00:00Elections for indigenous deputies and legislators were held this Sunday in Venezuela.
00:05The country's constitution guarantees that indigenous peoples may have political participation
00:10according to their customs and traditions.
00:12From the state of Zulia, our correspondent Shada Fall has all the details.
00:18A week after the legislative elections in Venezuela,
00:21the indigenous communities went to the polls again this Sunday
00:24to elect three more representatives to the National Assembly
00:27and to the councils of each state.
00:30This time, however, only delegates from each community,
00:33chosen according to the organizational tradition of the indigenous peoples, are voting.
00:42A schedule is established.
00:44A list of communities where there are indigenous populations.
00:47Indigenous populations with more than 50%.
00:49And in those communities, an assembly is held.
00:53And according to their traditions and customs,
00:55the members of the assembly elect one, two or three spokespersons
00:58according to the size of the community.
01:00According to the number, it is proportional.
01:05This democratic process begins long before election day
01:09and allows people to be permanently involved in political education.
01:13At the grassroots, people defend their rights and their identity
01:16and ensure that their languages are included in the debates.
01:19The assembly has been more than anything else a meeting,
01:31a meeting for our brothers, to guide, to explain to them,
01:35what are our rights and our duties as indigenous people,
01:37what is the potential that we must reach as indigenous people.
01:41And it has been fruitful, harmonious,
01:43it has been spontaneous for our indigenous people and it has been responsive for us.
01:47The state of Zulia has the largest indigenous population in the western region
01:54with five ethnic groups represented.
01:57In the capital, Maracaibo, two voting centers were set up
02:00where the Weyuu communities are the main voters.
02:04However, the delegates present consider that they have a responsibility
02:07to the ancestry of all peoples.
02:13I think that each one of us who are elected spokespersons carry in our roots,
02:17in our blood, that indigenous people
02:20and that strength that the indigenous people have,
02:23as well as all of us.
02:24Likewise, the role of the delegates does not end with the exercise of the vote.
02:33Like the elected deputies and legislators,
02:36they will be committed during their coming years
02:37to the demands of their peoples
02:39and to the protection of indigenous traditions.
02:45To be a spokesperson is to be the figurehead,
02:48to be the guide of this organized people,
02:50the guarantor of social stability, of justice, of social inclusion.
02:54That allows us to develop an education in technology
02:58without forgetting our traditions and cultures and our languages.
03:04In Maracaibo, the indigenous elections were held
03:07in an organized, harmonious and festive atmosphere,
03:10celebrating the cultural resistance of indigenous peoples.
03:14But the efficiency of the process that took place Sunday
03:16also reveals itself as an inspiring example
03:19in the search for a more participatory and territorial democracy,
03:23and especially in Venezuela
03:24for the construction of the communal state.
03:26For the construction of the communal state.
03:29Chadafol, from Maracaibo, the state of Zulia, Parate.
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