“The U.S. has revealed to the world that its true intention has always been to plunder Venezuelan oil, land, and resources. However, we will not easily yield, and there is a unanimous determination to defend our homeland,” Lana Vielma, spokesperson for El Maizal Commune, a rural commune located between the Portuguesa and Lara states, told Drop Site News.
Venezuela’s communes are assembly-driven, constitutionally mandated, and grassroots political entities at the heart of the country’s socialist project. The communes contribute significantly to sovereign production and have become the backbone of the country’s political life.
In recent years, communes have set up economic circuits for the exchange of products and services they produce to support each other’s communities.