Venezuela’s National Defense Council: Structure and Powers

Posted on Nov 25, 2024 in Law & Jurisprudence

Title III: Council of Defense of the Nation

Chapter I: General Provisions

Mission

Article 34. The Council of National Defense is the highest consultative organ for planning and advising the Public Power at national, state, and municipal levels, in matters related to safety and overall defense of the Nation, sovereignty, and integrity of the territory and other geographical spaces of the Republic. It shall formulate, recommend, and evaluate policies and strategies, and other related matters subject to consultation by the President of the Republic.

Members

Article 35. The Council of National Defense will have permanent and non-permanent members. Permanent members are the President of the Republic, who shall act as chairman; the Vice President or Executive Vice President; the President of the National Assembly; the President of the Supreme Court; the President of the Republican Moral Council; and the Cabinet Ministers of Defense, Internal Security, External Relations, Planning, and the Environment. Non-permanent members are appointed and removed by the President of the Council, and their participation is deemed appropriate whenever the issue is theirs to consult. Non-permanent members shall have the right to speak and perform the functions assigned to them upon their appointment while exercising their activities within the Council of National Defense.

General Secretariat

Article 36. The Council of National Defense will have a General Secretariat, a permanent body that will fulfill administrative, technical, and research functions.

Convocation

Article 37. The Council of National Defense will hold a regular meeting at least twice a year and special meetings when circumstances warrant. Convocations will be made by the President, directly or through the General Secretariat. The rules establish all matters relating to the convocation and the procedure to be followed in the respective meetings.

Powers of the Council

Article 38. The Council of National Defense will have the following powers:

  1. Advising the government in developing security, development, and overall defense plans in various fields of national life.
  2. Formulating security policy in harmony with the Nation’s interests and objectives to ensure the State’s supreme goals.
  3. Developing the Nation’s strategic concept, based on the fundamental principles enshrined in the Constitution and laws of the Republic, with a progression that takes the situation into account and aligns with national interests.
  4. Updating the Nation’s strategic concept as required and suggesting guidelines to public power for the development and implementation of derived plans.
  5. Establishing Inter-Agency Working Committees and Emergency Committees, composed of representatives from various agencies involved in the analyzed problem and other necessary experts. The functions of these committees will be established in the regulations of this Law.
  6. Promoting active and permanent participation of public power and society in matters relating to national security.
  7. Requiring natural or legal persons, public and private, to provide data, statistics, and information relating to national security and necessary support.
  8. Ensuring that intelligence systems, civil protection, and other public safety agencies and related State institutions submit data, information, and statistics relating to national security.
  9. Proposing to the President of the Republic the involvement of state security organs at all levels and spaces where circumstances warrant.
  10. Adopting policies to assist with the mobilization and demobilization of all or part of the various fields.
  11. Ensuring that members of the Civil Protection System at different levels schedule and coordinate with the relevant body, public and private resources necessary to prevent, mitigate, respond to, and recover from damages caused by natural, technical, and social events, which necessarily require the support of the political, technical, social, and economic state.
  12. Encouraging the formation of multidisciplinary teams specializing in security and defense in the public and private sectors.
  13. Enacting regulations for its organization and operation.
  14. Exercising other powers decided by the Council, with at least two-thirds of its permanent members.