By Sergio Rodriguez Gelfenstein
on March 19, 2026

The author is a Venezuelan consultant, international analyst, former Director of International Relations of the Presidency of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and former Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to Nicaragua. (sergioro07.blogspot.com) Translation by John Catalinotto

On March 8, the peoples of the world dealt Trump three resounding defeats on a battlefield he does not believe in: that of democracy. In Iran, Colombia and Venezuela on International Women’s Day, in different situations and in different ways, anti-democracy and fascism suffered harsh defeats that are an expression of global rejection of Washington’s absolutist and imperial practices.

Iran

The election of Iran’s new leader was framed by the constitutional precepts of Persian democracy (certainly much older than Western democracy), which establishes that an Assembly of Sages made up of 88 members known as ayatollahs, who are experts in Islamic knowledge, are responsible for electing the Leader.

In turn, the members of the Assembly of Sages are elected for a period of eight years by direct vote of the people. Their missions are to supervise the work of the Supreme Leader, remove him if he is unable to perform his duties and appoint a new one in the event of his death.

In this case, following the martyrdom of Ali Hoseini Khamenei on February 28, the U.S. president said that he would be the one to choose Iran’s new leader. Contrary to his opinion and threats, the Assembly of Experts followed the National Constitution and — even in the midst of the devastating war imposed by the imperial power under Zionist domination — fulfilled its responsibility and appointed Mojtaba Khamenei as the new supreme leader of the country.

This decision continued the Islamic revolution established after the overthrow of the repressive Pahlavi monarchy on Feb. 11, 1979. In this way, the exercise of power and command of the troops in the context of the war has been fully restored based on the constitutional precepts that prevail in Iran.

Colombia

For its part, in Colombia, despite all the irregularities and external and internal pressures, the most peaceful elections in the country’s history were held on the same day, March 8. In a climate of full participation that was attempted to be disrupted time and time again, the government of President Gustavo Petro ensured that the elections were held.

Despite attempts by the United States and the local oligarchy to interfere in the electoral process through various means, the Colombian people remained confident in the possibility of moving the country forward without accepting pressure or outside interference. A shadow hung over these elections, cast over Latin American democracy by the U.S. president’s claim that it was he — as indeed it was — who appointed the presidents of Honduras, Ecuador and Chile.

What is now called the “Honduras model” shapes the new pattern of so-called “democracy” in those countries that allow it. This model is characterized by Washington’s designation of the winning candidate. It is accompanied by the expenditure of large sums of money to buy votes, the financing of media outlets to create opinion trends favorable to that candidate, and threats ranging from military invasion to economic sanctions and the cutting off of remittances if the White House candidate fails to win.

In the case of Honduras, Trump even allowed himself to form an alliance with drug traffickers, releasing convicted and confessed former president Juan Orlando Hernández in exchange for the organized criminal force in the political party that brought him to power supporting Trump’s candidate.

This trend also prevailed in Ecuador, Costa Rica, Chile and Argentina in different ways. Contrary to the trend, the Colombian people turned out to vote and did so to transform the popular and democratic coalition “Pacto Histórico” [Historical Pact] into the main electoral force in the country.

Although the unfortunate existence of sectarian, exclusionary and dogmatic groups within the coalition and among potential allies conspired to prevent a more resounding victory, the coalition has so far won 25 senators and around 40 representatives, far exceeding the previous figures of 20 and 30, respectively. It is even possible that this number will increase as the electoral authorities respond to several ongoing challenges and finish counting the votes in constituencies where the differences between one candidate and another are very small.

In any case, the mere fact that Colombians have turned out to vote without being threatened by the traditional violence in which the oligarchy (in all its manifestations: terrorism, paramilitarism, organized crime and drug trafficking) has plunged the country is already a gain that must be credited to the government of President Gustavo Petro.

It is important to note that Colombian Führer [ultrarightist former President] Álvaro Uribe Vélez failed in his attempt to win a seat in the new Congress. Brooding over his defeat, the paramilitary leader and drug trafficker will not be able — at least for the next four years — to continue plotting his misdeeds and abuses from Congress.

Venezuela

Finally, in Venezuela, continuing the development of its participatory democracy, around 4.2 million citizens took part in the first national popular consultation of 2026 to choose from more than 36,000 productive projects for the development of their communities and sectors. This figure represents a 10% increase over the previous consultation on Nov. 23. It is worth noting that in some states of the country, participation exceeded 35% of the entity’s electoral roll, thus consolidating the exercise of direct democracy in the national territory.

In an event that was prepared in advance in assemblies in which citizens determined their most immediate needs in order to address them efficiently, outside of government and state bureaucracy, these elections were an expression of the democratic will of the people, which in the case of Venezuela is legally enshrined in the Constitution thanks to the impetus given by Presidents Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro.

Faced with the evident decline in popular participation in the world through elections under the model of representative democracy, the Venezuelan people, using the instruments of participatory and protagonist democracy granted to them by the Constitution, have succeeded in getting the National Executive to increase by 37% the resources earmarked to be executed directly by the organized Popular Power during 2026.

To this end, a mechanism has been designed whereby “53% will be allocated to the People’s Power, 29% to the governorships, 15% to the mayors’ offices and 3% to institutional strengthening,” according to Acting President Delcy Rodríguez.

Taking advantage of these possibilities granted by representative democracy, even though it is limited and constrained by foreign intervention, the people, through participatory democracy, have made progress to the point where they now have 170 community banks and a total of 1,836 community financial institutions.

In this regard, the government reported that the levels of efficiency and accountability achieved have also increased. Thus, by leading this process with 96% effectiveness, the People’s Power pressured the institutions of representative democracy and the bureaucracy to do the same, demonstrating that the organized people have the tools to manage public resources with transparency in the immediate term and to be staunch defenders of the National Constitution and the sovereignty it embodies, should they be called upon to do so.

A tribute to women fighters

In this regard, Aura Buitrago, spokesperson for the Urquía Commune, pointed out in an interview that “the process represented a tribute to women fighters and their key role in territorial management, rejecting any attempt at external intervention.” The community spokesperson added that “the consultation is not only about receiving resources, but also about raising public awareness so that communities become actively involved in solving their problems.”

Beyond the projects approved for the benefit of the people, this event serves to deepen the direct democracy necessary to advance toward a higher level of popular organization that will be put to the test in the future when decisive battles must be fought in defense of the country’s sovereignty, which is currently threatened by Trump and the Nazi-fascist government he presides over. Only an organized and conscious people will be able to face these kinds of challenges.

At the end of the day, the “Epstein alliance” and the pedophile and child-murdering government had suffered three firm and consistent defeats.