Supreme Court Justice Fernando Vegas @ MIIS

Fernando Vegas, a Supreme Court Justice under President Jugo Chavez of Venezuela spoke last night (April 17) at MIIS. Monterey was just one of many stops on Vegas' 3 week speaking tour, others include LA, San Francisco, San Diego, DC, and New York. Vegas was very grateful for the turnout which nearly filled the entire auditorium, and spoke highly of the warm welcome he has recieved from the American people. Vegas spoke on various topics related to the revolution in Venezuela, the election of Jugo Chavez, as well as the constitution drafted and passed by the Venezuelan people. Vegas went into quite a bit of detail describing the inner workings of the constitution, but perhaps what resonated most with me was the fact that 2 new branches had been added to the government. Like most democracies, the Venezuelan government is comprised of the usual Legislative, Judicial and Executive branches and as well as an electoral and "Moral Republican Power" branch. This branch is specifically designed to monitor the other branches, and make sure they are abiding by the rules. A high officer of the Judicial branch was actually voted out by the Moral Republican Power for fraud, and Vegas was quoted to say, "This is happening, this is not just words....were exercising democracy here."