oil revenues.

From 2003 to 2004, the opposition launched a referendum to oust Chávez as president, but soaring oil revenues, which financed social programs, bolstered Chávez’s support among lower-income sectors. ^[21] By the end of 2004, his popularity had rebounded, and the referendum was soundly defeated. In December 2005, the opposition boycotted the elections to the National Assembly and protested against the Consejo Nacional Electoral (National Electoral Council) (CNE). ^[22] As anticipated in view of the opposition boycott, Chávez’s coalition capitalized on the absence of an effective opposition and strengthened its grip on the Assembly. ^[23] By that point, legislative control rested almost entirely with Chávez’s coalition. What followed was not a departure from this trajectory, but its extension through formal policy.

In December 2006, Chávez secured a third presidential term, a victory that expanded the scope of executive initiative. He nationalized key industries—gold, electricity, telecommunications, gas, steel, mining, agriculture, and banking—along with numerous smaller entities. ^[24]^[25]^{[26][27][28][29]} Chávez also introduced a package of constitutional amendments designed to expand the powers of the executive and to extend its control over the Banco Central de Venezuela (BCV). In a controversial move, he unilaterally altered property rights and allowed the state to seize private real estate without judicial oversight. Furthermore, he proposed becoming president for life. In December 2007, however, the National Assembly narrowly rejected the package of sweeping reforms.

In February 2009, Chávez reintroduced his controversial proposals and succeeded in advancing them. Following strategic counsel from Cuba, he escalated the crackdown on dissent. ^[30] He ordered the arrest of elected opponents and shut down all private television stations.

In June 2011, Chávez announced that he would undergo surgery in Cuba to remove a tumor, a development that sparked confusion and concern throughout the country. ^[31] As his health came under increasing scrutiny, more voters began to question his fitness for office. Yet, in 2012, despite his fragile health, Chávez campaigned against Henrique Capriles and secured a surprise presidential victory. ^[32]

^{Chávez during the electoral campaign in February 2012}.

In December 2012, Chávez underwent his fourth surgery in Cuba. Before departing Venezuela, he announced his plan for transition and designated Vice President Nicolás Maduro as his successor, alongside a powerful troika that included Diosdado Cabello [military chief] and Rafael Darío Ramírez Carreño [administrator of PDVSA]. ^[33][34][35] Following the surgery, Chávez was transferred on December 11 to the Hospital Militar Universitario Dr. Carlos Arvelo (attached to the Universidad Militar Bolivariana de Venezuela, or UMBV) in Caracas, where he remained incommunicado, further fueling speculation and rumors. Some government officials dismissed reports of assassination, while others, including former Attorney General Luisa Ortega Díaz, claimed he had already died on December 28. ^[36] Maduro’s cabinet vehemently refuted these allegations and insisted that no crime had been committed. Amidst the uncertainty, Maduro asked the National Assembly to postpone the inauguration indefinitely. This further intensified political tensions.

The National Assembly acquiesced to Maduro and voted to postpone the inauguration. Chávez succumbed to his illness on March 5. His body was embalmed in three separate stages without benefit of autopsy, which further fueled suspicions and conspiracy theories. Thirty days later, Maduro entered office amid sustained political uncertainty. ^[37] The implications of this transition extend beyond chronology; they shape the conditions examined in the chapters that follow in this series, which comprises 19 chapters, miscellaneous rubrics, and an appendix.

Endnotes:

§ 2

[1] Charles S. Spencer and Elsa M. Redmond, Prehispanic Causeways and Regional Politics in the Llanos of Barinas, Venezuela (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017). Abstract: “…relacionados con la dinámica política de la organización cacical durante la fase Gaván Tardía.” Published in Latin American Antiquity, vol. 9, no. 2 (June 1998): 95-110. https://doi.org/10.2307/971989

[2] Rosa Miriam Elizalde y Luis Báez, Chávez Nuestro, (La Habana: Casa Editora Abril, 2007), 367-369. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzEKs4usYkReRVdWSG5LQkFYQ3c/edit?pli=1&resourcekey=0-yHaK7-YkA47nelVs-7JuBQ

§ 3

[3] “The Hugo Chávez Show,” PBS Front Line, November 19, 2008. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/hugochavez/etc/ex2.html

[4] L’Atelier des Archive, “Interview du révolutionnaire: Douglas Bravo au Venezuela [circa 1960]” (Transcript: “… conceptos injuriosos en contra de la revolución cubana …” [timestamp 1;11-14]), YouTube, October 14, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cx2D5VM8VM

§ 5

[5] “Hugo Chavez Interview,”YouTube, transcript excerpt and time stamp unavailable: Original quote in Spanish (translated by the author): “. . . , if not, maybe I’ll leave the Army, no, you can’t leave, Adam told me so, no, we need you there, but who needs me?” Retrieved October 12, 2023.

