Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169) - Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) (Ratification: 2002)

Articles 2 and 33 of the Convention. Coordinated and systematic action. The Committee notes the Government’s indications, in reply to its previous comments, that: (1) in 2024, a total of 1,300 community assembles met for the collective development of Specific Agendas for Indigenous Action (ACAIs), within the context of the Good Indigenous Government Plan, with a total of 17,062 participants from 10 ancestral and 12 urban states, which provided an opportunity to set priorities concerning the problems and collective aspirations of each community, define and implement their projects through short- and medium-term action; (2) the ACAIs offer opportunities to assess the progress achieved within the framework of the Sectoral Plan for Indigenous Peoples and to contribute through new proposals; and (3) at the national level, the ACAIs are inserted into the technological platform of the Ministry of the People’s Powers for Planning (MPPP) to ensure that joint action is taken with the corresponding Government bodies under the coordination of the Ministry of the People’s Power for Indigenous Peoples.

With reference to the action taken by indigenous communal councils, the Government indicates that, in general, the councils coordinate with State bodies at the local, state and national levels for the formulation of their requirements in relation to the ACAIs and the Ministry of the People’s Power for Indigenous Peoples takes responsibility for ensuring the due and appropriate response. The Government also provides information on the action taken by the Pemón people (through the Chiefs’ Council) and the Wayúu people (through their communal councils and their own organizations). The Government is also continuing to support the registration of new indigenous communal councils while the permanent mechanisms for dialogue and consultation of indigenous peoples are strengthened based on their own forms of organization. The Government notes that the structure of the communal council is not always adapted to the collective conception of indigenous peoples, and that the inclusion of indigenous leaders is encouraged in the support and development processes of new organizational structures adapted to communal indigenous territories.

The Committee notes the emphasis placed by the FAPUV, CGT, CTV, CODESA and CUTV on the systematic violation of the rights of indigenous peoples and their indication that the Sectoral Plan for Indigenous Peoples adapts the official ideological agenda for its imposition on indigenous peoples in matters on which they have not been consulted.

With a view to being able to assess in greater detail the extent to which the participation of indigenous peoples is ensured in the development of the coordinated and systematic action envisaged in Article 2 of the Convention, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on: (i) the manner in which indigenous communal councils and the representative institutions of indigenous peoples are articulated with the community assemblies organized to develop the Specific Agendas for Indigenous Action (ACAIs); and (ii) the composition and functioning of community assemblies.

Articles 6 and 7. Consultation and participation. The Committee previously noted reports of a lack of consultation of indigenous peoples on legislative and administrative measures that may affect them directly, including extraction projects. The Government indicates in this regard that each indigenous people develops its own protocol for consultation, in accordance with its cultural and territorial specificities. These protocols consist of a “proposal or requirement for stages or steps that an indigenous people decides to develop for the implementation of the right to consultation” and determine the manner in which a people wish to be consulted. The Government adds that the Ministry of the People’s Power for Indigenous Peoples has also prepared a general protocol for the application of prior, free, informed and culturally appropriate consultation based on the specificity of each people and in dialogue with national characteristics, national jurisprudence and international legal agreements.

The Committee requests the Government to indicate: (i) the scope of application of the consultation protocols; and (ii) the manner in which indigenous peoples were consulted in the formulation of the general protocol formulated by the Ministry of the People’s Power for Indigenous Peoples. Please also provide a copy of the general protocol and copies of the protocols adopted by indigenous peoples and their application in specific cases, including information on the agreements concluded, difficulties encountered and measures adopted to remedy them. The Committee also reiterates its request for information on the consultation processes supported by the Ministry of the People’s Power for Indigenous Peoples.

With regard to the exercise of political rights, the Government indicates that: (1) a larger number of voting centres have been created in ancestral territories, with a considerable increase in voters in electoral constituencies with a greater indigenous presence; and (2) in 2025, three national indigenous deputies and seven regional indigenous deputies were elected for the period 2026–31, following the earlier designation of 6,451 spokespersons in community assemblies based on the specific electoral systems of each community.

In this regard, the Committee notes that the FAPUV, CGT, CTV, UNETE, CODESA and CUTV point out that the Special Regulations governing the election of indigenous representation in the National Assembly (Decision No. 200630-0024 of 30 June 2020 of the National Electoral Board) provide for the election of three indigenous deputies through an indirect two-stage ballot by “spokespersons” and through public voting by the raising of hands for the three electoral regions or constituencies, in violation of the principle of universal, direct and secret suffrage. They add that it would be in violation of the Constitution to require restrictively that candidates standing for election as deputies may only be “put forward” by “indigenous organizations” (section 7 of the Regulations), without even defining what form or how they must be, or who may establish them.

