Say what? What's with all the goats and sheep? Well, it's best to read the post below titled "Goats, Sheep and the Bolivarian Revolution" to understand the context.
Click "slideshow" for the best views at this link:
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/jay.hartling/FeriaCaprinaBolivarianaCarora2007
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Photo Journey IV: Cacao in Chuao
Venezuela produces some of the finest cocoa in the world - most of it is exported to Europe for processing into expensive chocolate. Jeff Moore of Just Us Coffee Roasters Coop says that the international chocolate industry "has been built by a handful of large multinationals with a disdainful history of slavery and quasi-slavery; and colonialism and neo-colonialism." I recently journeyed to Chuao, a remote former African slave colony close to Henri Pittier National Park in the northwest of Venezuela. This thriving little town, which can only be accessed by the sea, is home to a cocoa cooperative. Ironically, they are still selling their beans to french traders -- maybe not for long!!
Click on "slideshow" for the best views here:
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/jay.hartling/CacaoChuao
Click on "slideshow" for the best views here:
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/jay.hartling/CacaoChuao
Friday, July 6, 2007
Photo Journey Part III: Celebrating Democracy
This year was the second time I was able to attend celebrations on April 13, the day that democracy was restored in Venezuela. On April 11, 2002, a coup organized by ultra right-wing members of the opposition, the opposition media, the Catholic church hierarchy, a handful of military officers, and the business sector, backed by the US government attempted to overthrow the democratically-elected government of Hugo Chavez Frias. Led by former Chamber of Commerce president Pedro Carmona Estanga (dubbed "Carmona the Brief") they succeeded in dismantling the constitution, the courts, the national assembly and the rule of law for a brief 48 hours. By April 13, millions of people had taken to the streets to demand the return of the president they had elected. This year's (2007) celebration was vivid, joyous and very, very red. The theme was "Every 11th has its 13th."
Click on "slideshow" for the best views at this link:
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/jay.hartling/Todo11TieneSu13Marcha2007
Click on "slideshow" for the best views at this link:
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/jay.hartling/Todo11TieneSu13Marcha2007
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Photo Journey Part II: Communal Councils in Carora
You can read the article I wrote below (published in Venezuelanalysis, Green Left Weekly and El Milenio) on the communal councils in Carora.
http://bolivarianacanuck.blogspot.com/2007/07/city-of-future-building-popular-power.html
This link takes you to pictures of the people I interviewed and some of the projects I visited. Click on "slideshow" for the best views.
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/jay.hartling/CommunalCouncilsCarora
http://bolivarianacanuck.blogspot.com/2007/07/city-of-future-building-popular-power.html
This link takes you to pictures of the people I interviewed and some of the projects I visited. Click on "slideshow" for the best views.
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/jay.hartling/CommunalCouncilsCarora
Photo Journey Part I: Tourism Cooperatives in Venezuela
I was fortunate to visit a couple of tourism cooperatives on my most recent visit to Venezuela. The first was in Galipan, located in El Avila National Park in Caracas, although it was a total escape from the chaos of Caracas. Several families have come together to form a group of cooperatives - tourism (a posada and restaurant), education (a community centre), transportation and agriculture. This link will take you to a brief slide show of the experience. It is a beautiful place perched high in the mountains. On a clear day you have the whole Caribbean in front of you!! The last couple of photos are from another tourism cooperative in Sanare - Posada Los Cerritos. Click on "slideshow" for the best views.
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/jay.hartling/Cooperatives
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/jay.hartling/Cooperatives
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Goats, Sheep and the Bolivarian Revolution
I wrote this article while travelling and researching in Venezuela in April 2007. This is a reflection of the country's move toward agrarian reform, food security, endogenous production, local control, and communal power.
************************************************************************************
Whoever said goats and sheep aren´t interesting? This weekend, I received my baptism into the world of popular participation in the world of small and medium-sized agricultural production, particularly goats and sheep. The municipality of Pedro Leon Torres, and the city of Carora in Venezuela is hosting the 1st Bolivarian Goat, Sheep, and Artesans Fair this weekend on the exposition grounds in Carora. This might seem mundane to some, but to the hundreds of small family farmers and producers that have gathered here, and to Torres´ Mayor Julio Chavez, it is an historic and poignant moment.
