Caracas (theassemblymedia.com) — Communes and communal circuits across Venezuela have begun meeting in assemblies to select up to seven projects to be put to a vote in the National Popular Consultation on 18 October. This direct, grassroots election allows citizens to decide which local initiatives for collective well-being will receive state funding.
“This is the foundation that sustains our revolution and guarantees the continuity of this historic Bolivarian project,” said Commune Minister Ángel Prado last week, while overseeing the establishment assemblies in 582 communes in the western Zulia state.
Assemblies are taking place in approximately 4,100 communes and 1,200 communal circuits nationwide. Communes are self-governing, grassroots organizations within specific urban or rural territories. They are composed of dozens of communal councils. They have their own horizontal political and economic structure in line with their socialist foundation. Communal circuits bring together smaller councils that have yet to organize into a commune, allowing them to participate in the grassroots vote.
The commune’s assembly process is its highest decision-making body, where all matters concerning the commune are decided collectively. Currently, these assemblies are choosing and ranking projects from most to least important based on the community’s most pressing needs. These projects will appear on the ballot on election day.
Any resident 15 or older can vote at their local center with just an ID. Community members run and oversee the entire process, announcing results in an open assembly the same day. Winning initiatives receive direct state money, around $10,000, with second and third place often funded as well by local or national authorities.
“We’re starting with Zulia because it has the most communes, and I can say that they are the most organized in Venezuela,” said Prado. The longtime communard leader added that the region’s communes have “healthy debate and leadership.”
Zulia State has been one of the regions most affected by the country’s economic collapse in recent years, primarily due to unilateral coercive measures imposed by Washington since 2017. These measures target the oil industry—the country’s main source of income—as well as the mining and banking sectors and essential imports. This sanctions regime followed the 2015 Executive Order that declared Venezuela an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to the US, which drove out international investment.
In October 2021, United Nations Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan visited Venezuela and issued a report on the devastating consequences of US sanctions. She observed the impact on the country’s power grid, water distribution system, telecommunications, and medical equipment due to an inability to import spare parts and perform maintenance. Food production and distribution were also severely impacted due to a lack of fuel for trucks. Living conditions deteriorated further due to massive brain drain during the massive migration amid the crisis.
From 2021 to 2022, Venezuela began showing signs of economic recovery. The country found ways to sell oil to allied nations, import essentials, and manufacture its own spare parts.
The National Popular Consultation is part of the country’s efforts to revitalize the economy and improve living conditions. Created in April 2024 by President Nicolás Maduro, who is currently imprisoned in the US after being abducted by the US military on January 3, it gives the communes and communal circuits the power to identify their most pressing needs and receive direct funding to quickly implement solutions, thus eliminating bureaucracy.
Since the consultation was launched, tens of thousands of community initiatives across seven electoral editions have been voted on, funded, and completed.
The most voted projects focus on repairing public infrastructure and utilities, particularly water distribution, power grids, garbage and sewage management, cooking gas access, fixing sideways and road paving. Other frequent initiatives focus on building or rehabilitating schools, clinics, sports facilities, and cultural centers, as well as fixing damaged roofs and fences. All projects are carried out by organized communities, ensuring an effective and transparent process that benefits the collective.
In some communes, voted projects aim to establish means of production ranging from textile factories to bakeries and agricultural and animal farming operations. These production units are self-managed and the surplus is used for the collective well-being, such as funding more initiatives that emerge from the national consultations.
Zulia governor Luis Caldera emphasized during last week’s meeting with communards that several communes in the region were prioritizing socio-productive and aquaculture projects. Among them the purchase of tractors and supplies for agricultural mechanization, breeding and distributing cachama (freshwater fish) and raising sheep and goats.
The National Popular Consultation has also helped the more incipient communes and communal circuits to practice self-governance, meet in assemblies and advance the communal movement. The election is held every three to four months.