2007 Venezuelan constitutional referendum
A constitutional referendum was held in Venezuela on 2 December 2007 to amend 69 articles of the 1999 Constitution. President Hugo Chávez and supporters claimed the changes were needed to initiate the transformation into a socialist country; opponents claimed the reforms would undermine democracy in the country.
President Chávez voting
Chávez supporters hang a pro reform poster
29 November rally by the supporters of the "No" vote
Preparations for the referendum
Constitution of Venezuela
The Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is the current and twenty-sixth constitution of Venezuela. It was drafted in mid-1999 by a constituent assembly that had been created by popular referendum. Adopted in December 1999, it replaced the 1961 Constitution, the longest-serving in Venezuelan history. It was primarily promoted by then President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez and thereafter received strong backing from diverse sectors, including figures involved in promulgating the 1961 constitution such as Luis Miquilena and Carlos Andrés Pérez. Chávez and his followers (chavistas) refer to the 1999 document as the "Constitución Bolivariana" because they assert that it is ideologically descended from the thinking and political philosophy of Simón Bolívar and Bolivarianism. Since the creation of the Constituent National Assembly in August 2017, the Bolivarian government has declared the 1999 constitution suspended until a new constitution is created.
Cristóbal Mendoza
Juan Germán Roscio