[6] Dario Azzellini and Gregory Wilpert, “Venezuela, MBR–200 and the Military Uprisings of 1992,”in The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest (Wiley 2009). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/9781405198073.wbierp1525

§ 6

[7] “Declarations in a Nationwide Government-Mandated Broadcast,” BancoAgrícolaVe, YouTube, February 4, 1992. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QqaR1ZjldE

§ 7

[8] Maxwell A. Cameron and Flavie Major, “Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez: Savior or Threat to Democracy?,” Latin American Research Review, vol. 36, no. 3, (2001): 255-266. https://www.proquest.com/docview/218146430?sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals

[9] Gustavo Coronel, “Corruption, Mismanagement, and Abuse of Power in Hugo Chávez’s Venezuela,” Center for Global Liberty & Prosperity: Development Policy Analysis, no. 2 (CATO Institute, November 27, 2006). https://www.issuelab.org/resources/2539/2539.pdf.

§ 8

[10] “Jorge Olavarría Ante El Congreso Bicameral [July 5,1999],” YouTube. https://youtu.be/_OkqNn8VF-Y?si=Cvuh4Vk391_0Pnut . Accessed January 9, 2025.

[11] Mario J. García-Serra, “The ‘Enabling Law’: The Demise of the Separation of Powers in Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela,” University of Miami Inter-American Law Review, vol.32, no. 2, (Spring – Summer, 2001): 265-293. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40176554

[12] “Venezuela: Chávez Allies Pack Supreme Court,” Human Rights Watch, December 13, 2004. https://www.hrw.org/news/2004/12/13/venezuela-chavez-allies-pack-supreme-court

[13] “Top Venezuelan judge resigns,” BBC News, August 25, 1999. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/429304.stm

[14] “Suprema Injusticia: ‘These are corrupt judges,” Organización Transparencia Venezuela. https://supremainjusticia.org/cecilia-sosa-gomez-these-are-corrupt-judges/

§ 9

[15] “United Socialist Party of Venezuela,” PSUV. http://www.psuv.org.ve/

[16] “Venezuela and Cuba, ‘VeneCuba,’ a single nation,” The Economist, February 11, 2010. https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2010/02/11/venecuba-a-single-nation

§ 10

[17] “Photographs reveal the truth about Puente Llaguno massacre,” April 11, 2002, YouTube. https://youtu.be/NvP7cL-7KL4?si=cUpMAv0myAWH5UWP

[18] “Pedro Carmona Estanga cuenta su verdad 21 años después,” El Nacional de Venezuela. https://www.elnacional.com/opinion/pedro-carmona-estanga-cuenta-su-verdad-21-anos-despues/

[19] “Diosdado Cabello Rondón:Narcotics Rewards Program: Wanted,” U.S. Department of State. https://www.state.gov/bureau-of-international-narcotics-and-law-enforcement-affairs/releases/2025/01/diosdado-cabello-rondon

§ 11

[20] Marc Lifsher, “Venezuela Strike Paralyzes State Oil Monopoly PdVSA,” Wall Street Journal, December 6, 2002. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1039101526679054593

§ 12

[21] “Socialism with Cheap Oil,” The Economist, December 30, 2008. https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2008/12/30/socialism-with-cheap-oil

[22] “Venezuela: Increased Threats to Free Elections; New Electoral Body Puts Reforms at Risk,” Human Rights Watch, June 22, 2023 7:00AM. https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/06/22/venezuela-increased-threats-free-elections

[23] Juan Forero, “Chávez Grip Tightens as Rivals Boycott Vote,” The New York Times, December 5, 2005. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/05/world/americas/chavezs-grip-tightens-as-rivals-boycott-vote.html?referringSource=articleShare

§ 13

[24] Louise Egan, “Chavez to nationalize Venezuelan gold industry,” Reuters, August 17, 2011, 2:40 PM. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-gold/chavez-to-nationalize-venezuelan-gold-industry-idUSTRE77G53L20110817/

[25] Juan Forero, “Chavez Eyes Nationalized Electrical, Telcom Firms,” Reuters, January 9, 2007, 6:00 AM ET. https://www.npr.org/2007/01/09/6759012/chavez-eyes-nationalized-electrical-telcom-firms

