This Sunday, October 18, the date eagerly awaited by organized communities arrived. Communes, communal councils, and condominium boards took part in the II Popular Consultation of 2026. From very early in the morning, to avoid the intense sun, people began to show up at voting centers. Many arrived carrying open umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun’s ultraviolet rays, along with water or another drink.Upon arriving at their voting centers, voters entered directly to shelter from the relentless heat. Different street vendors sold ice cream and potable water as if they were life-saving medicine.Men, women, and young people arrived smiling and hoping their project would take first place. Voters seemed prepared, often with a cheat sheet in hand to choose one among seven options. They arrived, showed their identity card while indicating the community to which they belonged, and quickly cast their vote in a box sealed by the National Electoral Council.During a tour, a Diario VEA team saw centers located in different parishes where the process was easy and extremely simple—so quick that there was no time to take the customary photograph at the voting partition.Near the Altagracia parish, a few blocks from the Ministry for Education, stands the Unidad Educativa Nacional Simón Bolívar. There, a little past 10:00 a.m., Mrs. María Pinto and Angélica Guerra met and greeted each other. According to both, several months had passed since they last spoke. However, after shaking hands and exchanging a cheek kiss, they exchanged opinions about the consultation.While they discussed each of the seven projects to prioritize for their sector, they said it would be appropriate for the one related to the rehabilitation of houses and buildings damaged by the double earthquake in June to win. They also took into account the construction of a Comprehensive Care Center for the Elderly for Comuna Simón Bolívar. They did not rule out the option of providing tanks to store drinking water.Yurahy de NormaMoving forwardYurahy de Norma participated in the verification and identification of voters at the Unidad Educativa Nacional Simón Bolívar. She belongs to the Andrés Bello communal council and stressed: “In this new popular convocation, the majority of people in our community have participated to choose their project. Everyone has shown great interest in the different options, although all of them are priorities for us.”“Thanks to the push that Commander Hugo Chávez gave to popular participation, this type of consultation is possible. Never before were the people taken into account or allowed to decide their community’s own affairs. This shows his legacy is more alive than ever and that the way forward is ahead,”. Yurahy said.What is your experience with respect to consultations held previously?I can vouch, regarding our community, that all the projects presented and elected within this process have been fully completed. Our communal council has been heard and attended to promptly once the project we presented was approved. We have no complaints on that point.Zoraida RuizParticipatory and protagonic democracyExperience has shown Zoraida Ruiz that this consultation, like previous ones, is the right path to consolidate and exercise participatory and protagonic democracy. She is fully convinced that the communities must formulate and choose projects for the collective welfare.She lives in the Altagracia parish of Caracas, and on Sunday, she was present at the Complejo Educativo Fermín Toro to vote for one of the seven projects her communal circuit presented.She said that on this occasion, “condominium boards are participating for the first time because of the damage caused by the double earthquake on June 24. I have seen many people voting for the highest-priority project for the community.”In her statements to Diario VEA, she reiterated her conviction that the consultation is truly exercised by the people to seek solutions to the different problems or necessities that arise in each community. “I believe in this mechanism because we have received tangible responses to previous consultations.”Alejandro SerranoProjects and priorities“In my beloved Comuna Raíces de la Pastora, we have seven projects proposed. Priorities vary by sector; however, the replacement of gas cylinders is always a need,” said Alejandro Serrano after casting his vote at the Liceo Lino Gallardo in the La Pastora parish.He has no doubt that participation and grassroots decision-making “will always be the example and legacy of our invincible powerhouse, Hugo Chávez. I also want to stress that when President Nicolás Maduro began the process of supporting communal self-management, they launched the invasion and kidnapped him on January 3.”In his view, “more important than participation is the selection of projects; it is the opportunity for self-management, from budget execution to oversight and supervision of the work.”What would be your assessment regarding consultations previously held in your community?Very positive, because the response time was almost immediate and the first consultation’s project has already been executed; what remained pending was incorporated into this second consultation.Johnny SantoniChávez’s legacyThe Diario VEA reporting team also went to the 23 de Enero parish. In that populous sector, it consulted Johnny Santoni, who is responsible for the Autogovernance Room of the La Cañada communal circuit, which is made up of the communal councils Rondón No Ha Peleado, Francisco de Miranda, Simón Bolívar, and Block 20 and 21.He noted that this type of national-scale consultation was promoted by President Maduro, who is currently held hostage by the United States regime, within the framework of participatory and protagonistic democracy in Venezuelan sovereignty through an electoral process.Santoni emphasized that the consultation is part of Commander Hugo Chávez’s legacy “with the Bolivarian National Constitution of Venezuela that he left us in 1999, through which emphasis is placed on participatory and protagonic democracy.”What importance does this type of consultation hold?It is an issue that is beyond important. This type of action brings governance to the grassroots because, in turn, it puts participatory and protagonistic democracy into clear practice. In this process, it is the organized communities themselves that decide their needs and priorities as a collective. State agencies must address the result, but the difference is that the communities themselves propose and vote for a particular project that the corresponding institutions must finance.In your opinion, does this type of consultation address and resolve people’s problems?Of course. For example, we had a very beautiful project for a language and technology school. We hope it will re-emerge through the youth consultation called by Acting President Delcy Rodríguez. In our community, a school offered free classes in both English and Portuguese. We can also say that, thanks to the consultations, the common areas are fully lit, and the sports spaces are maintained.Venezuela Strengthens Communal Self-Government With Nationwide Popular ConsultationThe election held this Sunday was originally scheduled for July 12. However, it was postponed due to the June 24 double earthquake, a natural catastrophe that impacted seven regions: Caracas, Miranda, Aragua, Carabobo, Yaracuy, Falcón, and La Guaira, causing destruction, thousands of dead and injured. On this occasion, 37,205 projects were up for election in the communal circuits, and 428 were to be selected by the neighborhood condominium boards. (Diario Vea) by Carlos BatatinTranslation: Orinoco TribuneOT/JRE/SF