The local agricultural fair grounds, which have always been municipal property, have for years been the exclusive stomping grounds of the local agricultural oligarchy -- big ranchers who have controlled and dominated local production for centuries. The exposition grounds were their exclusive enclave. When Mayor Julio Chavez won the municipal elections two and a half years ago, the exposition grounds were reclaimed by the city and renamed simply ¨The Fair Grounds.¨ The municipal offices of citizen participation and popular power, the municipal water company and the institute of endogenous development now occupy the abandoned buildings. When they were kicked out, the oligarchs predicted the demise of the grounds; claimed that they would fall quickly into disrepair; and bragged that no-one had the capability of managing the grounds but them. They publicly called the poor farmers and the municipal government ¨pendejos¨ (in Venezuela, this roughly translates as idiot, in some other countries in Latin American, it has a different meaning). How wrong they were!! The offices bustle with activity and the presence of social promoters, communal council members, and local citizens – it´s hard to differentiate who is who. I was trying to remember the last time I felt truly welcome in my own municipal government offices.
At last night´s opening of the fair, Mayor Julio Chavez gave a rousing speech – saying that the fair grounds now belong to the people. He dedicated the fair to the hundreds of campesinos who have died as a result of latifundismo (enormous land holdings in private hands). More than 200 proud goat and sheep producers from four municipalities in the state of Lara paraded through the fair grounds, dressed in red, and trotting their best goats and sheep alongside them. Their faces beamed with the obvious pride that comes with recognition of their role in the endogenous agricultural production of the country and the government´s plan for food sovereignty and security. For example, currently, half of Venezuela´s milk is imported, and Venezuela´s milk consumption is far below the international requirements established by the United Nations (80:120 litres of milk per year). However, through a recent technology agreement with the government of Iran, Venezuela´s communal councils are opening and operating seven dairy product producing plants across the country to make up for the deficiency. The municipality is hoping that one of those seven plants will be located in Torres. The municipality of Torres also has signed agreements with the governments of the Canary Islands and Northern Brazil to share technology and the experiences of local goat producers. The goat producers are now enjoying the support of the national institutions for agricultural and production, as it should be.
The mayor spoke of how this is the first time in history where the historically marginalized goat producers, who have survived on goat production for over 400 years, will become the protagonists of economic liberation, creating a new economic model based on small and medium-scale endogenous production. Apparently, the goat has always been considered the ¨cow of the poor¨ – that is why these poor farmers were looked down upon for centuries. Mayor Luis Plaza from the neighbouring municipality of Jimenez recounts how supposed experts continue to question the nutritional value of goat milk and cheese, saying that its nutritional worth has yet to be proven. The farmers know otherwise, having survived on its vitamin-laden richness for centuries. The Mayor recounts how his own child was given goat milk to help cure muscular problems in her infancy.
Meanwhile, this weekend in Carora, the 208 local small scale producers will participate proudly in this Bolivarian Fair – judging their goats for milk production, holding workshops, sharing experiences, exchanging ideas. Personally, I can´t wait to sample the Coconut Goat, the milk and the delicious cheese developed right here by the goat producers of Venezuela in the State of Lara.
************************************************************************************
Whoever said goats and sheep aren´t interesting? This weekend, I received my baptism into the world of popular participation in the world of small and medium-sized agricultural production, particularly goats and sheep. The municipality of Pedro Leon Torres, and the city of Carora in Venezuela is hosting the 1st Bolivarian Goat, Sheep, and Artesans Fair this weekend on the exposition grounds in Carora. This might seem mundane to some, but to the hundreds of small family farmers and producers that have gathered here, and to Torres´ Mayor Julio Chavez, it is an historic and poignant moment.
