Venezuelans voting during the first popular consultation of 2026 in Zulia state. Photo: RedRadioVE.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—On Sunday, March 8, International Women’s Day, Venezuela not only celebrates women but continues to empower them by holding in their honor the first National Popular Consultation of 2026. This method of direct government allows the people to identify and prioritize solutions to the most urgent needs in their communes.
On January 21, 2026, the acting president of Venezuela and the first woman to serve as commander in chief of the Venezuelan Army, Delcy Rodríguez, announced that the first Popular Consultation would be held. During a working session of the Federal Government Council, she described how the projects chosen this time would focus on two strategic dimensions: Economic Transformation, focused on local entrepreneurship and productive projects, and the Human City, aimed at infrastructure works, services, and habitat improvements.
The communal popular consultations are a mechanism created and promoted since 2024 by President Nicolás Maduro. In preparation for this consultation, more than 36,000 community projects were loaded into the platform managed by the National Popular Government System, with 5,336 communes and community circuits participating.
• The projects available for selection can be viewed on the Ministry for Communes website.
• The polling stations can also be found at this link on the Ministry’s website.
On February 26, the acting president announced that the top 10 communes with the highest youth participation would receive direct funding for a project starting March 8. “We recently held something unprecedented in our country: the Youth Popular Consultation. This opened the doors for young people from the communities to begin participating in the community councils and to start envisioning the city, the buildings, the streets, and urban planning as the youth want it,” she stated.
Turnout across Venezuela was high in the early hours of Sunday, as verified by Ultimas Noticias correspondents in the states of Merida, Miranda, Aragua, Yaracuy, Portuguesa, Apure, Guarico, La Guaira, Zulia, Falcon, Trujillo, Barinas, Tachira, and Carabobo.
On Sunday’s late afternoon, the National Electoral Council (CNE) announced that the popular consultation would be extended until 7:00 p.m. The CNE emphasized that the process unfolded normally with outstanding citizen participation.
“The voting process, which began today at 8:00 a.m., was scheduled to close at 6:00 p.m.; however, due to the high turnout of voters, it has been decided to grant a one-hour extension,” the statement reads. However, there were reports of voters who wished to participate but were unable to do so due to undisclosed system issues. The CNE reiterated that all polling stations with voters remaining in line would stay open until the last person exercised their right.
International witnesses
An international delegation accompanying the consultation highlighted the development of the process and praised the democratic participation, as reported by AVN.
Silvia, a member of the delegation from Catalonia, Spain, stated that the consultation “is an enormous exercise in democracy.” She emphasized that direct participation “takes the exercise of self-government rights to the extreme” and considered Venezuela “an example to the world that decisions must be made at the local level.”
She also highlighted the role of women in grassroots organizations: “They are brave, they wield enormous power in their communities, and they are highly politicized. No one will be able to change their way of thinking,” she added.
Selena, an international observer from the US, emphasized that this election dismantles narratives disseminated in her country. “In the US, a false narrative was constructed that there is a dictator here. We know that’s false. I, who live in the US, don’t have the right to decide where resources go. Here I see a stronger democracy, a system where most projects are led by women,” she stated.
International Women’s Day
The choice of March 8 for the first consultation of 2026 was intentional. The Ministry for Communes stated in a February 25 press release that “women are at the forefront of each of the communal projects and in the consolidation of the new Communal State.”
The leading role of women is also evident in entrepreneurship and science. President Maduro stated on April 25, 2025, that of the 1.8 million businesses registered at that time, 64% were led by women.
Minister of Culture Ernesto Villegas highlighted the significance of celebrating this year with a woman as the acting leader of the country. He saluted all Venezuelan women fighters, “from the humblest and simplest of our people, to those with the greatest prominence.” He also expressed solidarity with victims of violence and those deprived of their liberty, referencing those killed in Iran and Deputy Cilia Flores, the wife of President Maduro, who was kidnapped on January 3 during the US invasion of Venezuela.
Seven popular consultations since 2024
With the consultation this Sunday, March 8, a total of seven have been held since 2024. The first was held on April 21, 2024, in 4,500 communal districts with more than 27,000 projects submitted. On August 25 of that year, the second consultation took place in 4,505 districts with 30,784 projects.
The two popular consultations of 2025 resulted in 2,259 water projects, 1,319 road projects, 1,239 habitat projects, 1,153 electricity projects, 873 education projects, and 798 sanitation projects, according to the Ministry for Communes.
In 2025, Venezuela held four popular consultations. The first took place on February 2, with more than 36,000 projects submitted. The second was on April 27, involving 5,338 communes and 47,214 community councils. On July 27, the country held the first National Youth Popular Consultation, followed by a fourth consultation on November 23, 2025. President Maduro reported that 5,336 communal circuits approved 10,672 projects during that event.
“In 2025, this beautiful people designed, proposed, and approved with their vote 33,743 projects for an investment equivalent to $337 million,” he said on December 29, 2025.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/JB
