Caracas Chronicles

In the last few days, mutiple press reports indicate that some public sector workers have been fired and others have suffered harassment because of their political stance after the presidential election.

Audio clips of several heads of public bodies (like the Zulia Sports Director or the Director of Bolipuertos in Puerto Cabello) have been leaked threatening any opposition supporters working there that with losing their jobs.

But the biggest leak so far was a video of Housing Minister Ricardo Molina in a meeting with some employees, where he promises that any worker who he finds out to be an opposition supporter (he refers to Leopoldo Lopez’s political party Voluntad Popular) that “…he’ll fire him, if he doesn’t quit first”. He also show disregard for any possible protections in the current labor legislation in these kind of cases.

It cannot be repeated too often: this kind of behaviour is very explicitly banned by article 145 of Venezuela’s constitution.

Hours after the video went public online, he was ratified in his post by Nicolás Maduro.

In Guayana’s state companies, some Chavista workers’ leaders have asked for the return of the infamous “Tascón List”. But some of their colleagues have rejected such request.

The political pressure has also reached places like the Miranda State Legislature (now controlled by Chavismo by one vote) or the criminal investigations police CICPC. It has reached the social networks as well, where a Facebook page was opened in Tachira to expose hidden opposition supporters inside the public sector.

But other members of Chavismo wants to take this further: Odalis Monzón, PSUV deputy for Vargas State wrote on her Twitter account that she was “putting the magnifying glass on possible mission beneficiaries involved in last week’s cacerolazos“. In her defense, she stated that “there are many traitors inside Chavismo”. She even founded some sort of “Popular Front” to fight the opposition and “…start a process of (internal) cleansing.”

Charming.