The local agricultural fair grounds, which have always been municipal property, have for years been the exclusive stomping grounds of the local agricultural oligarchy -- big ranchers who have controlled and dominated local production for centuries. The exposition grounds were their exclusive enclave. When Mayor Julio Chavez won the municipal elections two and a half years ago, the exposition grounds were reclaimed by the city and renamed simply ¨The Fair Grounds.¨ The municipal offices of citizen participation and popular power, the municipal water company and the institute of endogenous development now occupy the abandoned buildings. When they were kicked out, the oligarchs predicted the demise of the grounds; claimed that they would fall quickly into disrepair; and bragged that no-one had the capability of managing the grounds but them. They publicly called the poor farmers and the municipal government ¨pendejos¨ (in Venezuela, this roughly translates as idiot, in some other countries in Latin American, it has a different meaning). How wrong they were!! The offices bustle with activity and the presence of social promoters, communal council members, and local citizens – it´s hard to differentiate who is who. I was trying to remember the last time I felt truly welcome in my own municipal government offices.
At last night´s opening of the fair, Mayor Julio Chavez gave a rousing speech – saying that the fair grounds now belong to the people. He dedicated the fair to the hundreds of campesinos who have died as a result of latifundismo (enormous land holdings in private hands). More than 200 proud goat and sheep producers from four municipalities in the state of Lara paraded through the fair grounds, dressed in red, and trotting their best goats and sheep alongside them. Their faces beamed with the obvious pride that comes with recognition of their role in the endogenous agricultural production of the country and the government´s plan for food sovereignty and security. For example, currently, half of Venezuela´s milk is imported, and Venezuela´s milk consumption is far below the international requirements established by the United Nations (80:120 litres of milk per year). However, through a recent technology agreement with the government of Iran, Venezuela´s communal councils are opening and operating seven dairy product producing plants across the country to make up for the deficiency. The municipality is hoping that one of those seven plants will be located in Torres. The municipality of Torres also has signed agreements with the governments of the Canary Islands and Northern Brazil to share technology and the experiences of local goat producers. The goat producers are now enjoying the support of the national institutions for agricultural and production, as it should be.
The mayor spoke of how this is the first time in history where the historically marginalized goat producers, who have survived on goat production for over 400 years, will become the protagonists of economic liberation, creating a new economic model based on small and medium-scale endogenous production. Apparently, the goat has always been considered the ¨cow of the poor¨ – that is why these poor farmers were looked down upon for centuries. Mayor Luis Plaza from the neighbouring municipality of Jimenez recounts how supposed experts continue to question the nutritional value of goat milk and cheese, saying that its nutritional worth has yet to be proven. The farmers know otherwise, having survived on its vitamin-laden richness for centuries. The Mayor recounts how his own child was given goat milk to help cure muscular problems in her infancy.
Meanwhile, this weekend in Carora, the 208 local small scale producers will participate proudly in this Bolivarian Fair – judging their goats for milk production, holding workshops, sharing experiences, exchanging ideas. Personally, I can´t wait to sample the Coconut Goat, the milk and the delicious cheese developed right here by the goat producers of Venezuela in the State of Lara.
The City of the Future? Building Popular Power in Carora
I wrote this article in April 2007 on a field research trip to Venezuela. I was looking at the communal councils in the municipality of Pedro Leon Torres in the city of Carora, Lara State.
***********************************************************************************
Carora´s streets are much like other Latin American cities – bustling commerce on every corner, traffic, noise, people going about their daily routine….. But there is something that distinguishes Carora and the Municipality of Pedro Leon Torres in the state of Lara, Venezuela from any other municipality I´ve visited in Latin American, and in particular, any other in Venezuela. That is – the city is on a path to democratize and transform the entire governance system of the municipality, from the bottom up – led by the current Mayor Julio Chavez (no relation to President Hugo Chavez).
Carora is a city of approximately 100,000 located in the agricultural state of Lara in Venezuela´s northwest. It is the capital of the Municipality of Pedro Leon Torres which makes up 40% of Lara´s geography, making it the largest municipality in the state in land mass. It is hot – temperatures in April average at around 35 degrees celcius or more – but what´s really hot is the blazing rate at which the mayor has transformed this beautiful city into a microcosm of popular power in such a short period of time.