[26] James Suggett, “Venezuela Nationalizes Gas Plant and Steel Companies, Pledges Worker Control,” Venezuelanalysis, May 23, 2009. https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/4464/

[27] David Brunnstrom, “Factbox: Venezuela’s nationalizations under Chavez,” Reuters, October 7, 2012, 10:51 PM. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-election-nationalizations/factbox-venezuelas-nationalizations-under-chavez-idUSBRE89701X20121008/

[28] Frank Jack Daniel–Analysis–, “Food, farms the new target for Venezuela’s Chavez,” Reuters, March 5, 2009, 6:06 PM EST. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-chavez-analysis-sb/food-farms-the-new-target-for-venezuelas-chavez-idUSTRE5246OO20090305/

[29] Daniel Cancel, “Chavez Says He Has No Problem Nationalizing Banks,” Bloomberg, November 29, 2009, 15:02 GMT-5. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2009-11-29/chavez-says-he-has-no-problem-nationalizing-banks

§ 14

[30] Angus Berwick, “Special Report: How Cuba taught Venezuela to quash military dissent,” Reuters, August 22, 2019, 8:22 AM ET. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-cuba-military-specialreport/special-report-how-cuba-taught-venezuela-to-quash-military-dissent-idUSKCN1VC1BX/

§ 15

[31] Robert Zeliger, Passport: “Hugo Chavez’s medical mystery,” Foreign Policy, June 24, 2011, 10:20 PM. https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/06/24/hugo-chavezs-medical-mystery/

[32] Juan Forero, “Hugo Chavez Beats Henrique Capriles,” The Washington Post, October 7, 2012. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/venezuelans-flood-polls-for-historic-election-to-decide-if-hugo-chavez-remains-in-power/2012/10/07/d77c461c-10c8-11e2-9a39-1f5a7f6fe945_story.html

§ 16

[33] Bryan Winter and Ana Flor, “Exclusive: Brazil wants Venezuela election if Chavez dies – sources,” Reuters, January 14, 2013, 9:12 PM EST, updated 12 years ago. https://www.reuters.com/article/cnews-us-venezuela-chavez-brazil-idCABRE90D12320130114/

[34] “Venezuela National Assembly chief: Diosdado Cabello,” BBC News, March 5, 2013. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-20750536

[35] “Rafael Darío Ramírez Carreño of Venezuela Chair of Fourth Committee,” United Nations, BIO/5031*-GA/SPD/630; 25 September 2017. https://press.un.org/en/2017/bio5031.doc.htm

[36] Ludmila Vinogradoff, “La exfiscal Ortega confirma que Chávez murió dos meses antes de la fecha anunciada,” ABCInternacional, actualizado Julio 16, 2018, 12:44 https://www.abc.es/internacional/abci-confirman-chavez-murio-meses-antes-fecha-anunciada-201807132021_noticia.html?ref=https://www.google.com/

§ 17

[37] “Cuerpo de Chávez fue tratado tres veces para ser conservado: … intervenido con inyecciones de formol para que pudiera ser velado,” El Nacional De Venezuela – Gda, Enero 27, 2024, 05:50, actualizado Marzo 22, 2013, 20:51. https://www.eltiempo.com/amp/archivo/documento/CMS-12708339

Tags:Authoritarianism, autocracy, Chavismo, democracy, governance, Hugo Chávez, Identity, Latin America, Memory, political analysis, political history, Ricardo Morin, Unmasking Disappointment, Venezuela
Posted in Authoritarianism, Populism, Political Power, Executive Power, Charismatic Leadership, Political Myth, Democratic Breakdown, Venezuelan Politics | Leave a Comment »

Observations On Perception

Posts Tagged ‘Unmasking Disappointment’

“Unmasking Disappointment: Series XVI”

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Scope and Use

11). The 1901 Constitution

12). The 1904 Constitution

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“Unmasking Disappointment: Series XI”

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Scope and Use

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A-1). VENEZUELAN CONSTITUTIONS 1811-1999

19th-Century Constitutions:

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1). The 1811 Constitution

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2). The 1821 Constitution

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“Unmasking Disappointment: Series VII”

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Author’s Note

Chapter XIII

The Fifth Sign

The Pawned Republic

Chapter XIV

The First Issue

Resisting Partisan Control: Civil Society’s Stance in Venezuela

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“Unmasking Disappointment: Series II”

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Author’s Note

Chapter VI

Chronicles of Hugo Chávez

Endnotes:

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19^th-Century Constitutions: