The Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services of Caracas before the offices delivered by Petróleos de Venezuela, SA (“PDVSA”) to the representatives of various service stations on June 27, 2020, through which they were exhorted to the “delivery” of the aforementioned fuel outlets, states that:
Considering
That the States of Exception decreed by the National Executive on the basis of articles 337, 338 and 339 of the Constitution does not imply the violation or undue restriction of the fundamental rights of individuals, extensible to commercial companies by application of international treaties, reason why, in no circumstance, the action of any organ or entity of the State could lead to its ignorance or suppression;
Considering
That the State of Economic Emergency implies an extraordinary power of the National Executive to act within certain explicit and temporal limits, which has been unduly extended in contravention of constitutional provisions and fundamental rights;
Considering
That the Rule of Law implies the submission to the law of the actions of the organs of the Public Power, which obliges each organ or entity of the State not to exceed its scope of competence, as well as the exercise of discretionary administrative powers under the principles of honesty, participation, speed, effectiveness, efficiency, transparency, accountability and responsibility in the exercise of the public function;
Considering
That the Rule of Law requires that any exercise of power that has been conferred on the organs and entities of the State that affects individuals, be channeled through the proper administrative procedures in which, among others, the right to the defense, to know in detail the infractions that are imputed to them and to the contradictory one;
Considering
That Petróleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA) as instrumentality of the State, in the form of a public company, is subject to the Law even in emergency situations such as those verified in Venezuelan territory, which implies respect for the fundamental rights of individuals in the use of their exorbitant powers in the hydrocarbon area;
Considering
That since March 2020, as the high authorities of the State have made public, exceptional circumstances have arisen in the supply of fuel by PDVSA, which has affected the continuity of public service provided by the stores, as well as the rights of users to acquire goods under equal conditions, all under the supervision of the state security organs and in follow-up to the guidelines and plans of the Ministry of Popular Power of Petroleum;
Considering
That the restructuring of the business of distribution, import and sale of liquid fuels carried out by PDVSA, in accordance with the guidelines of the National Executive, cannot lead to arbitrary ignorance of the legal relations of contractual origin, to the capricious application of exorbitant clauses and of administrative powers, or the violation of the fundamental rights of the concessionaires, contractors and owners of service stations,
Considering
That legal security, the competition of private initiative in its different manifestations of business organization and the Republic for the generation of employment, added value, attraction of national and foreign investment, development of the economy, and an essential value of the rule of law , in general, the well-being of the citizen, as established in article 299 of the Constitution.
Considering
What measures, such as the one adopted, generate unemployment, direct and indirect impact on the market of products and goods generated and loaned in the national market, as well as an injury to several entrepreneurs who for decades have been carrying out a sustained effort, organization and at the expense of their patrimony the economic activity of fuel sale and related activities.
Agree
- Require the National Executive and the other authorities of the Public Power and the directors of public companies, including PDVSA, the strict observance of the fundamental rights of companies and entrepreneurs and direct their administrative action in accordance with constitutional precepts.
- Require the National Executive to proceed without restriction the provisions of article 7 of the Organic Law on States of Exception during the validity of the State of Economic Emergency and the State of Alarm, especially in the guarantee of due process.
- Demand that similar actions are avoided that do not contribute in any way to the economic reactivation of the country, to the establishment and stability of the sources that generate work, wealth and well-being.
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