Bolivarian government takes measures against threats from the right

by Dilbert Reyes Rodríguez

Dec. 11, 2015

Reprinted from Daily Granma

CARACAS.— The Bolivarian Government of Venezuela announced a series of measures to protect workers and the people in general, following the threats made by leaders of the opposition regarding specific laws that have benefited the working class.

In response to the request made by conservative businesspeople to the recently elected deputies of the right to repeal the country’s Labour Law on taking up their positions in the National Assembly, President Maduro announced that he would issue a decree this Friday to guarantee job security for three years (2016, 2017 and 2018), in order to protect public workers.

He stressed that the right will not be able to execute its threats against workers and planned layoffs as long as he was in power, acting in the name of Chávez.

In his weekly program, En Contacto con Maduro, the president rejected the offensive remarks of Henry Ramos, newly elected as a deputy for the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), against workers of the National Assembly’s television and radio stations, whom Ramos described as an embarrassment, announcing their imminent dismissal.

Given the statement, the current President of the legislature, Diosdado Cabello, announced the sovereign decision to transfer full management of both channels to the workers; an initiative that both defends them from attack and allows them to safeguard their freedom of expression.

Maduro also ordered a restructuring of his cabinet, for which he asked his current ministers to submit their resignations, in order to renovate the various areas of government.

Making use of the Enabling Law, the president stated that he would decree that the Cuartel de la Montaña – where the mortal remains of Comandante Hugo Chávez rest – be transferred into the hands of the people, through the Foundation that bears the name of the leader, in order to protect the institution from the attacks planned by the Venezuelan right.

This measure comes in response to statements made by the Secretary General of the MUD, Jesús Torrealba, who threatened to close the site should his faction secure the necessary majority (two thirds of the seats) in the National Assembly.

Maduro also announced the start of a profound process of national dialogue at the grassroots, in each neighborhood, through a set of popular assemblies, to undertake a “critical, self-critical and active” debate aimed at rebuilding a new revolutionary majority.