Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro advocated constitutional revision in what he described as a push to alter territorial divides and diversify the economy. “This is an effort to build a new democratic state system, incorporating communal, social, and popular power,” Maduro told the government-controlled National Assembly on Saturday. “We must advance even further in the construction of a new diversified economy.” Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article300412089.html#storylink=cpy.

Maduro’s proposal would incorporate territorial divisions known as communes, which may reshape regional politics while diminishing municipalities and states. Some observers perceive it as a strategy to solidify power after the Venezuelan opposition accused him of stealing the presidential election in July. If two-thirds of parliamentarians accept the reforms, the next step will be a 30-day public consultation period. Hugo Chávez’s earlier attempt to amend the 1999 constitution did not receive enough votes in a 2007 referendums.
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