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