Caracas Chronicles

According to the report released by UN deputy secretary general Jessica Faieta, Venezuela ranks 71th out of 188 nations evaluated in the Human Development Index, falling 11 spots in barely a year. Nicolás blamed our entire crisis on his fictional economic war and the drop in oil prices, only to claim later that he trusted the United Nations and their Development Program to “recover the productive capacity of the pharmaceutical industry and dedicate it to medicines for the people, to strengthen the health care system of the Barrio Adentro mission,” adding that he ordered Elías Jaua to apply the recommendations made by the United Nations during the Universal Periodic Review.

Nicolás celebrated our place in the HDI, only because we rank higher than countries such as Mexico, Brazil and Colombia -countries with a powerful economy, according to him-, claiming that Venezuela is part of the group of countries with high human development. Longing for the start of the “Pharmaceutical CLAP,” he also praised the Barrio Adentro mission, a complete and proven failure. Nicolás failed to acknowledge the horrible state of Venezuela’s health care crisis, he didn’t explain that it’s impossible for pharmaceutical companies to import raw materials or medicines without dollars; he didn’t say that the government stopped released epidemiology bulletins years ago, making it impossible to offer efficient attention to new outbreaks of eradicated diseases, such as diphtheria, malaria or tuberculosis. Nicolás didn’t admit the serious lack of sanitary policies, or how hunger is impacting the health of Venezuelans.

Final report

I’ll put it like this: you can’t decry repression while practicing it yourself.

The Committee for Justice and Truth released its final report yesterday, allowing its members to showcase the blatant lack of neutrality of their roles and intentions. According to General Prosecutor Luisa Ortega Díaz, during the puntofijista period (1958-1998) “was an era of murders, torture and disappearances all over the country, intended to silence social protests against the situation the country was experiencing,” adding that with this document, they reveal the systematic Human Rights violations and crimes against humanity that took place back then, including a policy of persecution and places to torture and murder political leaders that were fighting for their rights. “Guaranteeing the right to the truth involved an exhaustive historical investigation from several approaches, a sociological analysis that studied the reality of that time.”

I’ll put it like this: you can’t decry repression while practicing it yourself. You can’t uphold justice by violating it. You can’t fight silence while imposing it, or denounce past instances of State terrorism as you carry out your own form of it with total impunity. An exercise that serves polarization instead of truth can never be considered justice.

Brass turned into gold?

This Friday, during the Expo Venezuela Potencia, PDVSA and the Military Company of Mining, Oil and Gas Industries (Camimpg) established a memorandum of understanding to strengthen the development of the Hydrocarbons and Military Industry engines, with the endorsement of Defense minister Vladimir Padrino López, PDVSA chief Eulogio del Pino and Economy vice-president Ramón Lobo. According to general Padrino López, they’re integrating the hydrocarbons engine and the military industry engine to complement each other and “join wills and efforts to achieve positive results,” claiming that this will generate wealth for the country that will be distributed under the principles of “social justice, solidarity, democracy and active participation with the private initiative.” Why not?

You can’t intervene the AN, Galindo

For now, at least. The Sumpre Tribunal’s Political Administrative Chamber admitted a request to nullify an eventual administrative internation of the National Assembly, filed by lawmaker Edgar Zambrano. As part of the protocol to open the investigation, the  Prosecutor General, the Comptroller General and the Attorney General will be notified of the admission. So the TSJ isn’t ruling in favor the National Assembly, only a notice that the request was admitted, just that.

Next week

The OAS Permanent Council will hold an extraordinary meeting next week regarding Venezuela’s situation, said Luis Alfonso de Alba Góngora, Mexican ambassador to the institution this Friday, after 14 member states signed a communiqué demanding Caracas restore the institutional order, release political prisoners, establish an electoral calendar and recognize the legitimacy of the National Assembly. In Alba’s words: “This isn’t a measure of undue pressure but the joint stance of a group of countries that assume their responsibility before Venezuela’s difficult situation,” insisting that suspending Venezuela from the OAS is a last resort.

OAS SecGen Luis Almagro backed the joint communiqué signed by the 14 countries and celebrated that the possibility to suspend Venezuela remains open in case diplomacy fails: “As I stated in my two reports, I fully agree that suspension is a measure only meant to be taken at the end of the process and I think it’s positive that the aforementioned group countries leaves that possibility open,” he said in a statement.

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The Venezuelan oil barrel price dropped to $41.19. The Simadi FX rate was up again, closing at Bs. 707.54 per dollar. Read Nelson Bocaranda’s complaint regarding the purchase of two Bombardier planes through Citgo, for Nelson Martínez and Nicolás.