NATIONAL CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY

1 constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (in English translation from the original legal text). NATIONAL CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY . PREAMBLE. The people of Venezuela, exercising their powers of creation and invoking the protection of God, the historic example of our Liberator Simon Bolivar and the heroism and sacrifice of our aboriginal ancestors and the forerunners and founders of a free and sovereign nation; to the supreme end of reshaping the Republic to establish a democratic, participatory and self-reliant, multiethnic and multicultural society in a just, federal and decentralized State that embodies the values of freedom, independence, peace, solidarity, the common good, the nation's territorial integrity, comity and the rule of law for this and future generations.

2 Guarantees the right to life, work, learning, education, social justice and equality, without discrimination or subordination of any kind; promotes peaceful cooperation among nations and furthers and strengthens Latin American integration in accordance with the principle of nonintervention and NATIONAL self-determination of the people, the universal and indivisible guarantee of human rights, the democratization of imitational society, nuclear disarmament, ecological balance and environmental resources as the common and inalienable heritage of humanity.

3 Exercising their innate power through their representatives comprising the NATIONAL CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY , by their freely cast vote and in a democratic Referendum, hereby ordain the following: constitution . TITLE 1. FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. Article 1: The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is irrevocably free and independent, basing its moral property and values of freedom, equality, justice and international peace on the doctrine of Simon Bolivar, the Liberator. Independence, liberty, sovereignty, immunity, territorial integrity and NATIONAL self-determination are unrenounceable rights of the Nation.

4 Article 2: Venezuela constitutes itself as a Democratic and Social State of Law and Justice, which holds as superior values of its legal order and actions those of life, liberty, justice, equality, solidarity, democracy, social responsibility and, in general, the preeminence of human rights, ethics and political pluralism. Article 3: The essential purposes of the State are the protection and development of the individual and respect for the dignity of the individual, the democratic exercise of the will of the people, the building of a just and peace loving society, the furtherance of the prosperity and welfare of the people and the guaranteeing of the Fulfillment of the principles, rights and duties established in this constitution .

5 Education and work are the fundamental processes for guaranteeing these purposes. Article 4: The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is a decentralized Federal State on the terms set forth in this constitution , governed by the principles of territorial integrity, cooperation, solidarity, attendance and shared responsibility. Article 5: Sovereignty resides untransferable in the people, who exercise it directly in the manner provided for in this constitution and in the law, and indirectly, by suffrage, through the organs exercising Public Power.

6 The organs of the State emanate from and are subject to the sovereignty of the people. Article 6: The government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and of the political organs comprising the same, is and shall always be democratic, participatory, elective, decentralized, alternative, responsible and pluralist, with revocable mandates. Article 7: The constitution is the supreme law and foundation of the legal order. All persons and organs exercising Public Power are subject to this constitution .

7 Article 8: The NATIONAL flag with its yellow, blue and red stripes, the NATIONAL Anthem "Gloria al bravo pueblo" (Glory to the Brave People), and the coat of arms of the Republic are the symbols of the native land. Law shall regulate their characteristics, meaning and use. Article 9: Spanish is the official language. The use of native languages also has official status for native peoples, and must be respected throughout the territory of the Republic, as constituting part of the cultural heritage of the Nation and humanity.

8 TITLE II. GEOGRAPHICAL SPACES AND POLITICAL DIVISION. Chapter I. Territory and Other Geographical Spaces Article 10: The territory and other geographical spaces of the Republic are those which belonged to the Captaincy-General of Venezuela before the political transformation begun on April 19, 1810, as amended by virtue of the treaties and arbitration awards which have not been vitiated with nullity. Article 11: The full sovereignty of the Republic is exercised on the continental, and insular spaces, lake and river spaces, territorial sea, historic, vital and inland sea areas, and those lying within such straight baselines as have been adopted or may come to be adopted by the Republic; seabed and under the seabed of the aforementioned.

9 The continental, insular and maritime air space and the resources located within the aforementioned spaces, including genetic resources, migratory species, derived products and any intangible components that may be present within the aforementioned spaces because of natural causes. The insular space of the Republic includes the Archipelago of Los Monjes, Las Aves, Los Roques, La Orchila, La Tortuga, La Blanquilla, Los Hermanos, islands of Margarita, Cubagua and Coche, Los Frailes, La Sola Island, Los Testigos Archipelago, Patos Island and Aves Island, as well as the islands, islets, keys and banks located or coming in the future to emerge from the territorial sea, that covering the continental shelf or that lying within the limits of the exclusive economic zone.

10 As to the water spaces consisting of the contiguous maritime zone, the continental sheaf and the exclusive economic zone, the Republic exercises exclusive rights of sovereignty and jurisdiction on such terms, to such extent and subject to such conditions as may be determined by public international law and NATIONAL law. The Republic has rights in outer space and in those areas which are or may be the Common Property of Humanity, on such terms, to such extent and subject to such conditions as may be determined by public international agreements and by the NATIONAL legislation.