Gustavo Salas of Cecosesola: Prioritizing Commoning in a World of Capitalist Markets

About this episode

Gustavo Salas discusses the culture of commoning at Cecosesola, a federation of cooperatives in Venezuela focused on community needs over market norms.

Gustavo Salas describes the remarkable culture of commoning at Cecosesola, a federation of 30 rural and urban cooperatives in Venezuela that serves hundreds of thousands of people with fresh produce, healthcare, funerary services, and many other goods and services. Cecosesola's priority is to create spaces of trust, togetherness, and self-improvement for its 1,300 associates while meeting the everyday needs of low-income families. Market prices and norms are secondary. For its work in escaping the transactional, capitalist-driven mindset and pioneering forms of provisioning that are fair, personally enriching, and much more affordable, Cecosesola won the Right Livelihood Award in 2022. For more on the commons, go to www.Bollier.org.

People in this episode

Host: David Bollier

Guest: Gustavo Salas

Topics covered

• commoning
• cooperatives
• Venezuela
• community trust
• affordable services
• capitalism

Keywords

• Cecosesola
• commoning
• cooperatives
• Venezuela
• Right Livelihood Award
• community
• trust
• affordable services

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Cecosesola, Right Livelihood Award, www.Bollier.org

Places: Venezuela

More episodes of Frontiers of Commoning, with David Bollier

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• Benjamin Mako Hill on the Distinctive Dynamics of Online Collaboration · April 1, 2026 · 44 min
• Federico Savini on Degrowth and Its Future · March 1, 2026 · 51 min
• Stéphanie Leyronas on France's Bold Experiment in Commons-based Development · February 1, 2026 · 40 min
• Lewis Hyde on Gift Economies & Cultural Commons · January 1, 2026 · 36 min