Venezuela's indigenous backs government's bid to draft new constitution

Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-28 15:58:21|Editor: MJ
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CARACAS, May 27 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela's indigenous communities on Saturday gathered in the capital of Caracas to show their support for the government's bid to draft a new constitution.

Efforts to elect the National Constituent Assembly (ANC) in charge of drafting the new constitution are under way. Representatives of the indigenous peoples will occupy eight of the 545 seats in the ANC.

During the rally held at the city's central Plaza Venezuela, Minister of Indigenous Peoples Aloha Nunez acknowledged the headway the indigenous communities had made under the socialist government.

He said the indigenous communities have gone from "having three constituents" in 1999, when the current constitution was drafted, "to having eight constituents."

Enhancing indigenous rights is one of the policies of the ruling socialist party.

The indigenous communities propose enshrining the right to speak their own language in the new constitution, aiming to give it official status alongside Spanish.

President Nicolas Maduro intends to facilitate political dialogue by amending the constitution in the country, which has seen anti-government protests since the conservatives lost the presidential race in 2013.

Elias Jaua, education minister and head of the presidential commission tasked to form the ANC, said the new constitution will "guarantee peace and coexistence among all Venezuelans."

The government proposed that the 545-member body is composed of 364 constituents representing the country's different regions, 173 for various sectors, and eight voicing concerns of the indigenous.

The leading opposition coalition, known by its Spanish acronym MUD, has refused to take part in the process. Protesters took to the street on Saturday to rally against the government, as they did almost every day since April.

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