ORIGINAL WORK

OVERVIEW

For my original work, I was attempting to use previous knowledge of the laws and policies which have been detrimental to Venezuela in the past, as well as knowledge from beneficial legal precedents and amnesty reports from Amnesty International, to tailor the beginnings of a new Venezuelan Constitution, which stand to eradicate the present issues they are facing, and ultimately preserve the human rights of the nation itself.

For my original work, I focused specifically on the first ten amendments, which serve to protect the rights of the people. By taking into account the Venezuelan situation through current articles and UN expert opinions, and understanding exactly which rights are in desperate need of protection, I attempted to propose a custom, rewritten and amended version of the preamble and first ten amendments of the Constitution.

Some primary amendments I focused on for my original work were the government protected right to food, the right to health (availability of medicine), the right to a fair trial and due process of law, freedom of speech and freedom of petition. Although, these are only to name a few of the first ten amendments, they represent the primary function of the nation’s constitution, emulating that of the United State’s Bill of Rights.

For my original work, I was attempting to use previous knowledge of the laws and policies which have been detrimental to Venezuela in the past, as well as knowledge from beneficial legal precedents and amnesty reports from Amnesty International, to tailor the beginnings of a new Venezuelan Constitution, which stand to eradicate the present issues they are facing, and ultimately preserve the human rights of the nation itself.

For my original work, I focused specifically on the first ten amendments, which serve to protect the rights of the people. By taking into account the Venezuelan situation through current articles and UN expert opinions, and understanding exactly which rights are in desperate need of protection, I attempted to propose a custom, rewritten and amended version of the preamble and first ten amendments of the Constitution.

Some primary amendments I focused on for my original work were the government protected right to food, the right to health (availability of medicine), the right to a fair trial and due process of law, freedom of speech and freedom of petition. Although, these are only to name a few of the first ten amendments, they represent the primary function of the nation’s constitution, emulating that of the United State’s Bill of Rights.

MATERIALS

For the purpose of synthesizing the human rights catastrophes in Venezuela, as well as the inadequate structure of government currently in place, I thoroughly researched and annotated:

The 5 most recent amnesty reports over Venezuela (dating back to 2011)
BBC News articles about the outcomes of the current Venezuelan Constituent Assembly
Articles about the general structure of the Venezuelan government, economy, politics, and significant events.
The opinion analysis of a UN Human Rights expert
Articles discussing Maduro’s current plans of revision for the Constitution
The Venezuelan Constitutional Referendum from 2009
A general overview about the typification of human rights by the Office of the High Commissioner (OHCR) for the UN Human Rights Council

PROCESS DESCRIPTION

After researching and reading all of the articles listed above, I went through with specific colored highlighters and pens, to annotate and identify all of the aspects of the Venezuelan crisis that are in need of review and revision in the form of a constitutional amendment.

I then went in with specifically colored sticky notes and tabs which allowed me to explain my point of view throughout the articles, and where I believed a constitutional revision would be helpful in preserving the human rights of the Venezuelan people.

After annotating and giving feedback and notes on several articles, I felt that I was equipped to begin rewriting the preamble to the constitution, as well as brainstorming ideas for the amendments. Therefore, I typed out a list of all the changes that had to be made, and categorized them into ten groups. I then began typing my own version of the Venezuelan Constitution.