Julio Chavez, in his early 40´s, is an unassuming individual – very friendly and open – known as ¨Julio¨ to everyone. He won the election for mayor in 2004 running on a coalition slate for the PPT (Patria Para Todos), one of the many parties that support the national revolutionary government. Chavez has immense credibility with the majority of citizens in Torres – he is considered one of them and has a long history of social struggle. However, to those opposed to the revolutionary process – he is the devil incarnate, and is the target of death threats and intense hatred. This has posed a huge problem for Chavez, as the oligarchy also controls all local media, and therefore, makes it difficult for citizens to find out the truth about the remarkable achievements of the municipal government.
Chavez came to office with only one goal – to democratize the municipality and turn it over to the citizens. This conforms with the articles and principles of participatory and protagonistic democracy in the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Although other municipalities have implemented some of the institutions of participatory democracy – Julio Chavez is miles ahead of his colleagues.
When Chavez took office, he inherited a typical representative system that had been run by a small local oligarchy for centuries. These same families ran the municipality and the local agro-businesses and their ancillary industries (and still do to a large extent). The former mayor made all of the decisions for municipal expenditures, and awarded lucrative municipal contracts to his friends and family. Like most other governments of the 4th Republic, they had virtually ignored the social problems facing the majority of citizens in the municipality. Most of these businesses and individuals had never paid taxes – that is, until Chavez arrived on the scene. In just two short years, the municipal government has quadrupled its operational tax base by collecting taxes from errant companies, including some big name national and multinational firms, some of which had been fudging their books for years. Faced with heavy fines if they continued to refuse to pay, these companies and individuals have now started paying taxes.
In addition, the city receives funding from the federal government´s decentralization funds (FIDES) and through the LAEE – a piece of legislation that provides equalization funding to non-petroleum producing states - similar to provincial equalization payments in Canada. What is remarkable is that Chavez has turned these funds over to the communities to decide how they are spent. But the buck doesn´t stop there, the citizens are also active in the administration of public funds, including comptrollership and evaluation.
Julio Chavez began his term by quickly implementing all of the participatory programs outlined in the country´s constitution, including the participatory budget, the local public planning councils, and most recently, the communal councils.
Implementing participatory systems on top of the local statutes of the former 4th Republic didn´t make sense to Chavez, the city councilors or local citizens, so they organized a massive municipal citizen´s assembly to discuss, evaluate and reform the municipal by-laws to bring them in line with the country´s progressive constitution. For three months, discussions and debates took place in all 17 parishes with the mayor and all councilors in attendance. The product is a new, revolutionary municipal constitution that is based on the fundamental principles of ¨life, liberty justice, equality, solidarity, democracy, social responsibility and the pre-eminence of human rights, ethics and political pluralism.¨ Chavez views his government as a transitional government with two goals: 1) to dissolve the municipal oligarchic structure; and 2) to introduce a transitional government that will dismantle the corrupt and inefficient bureaucracy and transfer democratic decision-making to the people. When asked why other supposed revolutionary mayors have not done the same, Chavez politely shrugs and says ¨I have asked them the same question.¨ This has not gone un-noticed by President Hugo Chavez who has placed Julio Chavez on two presidential commissions – one for popular participation and the communal councils, and one to assist other municipalities with the realignment of their by-laws.
The first participatory budget in Torres took place in 2005 through the parish-based Local Public Planning Councils (CLPPs) – the following year, the discussions moved closer to the residents and all citizens were provided the opportunity to prioritize spending. But the participation doesn´t stop here. It goes much further by placing the administration of public works (both the actual work and the financial management) in the hands of communities. In his first year, the mayor says that unfortunately the communities overlooked a couple of global problems like repairing roads. Chavez says that he had to go to each of the communities and convince them to give money back to the city in order for them to pave some roads.
The real engine of popular revolutionary power, however, is the communal councils. There are currently 317 communal councils operating in Torres´ 17 parishes. Most of them are just over a year old, and new ones are forming on a weekly basis. The councils consist of up to 200 families in rural settings, and 400-500 in larger towns and cities. The councils form the basis of popular power of the new socialist system that is slowly emerging in Venezuela. Community assemblies of all citizens make collective decisions on community priorities and spending. Spokespeople are elected, but they do not take decisions on behalf of the community – all decisions, ideas and spending is approved by the community assembly as a whole. Remarkably, the percentage of participation by women is between 80-90%, and the majority of the councils are in poorer communities. Also remarkable is the level of transparency with the administration of public money – all accounts are kept in a set of books that are available to anyone who wants to see them (including me), and these accounts are rendered publicly to the community assembly as well as the government.
Lilian Ballesteros, a spokesperson for El Onzo Communal Council says her community was completely ignored by former governments, but now with the communal council system, they have been able to access funds to improve their water supply, build new houses for the families that live in the most dire conditions in what are referred to as ¨ranchos¨, and now they are moving into social production projects that will provide sustainable employment and generate income for further community improvements. She says it is no problem for her to walk into Julio´s office at any time, without an appointment, and discuss community issues. The El Onzo Communal Council is also part of a multi-community structure called a mancomunidad – where five communities are collaborating with each other to run a communal bank. Funds for community projects go directly to the community from central government funds and are managed out of the communal bank. This means that community members don’t have to find transportation to the municipal or state capitol anymore in order to wade through the paperwork and processes previously required to undertake community projects. For Lilian, the communal councils prove that people can administer public funds and projects without specialized training – Julio Chavez put his faith in these communities and it is paying off.
Most importantly, the communal councils are building a communal bond of mutual social responsibility that is slowly replacing the individualism that is such a key part of the outgoing capitalist system. Rosa Rodriguez of Las Palmitas Communal Council says that she barely knew some of the people in her community prior to becoming involved with her communal council, let alone the kinds of problems they faced. However, during the socio-economic census that each communal council undertakes at the beginning of their formation process to understand what kind of resources exist in the community, and what they are lacking, she began to have a deeper appreciation for the problems of others – something which has united the community in a common front. The census allows the community to understand which families are in the direst need – and those are the ones that are first in line for housing and other programs.
So what lies ahead for the communal councils, participatory and protagonistic democracy and socialism of the 21st century in Venezuela? According to Julio Chavez, the next step is to re-design the local governance system built on the communal councils. This will have a dramatic impact on the previous geographic boundaries of municipalities, on the power of elected officials and public employees, and on the state and national governance structures. The councils themselves still have to overcome the deeply seeded behaviours and practices associated with representative democracy. For now, the councils are very new, and have a lot of wrinkles to work out before the fifth engine of the revolution, that of popular power, can run smoothly. If they can do it, Venezuela will become one of the few places on the planet where true ¨democracy¨ (rule by the people) will flourish.
***********************************************************************************
Carora´s streets are much like other Latin American cities – bustling commerce on every corner, traffic, noise, people going about their daily routine….. But there is something that distinguishes Carora and the Municipality of Pedro Leon Torres in the state of Lara, Venezuela from any other municipality I´ve visited in Latin American, and in particular, any other in Venezuela. That is – the city is on a path to democratize and transform the entire governance system of the municipality, from the bottom up – led by the current Mayor Julio Chavez (no relation to President Hugo Chavez).
Carora is a city of approximately 100,000 located in the agricultural state of Lara in Venezuela´s northwest. It is the capital of the Municipality of Pedro Leon Torres which makes up 40% of Lara´s geography, making it the largest municipality in the state in land mass. It is hot – temperatures in April average at around 35 degrees celcius or more – but what´s really hot is the blazing rate at which the mayor has transformed this beautiful city into a microcosm of popular power in such a short period of time.
Julio Chavez, in his early 40´s, is an unassuming individual – very friendly and open – known as ¨Julio¨ to everyone. He won the election for mayor in 2004 running on a coalition slate for the PPT (Patria Para Todos), one of the many parties that support the national revolutionary government. Chavez has immense credibility with the majority of citizens in Torres – he is considered one of them and has a long history of social struggle. However, to those opposed to the revolutionary process – he is the devil incarnate, and is the target of death threats and intense hatred. This has posed a huge problem for Chavez, as the oligarchy also controls all local media, and therefore, makes it difficult for citizens to find out the truth about the remarkable achievements of the municipal government.
