Skip to content
February 8, 2023
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Reddit
  • Telegram
  • TikTok
  • LinkedIn
  • Discord
Orinoco Tribune – News and opinion pieces about Venezuela and beyond

Orinoco Tribune – News and opinion pieces about Venezuela and beyond

From Venezuela and made by Venezuelan Chavistas

Primary Menu
  • News
  • Opinion
  • About us
    • About us
    • Who we are – Becoming a Volunteer
    • Editorial guidelines for contributors
    • Our Sources
      • Venezuelan Sources
      • International Sources
    • Contact us
  • Categories
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Security and Defense
    • International
      • Africa
      • Asia
      • Europe
      • Oceania
      • US/Canada
    • Latin America and ALBA-TCP
      • South America
      • Central America and the Caribbean (+Mexico)
    • Ideology-Commune-Labor
    • Health-Education-Sport-Culture-Technology
    • Solidarity and Social Movements
    • OT Specials
  • Support Us
Light/Dark Button
YouTube Channel
  • Home
  • News
  • In Commune: The Panal 2021
  • Ideology-Commune-Labor
  • News

In Commune: The Panal 2021

July 25, 2020

Third episode of VA’s “In Commune” series, focusing on the combative Panal 2021 Commune in Caracas.

By Katrina Kozarek – Jul 19, 2020

Outside of Venezuela, communes are a little known aspect of the Bolivarian Revolution, yet the development of the communal state is integral to the vision of 21st century socialism laid out by former President Hugo Chavez.

In this series, In Commune, Venezuelanalysis will explore different experiences of rural and urban communes to help better understand what these highly controversial bodies mean, how they have been put into practice, and what they could signify for the continuity of the Bolivarian Revolution in the current situation of political and economic imperialist aggression.

Video Series “In Commune”
Chapter Three: The Panal 2021 Commune (Part 1)

This chapter of In Commune explores the Panal 2021 Commune, which lies in the heart of the Caracas parish of 23 de Enero, a community known for its combative participation in the toppling of the dictator Marcos Pérez Jímenez and its important role in the resistance against the neoliberal governments of the 1980s and ‘90s. This commune was forged with the ideological discipline and organization of a local collective, turned national popular movement, now known as the Alexis Vive Patriotic Force. The fusion of this revolutionary popular movement with the proposal of the communes brought forth a unique experience of community organization and a necessary example of a complex and integral system of communal economy.

RELATED CONTENT: Popular Protagonism in Venezuela’s Transition to Socialism: A Conversation With Michael Lebowitz

The Alexis Vive Collective was founded in the parish of 23 de Enero in honor of Alexis Gonzaléz Revette, a revolutionary activist from the same community who was assassinated by the opposition-controlled Metropolitan Police during the failed coup d’etat against President Hugo Chávez Frías. At the time of their foundation, the collective focused their energies in reviving their community which continued to be deeply affected by the devastation caused by decades of neoliberalism..

For the collective, the revolution had to start with education, volunteer work, recuperation of public spaces and self-managed production. Bárbara Martínez, member of the Alexis Vive Patriotic Force and the Panal 2021 Commune, recalls how the first steps involved washing the stairways of the characteristic apartment blocks and asking their neighbors for contributions, which would then be used to finance other productive projects and social activities.

In 2006, just a short time after the ideas of communal councils and self-government entered the debate within the Bolivarian Revolution, the Alexis Vive Collective founded the Panal 2021 Commune. Alexis Vive founder and communard Robert Longa explains that the name “El Panal” (beehive) is a metaphor with a class-based perspective, referring to the collective construction of worker bees, but also the defense of the community and the revolutionary cause.

RELATED CONTENT: Invasion Attempt Against Comuna El Maizal

The commune quickly caught the eye of Chávez and many state institutions for its capacity for self-organization. Their positive relation with the government led to financing for several key community projects, as well as communal production. The projectes included a sugar packaging plant, a textile factory, a community radio station and a bakery, all of which continue to function today.

As one of the first communes to be founded, the Panal 2021 Commune developed a unique organizational structure, different from the structures established in the law of the communes, basing its legitimacy on popular participation.

In the commune, the “blocks” or apartment buildings are organized in Panalitos, composed of 10 to 12 militants of Alexis Vive. the Panalitos play an essential role in maintaining a unified vision from within the communal councils, as well as the planning, organization and implementation of community policies and projects.

The success and effectiveness of the Panalitos in 23 de Enero communities led to the creation of Panalitos outside the territory of the commune and eventually across the country. The multiplication of these embryos for the promotion of communal organization led to the expansion and transformation of Alexis Vive from a local collective into a national movement, the Alexis Vive Patriotic Force.

