*Over 5,300 communes and communal circuits voted in the 1st National Public Consultation of 2025
*Proposed projects were chosen collectively the specific needs of each community
*Public Consultations aim at engaging citizens in decision-making processes
*Country seeks to build a communal state through participative democracy
*Proposed projects were chosen collectively the specific needs of each community
*Public Consultations aim at engaging citizens in decision-making processes
*Country seeks to build a communal state through participative democracy
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NewsTranscript
00:00And as we were reporting, the first public consultation of the year 2025 took place on Venezuela
00:06to massive voter turnout nationwide.
00:08From polling centers in Caracas, our correspondent Belén de los Santos
00:12tells us some more about this exercise of participative democracy. Let's see.
00:18On Sunday, February 2nd, Venezuelans went to the polls to participate in the first national public
00:24consultation of 2025, in which over 5,300 communes and communal circuits chose which
00:32local development projects would receive funds to target the people's needs.
00:39It is very important for people to know that if they have needs more than anything else,
00:45they have to come and vote because that is the way to know
00:48what the need of each person or each building is.
00:51The over 36,000 proposed projects had been previously discussed in assemblies,
00:58in which the neighbors debated on their most pressing issues and drew up possible solutions.
01:04One of the ideas that citizens highlighted
01:07was that this was the opportunity to take matters into their own hands.
01:13It is our way of being able to tackle the problems that we face in our territory.
01:17And well, we are the ones who know our problems and we are the ones who are going to solve them.
01:26The key premise of the public consultation is that the people take charge of the decision-making
01:31within their territories, a power that no longer is reserved just for those in public office.
01:37That sense of direct involvement together with the past experiences that have already
01:42left significant changes in the territories have motivated many to come out and participate.
01:50This is our fourth election with the one for justices of peace.
01:54We have had four public consultations and they have been very successful.
01:58People are already coming here without us reminding them.
02:01People are coming spontaneously to their polling center to exercise their vote.
02:06In this way, Venezuela begins 2025 with a clear mandate to strengthen
02:11its form of participative democracy.
02:14With five more public consultations scheduled for the year and a constitutional reform
02:19also on the table, Venezuela sets its future path with the promise to follow the people's mandate
02:25on the road to a communal state.
02:29Yes, it is indeed a mechanism for exercising democracy in Venezuela.
02:34For exercising democracy in which you see your vote represented,
02:37which effectively translates into a benefit for the community.