Chavez came to office with only one goal – to democratize the municipality and turn it over to the citizens. This conforms with the articles and principles of participatory and protagonistic democracy in the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Although other municipalities have implemented some of the institutions of participatory democracy – Julio Chavez is miles ahead of his colleagues.
When Chavez took office, he inherited a typical representative system that had been run by a small local oligarchy for centuries. These same families ran the municipality and the local agro-businesses and their ancillary industries (and still do to a large extent). The former mayor made all of the decisions for municipal expenditures, and awarded lucrative municipal contracts to his friends and family. Like most other governments of the 4th Republic, they had virtually ignored the social problems facing the majority of citizens in the municipality. Most of these businesses and individuals had never paid taxes – that is, until Chavez arrived on the scene. In just two short years, the municipal government has quadrupled its operational tax base by collecting taxes from errant companies, including some big name national and multinational firms, some of which had been fudging their books for years. Faced with heavy fines if they continued to refuse to pay, these companies and individuals have now started paying taxes.
In addition, the city receives funding from the federal government´s decentralization funds (FIDES) and through the LAEE – a piece of legislation that provides equalization funding to non-petroleum producing states - similar to provincial equalization payments in Canada. What is remarkable is that Chavez has turned these funds over to the communities to decide how they are spent. But the buck doesn´t stop there, the citizens are also active in the administration of public funds, including comptrollership and evaluation.
Julio Chavez began his term by quickly implementing all of the participatory programs outlined in the country´s constitution, including the participatory budget, the local public planning councils, and most recently, the communal councils.
Implementing participatory systems on top of the local statutes of the former 4th Republic didn´t make sense to Chavez, the city councilors or local citizens, so they organized a massive municipal citizen´s assembly to discuss, evaluate and reform the municipal by-laws to bring them in line with the country´s progressive constitution. For three months, discussions and debates took place in all 17 parishes with the mayor and all councilors in attendance. The product is a new, revolutionary municipal constitution that is based on the fundamental principles of ¨life, liberty justice, equality, solidarity, democracy, social responsibility and the pre-eminence of human rights, ethics and political pluralism.¨ Chavez views his government as a transitional government with two goals: 1) to dissolve the municipal oligarchic structure; and 2) to introduce a transitional government that will dismantle the corrupt and inefficient bureaucracy and transfer democratic decision-making to the people. When asked why other supposed revolutionary mayors have not done the same, Chavez politely shrugs and says ¨I have asked them the same question.¨ This has not gone un-noticed by President Hugo Chavez who has placed Julio Chavez on two presidential commissions – one for popular participation and the communal councils, and one to assist other municipalities with the realignment of their by-laws.
The first participatory budget in Torres took place in 2005 through the parish-based Local Public Planning Councils (CLPPs) – the following year, the discussions moved closer to the residents and all citizens were provided the opportunity to prioritize spending. But the participation doesn´t stop here. It goes much further by placing the administration of public works (both the actual work and the financial management) in the hands of communities. In his first year, the mayor says that unfortunately the communities overlooked a couple of global problems like repairing roads. Chavez says that he had to go to each of the communities and convince them to give money back to the city in order for them to pave some roads.
The real engine of popular revolutionary power, however, is the communal councils. There are currently 317 communal councils operating in Torres´ 17 parishes. Most of them are just over a year old, and new ones are forming on a weekly basis. The councils consist of up to 200 families in rural settings, and 400-500 in larger towns and cities. The councils form the basis of popular power of the new socialist system that is slowly emerging in Venezuela. Community assemblies of all citizens make collective decisions on community priorities and spending. Spokespeople are elected, but they do not take decisions on behalf of the community – all decisions, ideas and spending is approved by the community assembly as a whole. Remarkably, the percentage of participation by women is between 80-90%, and the majority of the councils are in poorer communities. Also remarkable is the level of transparency with the administration of public money – all accounts are kept in a set of books that are available to anyone who wants to see them (including me), and these accounts are rendered publicly to the community assembly as well as the government.
