New Council to Incorporate Venezuelan Governors, Mayors, and Communal Council Representatives

Following the passage of the new Law of the Federal Government Council last week, pro-government governors around the country expressed their support of the formation of a Government Federal Council.

Merida, February 16th, 2010 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – Following the passage of the new Law of the Federal Government Council last week, pro-government governors around the country expressed their support of the formation of a Federal Government Council, which will consist of governors, mayors, members of the executive, and spokespeople elected in popular elections.

In effect, the new Federal Government Council means more people will be involved in the evaluation and approval of financial resources. Although initially the minister for communes will select the communal council representatives to be on the board, later such representatives will be chosen by the people.

The governor of Falcon state, Stella Lugo said, “This law strengthens democracy, as we are advancing in the distribution of power into the hands of all the people and it grants the state greater unity, flexibility, and agility to carry out its constitutional, legal and official functions.”

“In the Federal Government Council there will be an interaction of equals in the decision making process,” she said.

Guarico state governor, William Lara, said the new law and council increases the autonomy and independence of the communal councils.

And Portugesa state governor, Wilmar Castro, said the law, “allows for the communities to integrate themselves and work from the bases in the formation of projects.”

An Interterritorial Compensation Fund will allow for direct financing of the communal councils, will provide further resources to governors and mayors, as well as the possibility of production projects that have the participation of the relevant governors, mayors, and communal councils. The fund will replace the old Intergovernmental Fund for Decentralisation (Fides).

Currently, communal councils generally rely on mayors, and sometimes governors or institutions to approve project funding. This can sometimes be an obstacle where there is a high level of bureaucracy in the respective government institution, or where the institution has a different political persuasion than the communal council applying for funding.