Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a public event about the launching of the 1x10 system. Photo: Venezuela News.
By Dakotah Lilly – May 23, 2022
Years ago when I found myself becoming more and more involved with the politically, socially, and economically transformative processes found around the world but particularly in Latin America, I would hear a phrase that would confuse me. “The creative potential of the people” was talked about, but I had no artistic ability and always found art tedious and pretentious. It wasn’t until I spoke to people on the ground in Venezuela that I realized what exactly the creative potential of the people meant.
To be creative in this context is to be original and to create new systems of power, articulation, relations of production, and solutions to the problems faced by everyday working people. To be politically creative is to utilize the collective imagination of the people as a whole in pursuit of a new, better world with new and better tools.
This concept was brought to mind recently with the launch of the 1×10 Good Governance plan in Venezuela on May 20th. The new plan is set to be a way for people to have direct communication with government authorities for the resolution of everyday problems such as infrastructure, water, health, public services and utilities, safety, and education. The plan is incorporated through the Patria system, a technological platform used by the government to direct social programs, social missions, and the issuance of direct monetary bonus in the face of the economic war and sanctions.
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The plan seeks to bring together neighbors, neighborhood councils, street leaders, community organizations, local governments, and federal government ministries in pursuit of solutions to the problems reported by citizens and communities themselves. Command posts have already been set up in the country with the first being based out of the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas. These command posts will act as the first point of contact for many citizens wishing to get assistance in their communities. The posts are operational 24/7.
This plan has been touted by the President as the government’s latest attempt to “further empower People’s Power to move towards the future of greatness. “He stressed that Venezuela will become a “technological vanguard for attending to the people.”. The six strategic lines of the plan are as follows;
• Advance and consolidate the integral economic recovery of the country, strengthening the productive engines to achieve the stability of fundamental economic markers.
• Guarantee plans for human development rewarding the social protection of the people.
• Ensure the right to the environment, the city and public services.
• Guarantee and promote the participation of People’s Power for Good Governance.
• Defend national sovereignty, national integrity, peace and strengthen Venezuela’s role in the new world geopolitics.
• Consolidate a new Justice system.
This plan is also guided by the 3R.NETS principles originally conceived as the 3 R’s by Comandante Chavez and now, the 3R.NETS by President Maduro. The 3R.NETS stand for Resistance to imperialism and outside interference, Rebirth of the homeland, and the Revolutionization of the Bolivarian Process. The NETS stands for Nueva Época en el Transición al Socialismo, or New Stage in the Transition towards Socialism.
The Bolivarian Revolution has withstood apocalyptic circumstances brought on by outside forces and inner demons; this has called for certain retreats, certain advances, and the grappling with new realities and makeups of the world in which we currently live. A new world is on the horizon, but it is the masses who must create it in our constant struggles with the establishment and concentrated power. Whether it has the name or static definition that this group or that group prefer is besides the point, but a new world must be built sooner rather than later and this plan is just one example of how we might do it.
Featured image: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a public event about the launching of the 1×10 system. Photo: Venezuela News.
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Dakotah Lilly
Dakotah Lilly is a youth political analyst with a concentration in areas such as socialism of the 21st century, Chavismo, left populism, and more. He has done on the ground reporting and investigation in Venezuela. He has been featured on Fox News, RT, American Herald Tribune, MintPress, and other publications.
