The Act Constituting the Government of Democratic Transition and National Unity ( es, Acta de Constitución del Gobierno de Transición Democrática y Unidad Nacional) – known colloquially as the "Carmona Decree" or ''El Carmonazo''
— was a document drawn up on 12 April 2002 the day following the
Venezuelan coup attempt of 2002
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
, which attempted to oust
Venezuelan President
The president of Venezuela ( es, Presidente de Venezuela), officially known as the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, Presidente de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is the head of state and head of government in Ven ...
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Republ ...
.
This Act established a transitional government, dissolving the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
and the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
and also suspending the Attorney General, Comptroller General,
governors
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...
and mayors elected during Chávez's administration.
[BBC news. (BB]
Venezuela investiga el "Carmonazo"
Retrieved 13 June 2006.
Clauses
Within the Act, the basis for the formation of a transitional government is delineated, citing the
Constitution of Venezuela
The Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, Constitución de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela (CRBV)) is the current and twenty-sixth constitution of Venezuela. It was drafted in mid-1999 by a constituent assembly that h ...
. The Act principally cites Article 350 of the Constitution, which says the People of Venezuela shall disown any regime, legislation or authority that violates democratic values, principles and guarantees or encroaches upon human rights.
[''Venezuela Analitica'' (''Analitica'' 2002)]
Acta de constitución del Gobierno de Transición Democrática y Unidad Nacional
. Retrieved 24 July 2006 It also alleges violations by the Chávez administration of Articles 43, 57, 58, 68, 136, 141, 145, 204, 211, 254, 270, 273, 279, 294, 295 and 328 of the Constitution, and it references the
Democratic Charter of the
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 April ...
and
Chávez's supposed resignation the day before.
Remembering the date of 11 April 2002 "with profound indignation and national mourning," it accuses the government of Chávez of:
[
*Attacking, repressing, and assassinating innocent peaceful demonstrators.
*Compromising democratic principles, particularly representative democracy.
*Human and property rights violations.
*Flagrant violation of separation and independence of powers.
*Corruption.
*Misuse of the armed forces.
*Promoting a climate of social violence.
*Unacceptable isolationist foreign policy, aiding Colombian guerrillas.
*Eliminating autonomy of the electoral process.
*Enacting an ]enabling act
An enabling act is a piece of legislation by which a legislative body grants an entity which depends on it (for authorization or legitimacy) the power to take certain actions. For example, enabling acts often establish government agencies to car ...
without consulting the electorate.
*Promoting violence via its Bolivarian Circles
The Bolivarian Circles ( es, Círculos bolivarianos) are political and social organizations of workers' councils in Venezuela, originally created by President Hugo Chávez on 21 December 2001.http://www.bauleros.org/TEMAS/PAISES/ARGENTINA/2001-12 ...
.
*Disrespecting institutions necessary for peaceful democratic coexistence.
Articles
''The Act'' declares the formation of a democratic and national unity transition government, according to the following articles:[
* Article I Designated ]Pedro Carmona Estanga
Pedro Francisco Carmona Estanga (born 6 July 1941) is a former Venezuelan business leader who was briefly installed as acting president of Venezuela in place of Hugo Chávez, following the attempted military coup in April 2002.[Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...]
, Attorney General, Comptroller General, and members of the National Electoral Council. These positions would be filled as soon as possible with consultation of the Ministers and Advisory Council.
* Article IX Suspended 49 decrees from the ''Ley Habilitante'' (Enabling Act
An enabling act is a piece of legislation by which a legislative body grants an entity which depends on it (for authorization or legitimacy) the power to take certain actions. For example, enabling acts often establish government agencies to car ...
).
* Article X Upheld all other laws both internal and international, as long as they do not disagree with the present Act.
* Article XI All members of the transitional government will abandon their posts once their newly elected counterparts take charge.
Aftermath
The Act was the catalyst that allowed the Armed Forces to justify abandoning the newly formed government,[ returning Chávez to power on 13 April. After Chávez was re-instated as president, controversy regarding those that signed ''The Act'' remained.
According to '' El Nacional'', among almost 400 signatures is the signature of ]María Corina Machado
María Corina Machado Parisca (born 7 October 1967, Machado, María CorinaMi experiencia. Es ahora. María Corina. Accessed 25 April 2010. sometimes referred to as MCM) is a Venezuelan politician who served as an elected member of the National ...
, a political activist and co-founder of ''Súmate
''Súmate'' (Spanish for "Join Up") is a Venezuelan volunteer civil association founded in 2002 by María Corina Machado and Alejandro Plaz. ''Súmate'' describes itself as a vote-monitoring group; it has also been described as an election-monito ...
''. She denies signing the decree itself, but rather a signature roll. Another notable signee is former Zulia Governor and former presidential candidate, Manuel Rosales
Manuel Antonio Rosales Guerrero (born December 12, 1952, in Santa Bárbara del Zulia) is a Venezuelan educator and politician, current governor of Zulia, States of Venezuela, Venezuela's most populated state. He was the most prominent oppositio ...
, who says his participation was an honest mistake rather than a pre-planned coup like Chávez's.
Referring to ''The Act'', Venezuelan historian and politician Jorge Olavarría
Jorge Olavarría (12 December 1933 – 18 April 2005) was a Venezuelan journalist, politician, historian, and writer. He was editor of the magazine ''Resumen'' from 1973 to 1984. Collections of his writings for '' El Nacional'' and '' El Universal ...
said, "what these fellows brought, and may people who hear pardon me but these things have to be said with the crudeness of the situation, what these fellows brought me he Carmona decree draft
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
is a piece of shit, yes totally, if this is going to happen, you have to do these things well, but this was a big mess up, technically and politically..."[National Assembly (31 May 2002)]
Investiga los hechos ocurridos los dias 11,12,13 Y 14 de Abril de 2002
"... esto que han traído estos muchachos y me perdonarán las personas que me escuchan, pero las cosas hay que decirlas con la crudeza del caso, esto que me trajeron estos muchachos es una mierda, sí totalmente, si esto va a pasar hay que hacerle las cosas bien hechas, porque eso fue un disparate mayúsculo, técnico o político... "
Notes
External links
* {{in lang, es}
Acta de constitución del Gobierno de Transición Democrática y Unidad Nacional
''The Revolution Will Not be Televised''
seek (00:45:42) – Google Video
"X-ray of a Lie"
seek (1:00:26) – Google Video.
2002 in Venezuela
History of Venezuela
Politics of Venezuela
Decrees