President Nicolás Maduro speaking to the electorate. Photo: Venezuela's Presidential Press.
 On Monday, the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, congratulated the Venezuelan people for the success of the Fourth National Popular Consultation held on Sunday, November 23, where approximately 36,674 projects were democratically selected across 5,336 communal circuits.
During Cabinet Meeting No. 747 and the installation of the Student Government Council, the Venezuelan leader described the event as an “overwhelming victory for the will for peace and the decision-making capacity of the country’s neighbors.” He also highlighted to those present the importance of this democratic exercise carried out by Venezuelans and the strengthening of popular power.
“That is the Communal State, the true state of participatory democracy, the true social state of justice and rights contemplated in our beloved 1999 Constitution,” the head of state said from Miraflores Palace, the seat of the presidency in Caracas.
President Maduro noted that Sunday was a spectacular day, not only because it marked his 63rd birthday but also because of “what the people expressed—the maturity of the people, their intelligence, their bravery, their clarity.”
On Sunday, more than 9,900 polling stations were set up throughout the country. Citizens were able to choose their preferred projects from a list of up to seven proposals per commune.
He also called on ministers to listen to Venezuelan youth—“the future of the nation”—and to learn from them, sitting down “to listen to them, to understand them,” which he described as one of the most beautiful tasks of Venezuela. He congratulated the youth leadership for its work in the communes, high schools, and universities.
“Let us continue along this path, which is our path,” said President Maduro.
He also announced the official installation of the first Student Government Council and noted that the Cabinet has a seat reserved for the student movement.
More than 24,000 projects funded in 2024 and 2025
A few weeks ago, Vice President Delcy RodrĂguez reported that in 2024 and 2025, a total of 24,000 communal projects had been funded. “We are in a stage of monitoring project execution in perfect coordination between the electorate and the national government.”
The Venezuelan vice president explained that in previous popular consultations, the projects chosen by communal circuits were related to water (19%), housing (12%), roads (11%), education (11%), and other sectors. These projects, she said, are evidence that popular consultations have become a genuine democratic mechanism.
Popular consultations allow all levels of government to move in the same direction—according to the Seven Transformations Plan—but they do so based on the direct criteria of citizens, preventing intermediary officials from hindering the implementation of the projects. In this sense, the consultation has reaffirmed communal projects as an extraordinary tool for organizing the electorate across their various structures.
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(Telesur)
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/CB/SL
Cameron Baillie is an award-winning journalist, editor, and researcher. He won and was shortlisted for awards across Britain and Ireland. He is Editor-in-Chief of New Sociological Perspectives graduate journal and Commissioning Editor at The Student Intifada newsletter. He spent the first half of 2025 living, working, and writing in Ecuador. He does news translation and proofreading work with The Orinoco Tribune.
