Former constituent Aristóbulo Istúriz began his speech at the commemorative event for the first anniversary of the National Constituent Assembly highlighting the successful decision adopted by the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, on May 1, 2017 when he convened the Originary Constituent Power to conquer peace, economic prosperity and the welfare of the people.
The Minister for Communes and Social Movements, who served as a keynote speaker at the special session this Saturday, recalled the days before the convocation for the ANC, marked by the “guarimbas” (street riots), the burning of public spaces, attacks against schools, universities, public buildings, health centers and the public transportation system:
“29 people were burned alive for their physical characteristics, for being Chavistas, for being poor or simply for their personal appearance”, recalled the constituent while evoking the attacks against the Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías Maternal and Child Hospital, located in El Valle, perpetrated on April 20, 2017, and the attack with Molotov bombs against a maternal center located in the headquarters of the Ministry for Housing, in Chacao, while there were more than 100 children inside, on April 1, 2004.
“It was this great National Constituent Assembly that put an end to these events by restoring peace to our people”, reiterated Istúriz, thanking President Maduro for adopting the decision “that saved the country from a possible civil war that we, each and every one of the Venezuelans would surely be lamenting”.
At the end of his speech, he pointed out that beyond the strategic objective, the drafting of a new Constitution, the ANC must accompany the President of the Republic in this political conjuncture: “Facing the economic war and helping to build a new productive and solidary economic model is one of the great challenges of the National Constituent Assembly.”