The Committee recalls that indigenous peoples must fully enjoy human rights and fundamental freedoms, including political rights, without obstacles or discrimination, and must be consulted whenever consideration is being given to legislative or administrative measures which may affect them directly including, for example, any provisions regulating their representation in the National Assembly, in accordance with Article 6 of the Convention.

The Committee recalls that the Basic Act on indigenous peoples and communities provides that laws, procedures and in general any matters relating to the exercise of the right of indigenous peoples and communities to political participation shall be developed taking into account their traditions and customs (section 67). The Committee also recalls that the Government indicated previously that the Special Regulations governing the election of indigenous representation in the National Assembly had made it possible to remedy “partially” the process of the election of three indigenous deputies to the National Assembly. The Committee requests the Government to re-examine, with the participation of indigenous peoples, the process for the election of the three indigenous deputies to the National Assembly, and its operation in practice, with a view to ensuring its full conformity with the provisions of the Convention.

Article 7. Development. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the various plans and projects implemented within the framework of the Plan de la Patria 2019–25 and the Sectoral Plan for Indigenous Peoples 2020–25, which included the delivery of food modules, healthcare, the provision of inputs, economic support and training, sporting, cultural and recreational activities. The Committee notes that these interventions were carried out in particular through the social missions and the Love in Action Plan for the Victims of the Economic Blockade. The Government indicates that the central theme for the implementation of action focuses on engaging in dialogue with indigenous peoples with a view to reaching common decisions and agreements so that indigenous peoples can identify their needs. The Government indicates in particular that the development of community assembles is constantly being promoted, such as the assemblies organized for the formulation of the Specific Agendas for Indigenous Action within the context of the Good Indigenous Government Plan.

The Committee requests the Government to provide: (i) examples of the action determined and implemented according to the priorities identified in community assemblies and their impact; and (ii) information on the results achieved through the Sectoral Plan for Indigenous Peoples, the manner in which indigenous peoples participated in the evaluation of the Plan and the proposals made for further action.

Article 14. Land disputes. In response to its previous comments, the Government indicates that disputes inherent to the demarcation process that arise between the indigenous people or peoples and community or communities and any natural person or association, whether public, private or mixed, can be resolved by the National Commission for the Demarcation of the Habitats and Lands of Indigenous Peoples and Communities (as part of the ordinary jurisdiction) within the process of the discussion of the demarcation report, through agreements, making use of alternative dispute resolution procedures (mediation, negotiation, conciliation, arbitration or settlement), which shall involve the legitimate authorities of the indigenous jurisdiction. In the event that agreement is not reached between third parties and indigenous parties, the decision lies with the Supreme Court of Justice. The Committee requests the Government to provide examples of disputes resolved in practice through cooperation between the National Commission for the Demarcation of the Habitats and Lands of Indigenous Peoples and Communities and the authorities of the special indigenous jurisdiction.

Article 26. Education. The Government indicates that, during the 2023–24 school year, there were 1,597 bilingual intercultural educational teams, with a total of 213,185 indigenous students at the initial, primary, general middle and technical middle school levels. It adds that there are 14,381 teachers providing bilingual intercultural education and that the integration of indigenous education is being promoted in the school programme through the Indigenous Productive, Socio-cultural and Community Schedule. The purpose of the schedule is for the school programme to be adapted to the everyday socialization processes of each people and so that students are not removed from their own community educational cycle (10 schedules have been finalized, 13 are under development and 6 have been initiated). The Government also refers to the training of indigenous persons qualified in general medicine, with the result that a total of 49 indigenous doctors are practising in their communities of origin.

The Committee also notes the emphasis placed by the FAPUV, CGT, CTV, UNETE, CODESA and CUTV on the lack, in the state of Amazonas, of bilingual intercultural education and adequate and appropriately equipped educational buildings, and that in the states of Delta Amacuro and Monagas, over 15 per cent of the population does not have any educational level and many students do not attend school as the educational centre is practically inaccessible (over an hour of river transport by canoe).

The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the measures adopted with a view to achieving effective access to bilingual intercultural education and the results achieved, and on the development and implementation of the Indigenous Productive, Socio-cultural and Community Schedule, with an indication of how indigenous communities participate in its development and application. It also requests the Government to examine and address the factors that are hindering the possibility for members of indigenous peoples to acquire education at all levels, at least on an equal footing with the rest of the national community, in consultation with and with the participation of indigenous peoples, and to provide information in that respect.