“This decree is immediately to give full powers to the president Nicolás Maduro to display the armed force throughout the country and take all service infrastructure militarily ”he explained Rodríguez.
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He added that with this decree Maduro may “act in defense and security” if the United States “dares to attack our homeland.”
The Venezuelan vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, holds a document while speaking during a meeting with diplomatic representatives accredited in Caracas on September 29, 2025. (Photo of Juan Barreto / AFP).
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“There is a compact Venezuela in the defense of our countryprepared for the defense of Venezuela ”, Rodríguez argued in an act to which the diplomatic corps accredited in Caracas.
USA He has deployed eight warships, a nuclear propulsion submarine and more than 6,000 military in the Caribbean Sea. He has also sent combat airplanes F-35 To Puerto Rico.
The actions of this fleet have destroyed at least four vessels allegedly loaded with drugs from Venezuelawith a balance of 14 deaths.
The first ship attacked by US forces in the Caribbean transported drugs and 11 people who died, Trump said.
After Rodríguez’s announcement, Maduro clarified that the decree is not yet signed and is in consultation.
“Today the consultation process of the constitutional decree of state of exception to decree a state of external shock (…) and protect our people,” Said on Monday night Ripe During your television program.
Ripe He warned that his objective was that “the entire nation” and every “citizen and citizen of this country has the support, protection and activation of all the forces of Venezuelan society to respond to threats or, if the case occur, to any attack that was made.”
Guarantees are restricted
Members of the Bolivarian Armed Forces participate in a military exercise in Fuert Tiuna, Caracas, on September 20, 2025. (Photo by Pedro Mattey / AFP).
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But what is the “external shock” about?
Article 338 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela says that the Interior or exterior shock status “In case of internal or external conflict, which seriously endangers the security of the nation, its citizens, or their institutions. It will last for up to ninety days, being extendable even by the ringen guarantees no more sale days …”.
According to the Organic Law on states of exception, the decree will have the rank and force of law, will enter into force once dictated by the President and must be published in the Official Gazette.
According to the Constitution, In a state of external shock, constitutional guarantees may be temporarily restricted.
Having not been published in the Official Gazette, The scope of the decree is unknown and specifically what rights will be restricted.
What is certain is about what the regimeat least they say the norms: the prohibition of incommunication or torture is maintained, also the right to due process, the right to information, to freedom of conscience and religion (in the limits compatible with national security) and nationality.
More power for Maduro
A man holds a picture with the image of Nicolás Maduro during a military exercise in Caracas, Venezuela. (EFE/ Miguel Gutierrez).
Delcy Rodríguez explained that The decree “would be activated immediately” in case of any type of aggression And to, for example, mobilize armed force throughout the territory, Take militarily and immediately the infrastructure of public services, as well as the hydrocarbons industry and basic companies, to guarantee their operation, and activate all citizen security plans.
Maduro can close terrestrial, maritime and aerial borders, In addition to “activating all kinds of economic, political and social plans” to “guarantee national life,” Rodríguez said.
What comes now? The EFE agency explained that according to the Constitution, the decree “It will be presented, within the next eight days of having been issued, to the National Assembly or the Delegated Commission, for its consideration and approval, and the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice to pronounce on its constitutionality.”
The NGO Access to Justice told Efe that although the decree enters into force once dictated by the president, the legislative and judicial power have the power, in case they consider it, to stop it.
From the entry into force of the 1999 Constitution, For the first time, an external shock state in Venezuela would apply.
Currently, in Venezuela A state of exception by economic emergency governs.
Maduro’s reasons
Nicolás Maduro during a visit to a military training field in Caracas. (Photo of Zurimar Campos / Presidency of Venezuela / AFP).
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The international analyst Francisco Belaunde Matossian He said to Commerce that the decision of Ripe It responds to two motivations: on the one hand, the real fear of an eventual attack by the United States; And on the other, the opportunity to further reinforce its internal power, using this legal figure as a pretext to restrict the few freedoms that remain and persecute opponents under the accusation of “betrayal of the country.”
“Do not forget that Maduro sent a letter to Donald Trump trying to tell him that he wanted to negotiate. He even sought to say that the culprit of Washington’s hostility was Marco Rubiohis Secretary of State, whom he described as lord of the war. But that approach was rejected with much contempt by Trump “Belaunde recalled.
“Seeing that possibility has closed, Maduro may be entering despair. And this decree also gives him the possibility of accumulating more power, although it is true that his regime is already a dictatorship that when he wants to arrest or imprison people, he does it without a nevesity of a state of shock ”, He stressed.
The expert also pointed out that Trump It is unpredictable and that within its administration there are divisions: While figures like Marco Rubio advocate the hard line against Maduro, others would prefer to explore negotiations.
On the objective of the US military deployment in the Caribbean, Belaunde warned that, despite the high costs, the results have been limited, with “only 3 or 4 intercepted boats”, and that an invasion of Venezuelabut possible specific blows even within that territory.
Considered that the initial calculation of Trump It would have been press for internal implosion in the Maduro regime or force your negotiated exitwhat has not happened.
Belaunde indicated that if the deployment does not produce a tangible change in VenezuelaTrump could be politically weakened before the Latin electorate in the US, especially in the face of mid -term elections.
About this Tuesday’s statement of Trumpthat He said that drugs no longer pass through the Caribbean Sea and that now he will chase drugs on the ground, implying that he will reinforce border security with MexicoBelaunde said that the Republican could be recalculating priorities, with a growing focus on the relationship with Mexico and the fight against drug trafficking at the border, although it is not likely to take unilateral actions without authorization from the government of President Claudia Sheinbaum.
