What must each piece say, and why?

The essentials

The Venezuelan text. The 1999 Constitution leaves no rhetorical cracks: its Article 1 declares the Republic “irrevocably free and independent” and proclaims independence, liberty, sovereignty, immunity, territorial integrity, and national self-determination as “inalienable rights of the Nation.” Its Article 13 hammers it home: the national territory “may never be ceded, transferred, leased, or in any way alienated, not even temporarily or partially, to foreign States.”

Its Article 347 establishes that the people of Venezuela are the depositary of the original constituent power, and that in the exercise of that power they may convene a National Constituent Assembly to transform the State, create a new legal order, and draft a new Constitution. Articles 1 and 13 do not forbid the people from deciding their destiny; they forbid anyone from deciding it for them.

The constitution of the State of Venezuela. In the history of the Union, no territory became a state without first drafting and ratifying its own state constitution. The state constitution is the legal vehicle of every commitment: there it is written that Venezuela’s flag, coat of arms, anthem, and name continue as symbols of the state; there the status of Spanish and functional bilingualism is fixed, with the reinforced armoring New Mexico taught; there the Leveling and Convergence Fund is constitutionalized with its rule of untouchable principal, as Alaska did with its own; there the National Guard of the State of Venezuela is organized; there it is decided how much of the Venezuelan civil-law tradition is kept in state matters, with Louisiana as precedent.

From the book The 51st State, Part VIII.

The sources

• Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (1999), Articles 1, 13, and 347. WIPO Lex wipo.int (accessed October 2, 2026) · archived copy
• Constitution of the United States, Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1. Constitution Annotated, Congress.gov constitution.congress.gov (accessed September 23, 2026) · archived copy
• Congressional Research Service, Admission of States to the Union: A Historical Reference Guide (R47747) everycrsreport.com (accessed September 23, 2026) · archived copy
• Constitution of Alaska, Article IX, Section 15 (1976 amendment) ltgov.alaska.gov (accessed October 2, 2026) · archived copy
• Constitution of the State of New Mexico (1911), Articles VII and XII; Louisiana Civil Code; Hawaii Admission Act (1959).
• The 51st State, Part VIII.