More than 6,000 representatives from popular and political movements across Venezuela gathered in Caracas for the “Bolivarian Historic Bloc Congress for the 21st Century” between November 14-16.
The congress aims to create a 30-year plan centered on the refoundation of the “bourgeois state” into one of direct, grassroots-based democracy. The delegates debated hundreds of proposals collected in over 100,000 nationwide assemblies that took place in the previous months.
The discussions included the “Seven Transformations” plan introduced earlier this year by the Venezuelan government, which outlines seven key goals for the next seven years. The goals focus on economic modernization, strengthening national sovereignty, enhancing safety and security, ensuring social rights, promoting political participation, safeguarding the environment, and addressing geopolitical challenges.
During the inauguration ceremony on Thursday, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez highlighted that these are “the defining hours” for advancing a “truly communal state” grounded on the Bolivarian doctrine.
“We are urgently called to build the new communal state, rooted in Bolivarian socialism as envisioned by Simón Bolívar. This Congress is deeply connected to Angostura,” stated Rodríguez in reference to the 19th-century congress convened by Bolívar to lay the foundations for South America’s liberation.
The Venezuelan official emphasized the need to strengthen the emerging multipolar world and work towards a self-sustainable economy to counter the unilateral coercive measures imposed by the U.S. and Western allies on Venezuela and other nations.
In response to the rise of extreme right movements around the world, Rodríguez urged participants at the Historic Bloc Congress to position Venezuela as an “anti-fascist bastion” committed to defending peace and democracy.
“Venezuela’s mission should be guided by the unity of the world’s peoples in a collective struggle against fascism and Zionism,” she stressed.
For his part, President Nicolás Maduro stated that the primary goal of the congress was to discuss a new concept of democracy rooted in popular power and to uphold the “legacy” of the Bolivarian Revolution established by Hugo Chávez, paving the way for a socialist future.
“We must build a state that is present with the people in the territory,” Maduro affirmed on Monday.
In the coming years, we will shake the foundations of the Venezuelan bourgeois state. We are going to build a communal, democratic state of the people.
On Saturday, the congress held a plenary session to present its final proposals. However, the congress’s participants will continue meeting regularly.