Back CONSTITUTION OF THE BOLIVARIAN
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES (Art. 1-9)
Article 1: The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is irrevocably
free and independent, basing its moral property and values of freedom, equality,
justice and international peace on the doctrine of Simón Bolívar, the
Liberator. Independence, liberty, sovereignty, immunity, territorial integrity
and national self-determination are unrenounceable rights of the Nation.
Article 2: Venezuela constitutes itself as a Democratic and
Social State of Law and Justice, which holds as superior values of its legal
order and actions those of life, liberty, justice, equality, solidarity,
democracy, social responsibility and, in general, the preeminence of human
rights, ethics and political pluralism.
Article 3: The essential purposes of the State are the
protection and development of the individual and respect for the dignity of the
individual, the democratic exercise of the will of the people, the building of a
just and peace-loving society, the furtherance of the prosperity and welfare of
the people and the guaranteeing of the Fulfillment of the principles, rights and
duties established in this Constitution.
Education
and work are the fundamental processes for guaranteeing these purposes.
Article 4: The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is a
decentralized Federal State on the terms set forth in this Constitution,
governed by the principles of territorial integrity, cooperation, solidarity,
attendance and shared responsibility.
Article 5: Sovereignty resides untransferable in the people, who
exercise it directly in the manner provided for in this Constitution and in the
law, and indirectly, by suffrage, through the organs exercising Public Power.
The organs of the State emanate from and are subject to the sovereignty of the
people.
Article 6: The government of the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela and of the political organs comprising the same, is and shall always
be democratic, participatory, elective, decentralized, alternative, responsible
and pluralist, with revocable mandates.
Article 7: The Constitution is the supreme law and foundation of
the legal order. All persons and
organs exercising Public Power are subject to this Constitution.
Article 8: The national flag with
its yellow, blue and red stripes, the National Anthem “Gloria al bravo
pueblo” (Glory to the Brave People), and the coat of arms of the Republic are
the symbols of the native land.
Law
shall regulate their characteristics, meaning and use.
Article
9:
Spanish is the official language. The use of native languages also has official
status for native peoples, and must be respected throughout the territory of the
Republic, as constituting part of the cultural heritage of the Nation and
humanity.