In Venezuela, citizens are electing 15,000 peace judges for the first time on December 15th. Our correspondent, Gladys Quesada, with the details. teleSUR
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00:00Let's now go back on topic on the Venezuelan elections that are being held on Sunday about
00:06the judges' office.
00:07We have live from Venezuela our correspondent Gladys Quezada to inform us of everything
00:12that has happened just hours away from the election day ending.
00:16Hello, Gladys, welcome.
00:19Hi, Luis, hi to our audience, and yes, precisely, we are half day in this voting day in the
00:29election of the peace justices.
00:31And as you were referring, we have been touring the coastal state of La Guaira, which has
00:36the main beaches of Venezuela, one of the most known worldwide.
00:42And now we are in the college or in the school that serves as a voting center called Y Camacuto,
00:49which is an indigenous name here in Venezuela.
00:54So now we are here, we are in a different location, but you know the ambience, the
00:58atmosphere is the same, because people are still coming to vote, to choose the justices
01:05and the peace mediators they are trying to call and to elect today.
01:10As the authorities of this electoral center told me, as of 2 p.m. almost half of the population,
01:19the neighbors had come here to cast their vote, and so far, you know, they are coming
01:26in calm, in peace with their families, and as you can see, they are forming long lines
01:31to come and cast their vote.
01:33Also, I have to say that this is the voting center for 19 communal centers or councils,
01:41which are so many of the ways of gathering the people around the commons.
01:47And they are choosing among 39 candidates, and they will elect three justices, three
01:54peace justices, and of course, as we have been explaining, three other substitutes.
02:00The purpose of this not only is to enhance the communal state and the ways the communal
02:05state enhances also the popular will and the popular power, it's also to create mechanisms
02:11for autonomy, so the people can solve their issues, solve their problems in their own
02:16communities, and also, with the election of three justices, they ensure that there is
02:21imparity and there is no partial opinion and decision regarding the conflicts or the issues
02:27of the community.
02:28And that's to say, because there will be one principal voice, one main voice, and two alternate
02:34voices, and the final decision has to be taken among the three, but, you know, there is a
02:39main decision-taker justice among them.
02:43So people are coming in here, and I have to say, the peace justice is a figure that
02:47is created for the community to have a support, a legal support, and not having to take this
02:55to every legal instance.
02:57And in any case, the other opinion that they have is that a legal figure, maybe a lawyer,
03:03maybe a tribunal, maybe a justice, and in its concept, they have to require two laws
03:11and two circumstances that are not close to the people, and they don't have the understanding
03:17of how the people live in their communities.
03:20But having peace justices in their own territories ensures that those taking the decisions, those
03:26taking not sentences, but final guidelines, those people, they know the people that live
03:33in here, they know the circumstances, they know the traditions, the history, the core
03:38of these communities, and they know also how to solve better the problems, because of communications,
03:44because of known hows, because of traditions, and because of way to do that everyone has
03:50in their municipalities, in their communes, in their neighborhoods.
03:53So this is a way to give more power to the people, more democracy, and more autonomy
03:58to the micro-governments that are formed by these communal councils.
04:02So so far, as I was saying, we are still in La Guaira, the afternoon is coming in.
04:08I think there is maybe a menace of rain, but we are going to be here no matter what, because
04:14this is a historical day that also serves as a homage to the 25th anniversary of the
04:20Bolivarian constitution that was enacted back in 1999 by then president, the late commander
04:28of the Bolivarian revolution, Rafael Chavez FrĂas.
04:32So it's a paramount day, yesterday this country saw the 24th ALBA summit, and today they are
04:38holding these elections of the peace justices, and also commemorating one of the main goals,
04:44the main achievements of the Bolivarian revolution, and that is big, big news, and big time for
04:50the Venezuelans.
04:51So so far, December is promising more democracy, more power to the people, and more celebrations
04:58for Venezuelans.
04:59Now Luis, this is the information, I'm giving the signal back to you.