Venezuela, 2nd Popular Consultation proceeds normally

teleSUR English

From Caracas, our correspondent Gladys Quesada, updates us on the progress of the 2nd Popular Consultation in Venezuela. teleSUR

Transcript

00:00Let's retake our contact with our correspondent in Caracas, Gladys Quezada.

00:05Hello, Gladys.

00:06Welcome again to From the South.

00:07What can you tell us of these first couple of hours of boarding?

00:11Hello, Luis.

00:15Yes, now currently we are moved.

00:19We're moving through Caracas and through this metro.

00:23And prior, before, we were at the parish Sarria.

00:29And in the Jose Marti School that is serving as a voting center.

00:33But now we are at the Libertador Avenue.

00:36This is one of the main avenues that go through all Caracas.

00:40And in this occasion, we are one of the many parishes that are holding these elections

00:45today, this voting for the communes project, and how to choose which projects to finance

00:51and also to give priority.

00:53This is a building of Misión Vivienda.

00:56And I want to tell you something, this is one of the many centers and many residences

01:00that were built by Commander Hugo Rafael Chavez-Frias at the beginning of the revolution

01:05with the many projects to benefit the people that are holding this election, this next

01:12voting.

01:13And this is the Circuito Comunal El Recreo.

01:17This is a circuit in the center of Caracas.

01:21And as you can see, they have well identified, properly identified the voting center.

01:27And this is the line for the people voting, and this is the process that they have to

01:33go through.

01:34First of all, they come in here with their I.D. cards, their identification, their legal

01:40papers.

01:41That is, it could be an expired I.D. because this is not mandatory to be new.

01:47And also, this is the registry that people have to fill with their fingerprints also

01:52to identify themselves as a way to let a constant, let evidence, let a backup regarding their

01:59voting this day.

02:01Also, as you can see here, this is other of the steps.

02:04This is the registration according to the councils of the communes, and also how everyone

02:11can come in here and identify, because of their address and their location, which one

02:16of the commune councils and centers they belong to.

02:20So this is other part of this process that I want to show you, because these persons,

02:27they are consulting the projects.

02:29They have the right and the duty to read the moment they are voting for the projects they

02:37are voting for.

02:38In this case, this commune is voting for the continuity of the improvements of the water

02:45bombing system, the revision and reparation of the elevators.

02:50They are talking also here about how to repair the roof, the paintings of the facades of

02:56the houses, the rehabilitation of the pipes.

03:00They have other projects.

03:01Those are seven projects.

03:02The rehabilitation of the commune areas, you know, the places that are spent time together,

03:08and the cleaning of the water tanks that are underground.

03:13And this part of the process is secret.

03:16This part is where the people come in here and they mark, using the number of the projects,

03:22okay, they are marking the projects they want to vote for.

03:27And as you can see, people are coming in here to do so.

03:31And the last part of the process, they mark that there, because that's a secret part.

03:36And now they come in here and they put the ballot inside this box.

03:41This box was checked by the witnesses of the council, the people that has the authority

03:49to do so, and also the officials of the National Electoral Council that are assisting the process

03:56regarding the infrastructure, the organization, the schedule, protocols, and everything.

04:03Afterwards, they have to go in there and provide their ID again, because there has to be too

04:10much in registers about how they are coming to vote, and also their ID, because that's

04:17the way they have to check and to review if the process was properly made, if the people

04:25actually came here to vote, and who came to vote.

04:28Because this is an election for their benefit, for their social continuity of the projects.

04:33It's not for officials, as I was saying.

04:36So this is one of the many councils and many voting centers.

04:41People in here are also coming to continue what they decided, what they voted for, on

04:50April 21st, when they had the first consultation of communes here in Venezuela.

04:55And this is a process that they are going to be holding for every three months, okay?

05:01So now we are in August.

05:03So it means that in three months, up in November, they have the other consultation of the communes,

05:09which is a way to guarantee that the money is put when the people need it, and where

05:13the people need it, to improve the quality of life, the livelihood of the people.

05:19So this is the process.

05:21You saw how people can come and vote.

05:23This is the process.

05:24This is not mandatory, okay?

05:27This is not abiding.

05:28This is not forced.

05:29People can come in here and just exercise the right to vote, or just decide otherwise.

05:35But this is the way they have to exercise direct democracy, the power on the people,

05:40as is established in the Constitution and in the communes law.

05:44So Luis, this is the process.

05:46Moreover, if you have anything to ask.

05:50I want to ask, because we have seen over the years in Caracas the celebrations of voting.

05:55Any voting is seen as a celebration.

05:57And I want to ask on how the people are going to vote.

05:59You explained the process, but what is the mood of the people going to vote, and what

06:03is the feeling that they're making from these new policies that was implemented by President

06:08Nicolás Maduro to have the people to choose their priorities in terms of communal projects?

06:14Well, that's a good question, Luis.

06:21First of all, people, as I was saying, they have the right and they have the possibility

06:27of coming in here.

06:29They are not forced.

06:31This is not abiding.

06:32This is not mandatory.

06:35They don't have to face any fines or maybe any law, because they want to vote or not.

06:46In any case, they can come in here, and the will of coming to vote is an expression of

06:51support to the administration of President Nicolás Maduro.

06:54But more than that is the way they have to take the power by their own hands, okay, abiding

07:01by the law, according to the law, according to what is established for them in every single

07:07one of these processes.

07:08And for the Venezuelan people, I have to say, it is not strange, it is not rare to come

07:13and vote in, because they are used to.

07:15In 25 years of revolution, this is the 32nd election, the 32nd commercial process that

07:22they are holding, and they had the first occasion this month, or prior to this month, with the

07:29presidential elections that saw Nicolás Maduro winning the polls, and now they are coming

07:35again to exercise other kind of voting today.

07:40I have to say, people, you know, it's Sunday.

07:43So people on Sunday, they have to go and do the chores, have walks with the kids, have

07:49also other activities, leisure activities.

07:53But today, they have the conscience, they have the will, and they have the purpose and

07:57intended to come here and vote for what they decide they need to be attended to, and it's

08:04a priority for them in terms of the livelihood and their material environment and ambience.

08:10So they are coming in here with, I can say, with the will of doing so, with the purpose,

08:18with the intentions to do so.

08:21That is for the updated information, we will stay in touch in upcoming news for more updates.

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