Lilian Ballesteros, a spokesperson for El Onzo Communal Council says her community was completely ignored by former governments, but now with the communal council system, they have been able to access funds to improve their water supply, build new houses for the families that live in the most dire conditions in what are referred to as ¨ranchos¨, and now they are moving into social production projects that will provide sustainable employment and generate income for further community improvements. She says it is no problem for her to walk into Julio´s office at any time, without an appointment, and discuss community issues. The El Onzo Communal Council is also part of a multi-community structure called a mancomunidad – where five communities are collaborating with each other to run a communal bank. Funds for community projects go directly to the community from central government funds and are managed out of the communal bank. This means that community members don’t have to find transportation to the municipal or state capitol anymore in order to wade through the paperwork and processes previously required to undertake community projects. For Lilian, the communal councils prove that people can administer public funds and projects without specialized training – Julio Chavez put his faith in these communities and it is paying off.
Most importantly, the communal councils are building a communal bond of mutual social responsibility that is slowly replacing the individualism that is such a key part of the outgoing capitalist system. Rosa Rodriguez of Las Palmitas Communal Council says that she barely knew some of the people in her community prior to becoming involved with her communal council, let alone the kinds of problems they faced. However, during the socio-economic census that each communal council undertakes at the beginning of their formation process to understand what kind of resources exist in the community, and what they are lacking, she began to have a deeper appreciation for the problems of others – something which has united the community in a common front. The census allows the community to understand which families are in the direst need – and those are the ones that are first in line for housing and other programs.
So what lies ahead for the communal councils, participatory and protagonistic democracy and socialism of the 21st century in Venezuela? According to Julio Chavez, the next step is to re-design the local governance system built on the communal councils. This will have a dramatic impact on the previous geographic boundaries of municipalities, on the power of elected officials and public employees, and on the state and national governance structures. The councils themselves still have to overcome the deeply seeded behaviours and practices associated with representative democracy. For now, the councils are very new, and have a lot of wrinkles to work out before the fifth engine of the revolution, that of popular power, can run smoothly. If they can do it, Venezuela will become one of the few places on the planet where true ¨democracy¨ (rule by the people) will flourish.
Canuck, Bolivariana, and proud of it!
This blog is a gesture of solidarity with the revolutionary people of Venezuela and reflects my own views based on my experiences working with the Bolivarian movement in Canada and Venezuela. Since the coup in 2002, I have been involved in many forms with the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela. My involvement began during the coup, when I was working with a radio collective in Vancouver that produces weekly current affairs programs on Latin American politics, society, culture and the economy. We received several e-mails from a colleague in Caracas who was asking, no, begging us to tell the truth about what was happening in Venezuela. Because our collective had a lot of experience with critical analysis of mainstream media (after all, we were a community radio collective), we decided to put our colleague on the air live and let him tell his story. The rest of his story is history, and if you haven't been living under a rock for the last 5 years, you know the story: http://www.chavezthefilm.com/index_ex.htm
Since that time, I have visited Venezuela on numerous occasions, attending conferences, travelling in the countryside and talking and debating with Chavistas and those opposed to the government; doing field research for graduate work on participatory democracy; producing radio and written copy on developments in Venezuela; giving public talks and encouraging people to make their own journeys to Venezuela to judge for themselves.
I will be posting my own written and audio pieces on Venezuela here, as well as photos and links to other interesting, pro-Bolivarian sites. If you want the minority, opposition view on Venezuela, you need look no further than the New York Times, the Globe and Mail and other mainstream media outlets.
Since that time, I have visited Venezuela on numerous occasions, attending conferences, travelling in the countryside and talking and debating with Chavistas and those opposed to the government; doing field research for graduate work on participatory democracy; producing radio and written copy on developments in Venezuela; giving public talks and encouraging people to make their own journeys to Venezuela to judge for themselves.
I will be posting my own written and audio pieces on Venezuela here, as well as photos and links to other interesting, pro-Bolivarian sites. If you want the minority, opposition view on Venezuela, you need look no further than the New York Times, the Globe and Mail and other mainstream media outlets.
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