Julio Chavez, Lara State Representative, Lara, Venezuela

Rafael Colmenarez, community organizer, Lara, Venezuela

Edgar Carrasco, current mayor of Carora, Venezuuela

Jesus Rodriquez Espinoza, Consul General of Venezuela Consulate in Chicago

Eric Hermosillo, Southwest Community Block Club

Luis Ramirez, Salvation Army


Julio Chávez, former Mayor of the Torres Municipality in Venezuela and current Member of the Presidential Commission for Communal Power will be speaking about their experience of building a society from below in the new Venezuela.

In their Torres Municipality, the first one in Venezuela to successfully carry out a Municipal Constituent Assembly and transfer government power to the organized community. The people there now manage 100% of the municipal budget, decide how the budget is allocated, and for what purposes the public moneys is to be used. This Municipality is also a pioneer in the formation of popular communal assemblies

This experience was recently collected in the book "Transferring Power to the People," by Martha Harnecker.



for more information:

Building Popular Power In the Venezuelan Town of Carora
www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/2359

Politics in Venezuela: An Interview with Julio Chavez
www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/18895