schalk.jpg

One of the most compelling aspects of Venezuela’s ongoing Bolivarian Revolution, founded with the election of Hugo Chávez in 1999, is the central role that communes play in the process. These communes bring together communal councils, elected representatives of 200-400 families in urban areas (and 20-50 families in rural areas), to manage social services and production in a self-sufficient manner. Currently, there are almost 50,000 registered communes in Venezuela, concentrated in the countryside and the sprawling urban barrios.