People wearing "2024 National Popular Consultation" t-shirts next to a banner with the logo of the electoral consultation. Photo: Venezuelan Ministry of Science and Technology.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro described Sunday’s National Popular Consultation as an “unprecedented and historic” day. During the countrywide event, Venezuelans were asked to select community projects to be developed with the financial help of the state.
“Today, the Venezuelan people are participating in an unprecedented and historic National Popular Consultation in which they will vote for community projects in their geographical area,” stated the president. “It is the participatory and protagonist democracy contemplated in our Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela with its own life in the action of the communities, of the ordinary man and woman.”
The popular consultation comprises more than 21,000 projects in over 4,500 communities throughout the country.
Hoy el pueblo venezolano participa en una Consulta Popular Nacional inédita e histórica, en la que votarán por los proyectos comunitarios de su ámbito geográfico. Es la Democracia Participativa y Protagónica contemplada en nuestra CRBV y con vida propia en la acción de las… pic.twitter.com/yT4dv0bpEG
— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) April 21, 2024
“Venezuelan Democracy, today more than ever, is providing an example to the world of strength, sovereignty, and independence,” stated President Maduro. “The power in Venezuela belongs to the people.”
According to the Communal Electoral Commission, there are 360 promoters in the country activated in the 4,000 communes and 49,000 communal councils where the consultation will be held from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. in a total of 15,075 voting centers deployed by the National Electoral Council (CNE).
To participate, voters must comply with four steps: present their identity card; verify the projects prioritized by their community and select the option of their preference; verify their selection, fold the ballot, and deposit it in the box; and, finally, register their vote with their signature and fingerprint in the voting notebook.
This is the first time a consultation of this magnitude has been carried out by the electorate. However, some criticisms were reported concerning a lack of information regarding the projects to be prioritized and who will be the direct beneficiaries of those projects.
Residents of the El Paraiso neighborhood in Caracas reported to Orinoco Tribune that despite the scarce publicity regarding the consultation, they managed to visit the website launched by the Ministry of Communes but were not able to see details about the projects themselves.
These residents suggested that the Patria System or the 1×10 tool within that platform would have been a great tool to involve citizens in the definition of the projects, beyond the restrictions of some communal councils, in terms of communication and outreach. For them, this could have improved the level of participation in the consultation, thus improving people’s involvement in the projects.
International observers
The Popular Consultation is an unprecedented event in the world and shows that in Venezuela there is a participatory and leading democracy, said Puerto Rican sociologist Ramón Grosfoguel, as reported by Ultimas Noticias.
“This shows that the entire international campaign against Venezuela is a fallacy,” said Grosfoguel. “Here, we vote for community priorities. This is an example for the world of participatory democracy, of the president for the people. For those of us who come from outside, this is not normal, and I congratulate the Bolivarian government and President Nicolás Maduro for their communal system of participation.” Grosfoguel is part of a team of international observers overseeing the Popular Consultation this Sunday.
From Dr. José de Jesús Arocha University in the Petare neighborhood of Caracas, Grosfoguel said that with this type of activities, President Maduro demonstrates that he “governs by obeying the people.”
Likewise, in statements offered to Venezolana de Televisión, observers David Macdonald from Barbados and Catia Colmenares from Mexico expressed their support and admiration for the initiative and highlighted the importance of consultation and the opportunity provided to the people to exercise their power in an environment of peace and self-awareness.
“This is an important consultation,” said Macdonald. “You are empowering the people, allowing the population to participate in a democratic process. You are demonstrating our origins and what allows us to empower the people of the Caribbean. This is what socialism is.”
(Diario Vea) by Yonaski Moreno with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SL
