By quoting articles 5, 70 and 71 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro, asserted that the consultative referendum in defense of the historical, political and legal rights over Guayana Esequiba “is binding ” and, consequently, “I abide by the sacred mandate of the people.”
From the headquarters of the National Electoral Council (CNE), located in Caracas, he pointed out that the resounding victory of the “Yes” charts the course of the actions that, from the Executive Branch, will be carried out for the full recovery of the territory that belongs to the Venezuelans:
“There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that it is binding, a popular mandate that has established a new stage of struggle for Guayana Esequiba. We have a plan, a concept and I call to continue building with spiritual strength the great national union that we have achieved,” he stated.
In this sense, he rejected the opinion matrix – spread through international media – that seeks to “discredit the historical feat that the people accomplished on December 3.”
“If the voice of the people and the vote of the people is not binding, what is?” asked the head of state, who denounced that “the power begind writing, imposing a word to try to tarnish the historical feat of the people” is of ExxonMobil and the United States government that persist in their desire to silence the will of the people.
In this regard, he exemplified that, if the thesis of the non-binding nature of the consultative referendum were true, in 2007, when the popular consultation on the constitutional reform was held, Commander Hugo Chávez “would have issued a decree and imposed a new Constitution”, considering that the proposal was not successful:
“To those who try to disown the people’s vote, to tarnish the referendum; to the pro-ExxonMobil right wing and that supports the interests of Guyana and not the interests of Venezuela: this referendum is binding and I abide by the mandate of the people,” he stressed.