The Panal 2021 Commune’s main decision making body is the Popular Patriotic Assembly. This space is open to participation of all communal councils, Panalitos and other forms of community organization which are empowered to make proposals as well as approve budgets and projects.

The commune possesses a Comunal Bank where all resources are deposited and distributed. However the Panal 2021 Commune saw the need for a body which could provide a more strategic and integral organization of resources based on community needs and opportunities, for which they created the Office of Planification and Production. This office is dedicated to strategic planning for investment in productive projects and distribution of resources for local social programs. All proposals are presented for the approval of the Popular Patriotic Assembly.

The death of Chávez and the subsequent escalation of US imperialist aggression took its toll on the government and the Venezuelan population. Venezuelan popular movements and communes were not spared from this siege. However, Alexis Vive, as an organization with a history of resistance under difficult and extreme circumstances, was able to draw from its roots to push forward the commune in its most complex moments.

As prices began to soar and basic products quickly became scarce, combined with the social phenomenon of massive smuggling and speculative re-selling, the Alexis Vive and Panalitos militants began to distribute sugar, bread and other basic staples directly door to door at fair and regulated prices. Bárbara Martínez explains that this strategy was essential for the resistance of the community during this period of crisis.

As the economic and political situation in Venezuela continues to become ever more complicated, the Panal 2021 Commune continues to develop new strategies for resistance and growth, confident that in the commune and the communal state lies the solution to the crisis and the path towards a more humane and just society.

Previous episodes of “In Commune”

Episode 1: Altos de Lídice

Episode 2: Pancha Vásquez

 

Featured image: File photo.

(Venezuelanalysis.com)

Want More?

Don't want to be a victim of the Algorithm?

SIGN UP TO RECEIVE OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER WITH ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT VENEZUELA

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

orinocotribune
Website | + posts
  • orinocotribune
    https://orinocotribune.com/author/orinocotribune/
    A man carries an earthquake victim in Besnia, a village near the Turkish border, Idlib province, Syria. Photo: AP/Ghaith Alsayed.
    February 8, 2023
    Syria: Illegal Sanctions Exacerbate Suffering of Those Affected by Earthquakes
  • orinocotribune
    https://orinocotribune.com/author/orinocotribune/
    Building destroyed by the earthquake in Türkiye. Photo: Anadolu.
    February 8, 2023
    Venezuela & Latin America Stand in Solidarity with Türkiye & Syria Following Earthquakes (+SAR Teams)
  • orinocotribune
    https://orinocotribune.com/author/orinocotribune/
    Prime minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and president pro tempore of CELAC, Ralph Gonsalves, being greeted by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at Miraflores Palaces in Caracas, February 7, 2023. Photo: Venezuela's Presidential Press.
    February 7, 2023
    President Maduro Receives Ralph Gonsalves at Miraflores
  • orinocotribune
    https://orinocotribune.com/author/orinocotribune/
    Photo of a Venezuelan SU-30 Flanker taken by a US EP-3 Aries II plane while flying inside Venezuela's Flight Information Region (FIR) without following international protocols on July 19, 2019. Photo: Michael Wimbish/US Southern Command.
    February 6, 2023
    Venezuela Detects US Spy Planes in Flight Control Zone
Tags: bolivarian revolution Communes In commune Neoliberalism Panal 2021 Commune Popular Power Venezuela

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Continue Reading

Previous Previous post:

Venezuela Prepares to Challenge BoE Ruling on Its Gold Bullion After Winning Right to Appeal

Next Next post:

Sucre Governor Reports No Incidents During Storm Gonzalo

Subscribe to Our Weekly Newsletter

We keep your data private and share your data only with third parties that make this service possible. Read our Privacy Policy.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

NEWS: Most Viewed 72 Hours

Calendar

February 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728  
« Jan    

Categories

OPINION: Most Viewed 72 hours

We are on Telegram


Receive our news directly in your cellphone or PC, join us on our TELEGRAM channel: https://t.me/OrinocoTribune1

 

Download TELEGRAM, click the link above and then press the JOIN button.

We are on Discord


Now we are also on Discord you will be able to follow our every move and interact with our team.

Join us by clicking here



All our work is free to use and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.

We are on Reddit

If you are more into REDDIT, join our Orinoco Tribune Community.

 

Just click below and then click JOIN
https://www.reddit.com/r/OrinocoTribune/

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Reddit
  • Telegram
  • TikTok
  • LinkedIn
  • Discord
Copyleft, No rights reserved.