Briefing

A Transition With Law

AN lawmakers got a lot done, including blocking a $1.2 billion transaction from getting to Maduro’s pockets, approving the Law of Transition and offering details on the entry of humanitarian aid to the country. EU countries keep recognizing Juan Guaidó and Trump mentioned Venezuela in his SOTU speech.

Naky Soto
Photo: @AsambleaVE

This Tuesday, the National Assembly approved the Law of the Statute that regulates the transition to democracy and the restoration of the validity of the Constitution, establishing the bases to regulate the democratic transition once the usurpation ends. The statute governs the installation of a provisional government and the call for free elections; it also establishes the election of new National Electoral Council authorities, new Supreme Tribunal justices and new representatives of the Citizen Branch. Moreover, it authorizes the AN to appoint an ad-hoc board for PDVSA and its affiliates, and foresees the approval of a special law to use the assets recovered from corruption. The AN also approved yesterday the National Strategy of Early Attention to the Complex Humanitarian Emergency in Food and Health in its Phase 1 and the Agreement that recognizes the support of the Lima Group and the European countries. The plenary appointed new diplomatic representatives for Brazil (María Teresa Belandria); Paraguay (David Olsen) and Guatemala (María Teresa Romero.)

Aside from the day’s agenda, caretaker President Juan Guaidó met with a group of former chavista (dissident) ministers to listen to their proposal for a consultative referendum to activate general elections.

Complaints

Lawmaker Carlos Paparoni denounced that the Venezuelan ambassador in Portugal, Lucas Rincón and Iván Orellana, were trying to make financial transactions from NovoBank to the Bank of the Republic and the Bank of National Development (Bandes) in Uruguay, for almost $1.2 billion, explaining that the transaction was blocked: “We’ll prevent them from further stealing Venezuelans’ money” said Paparoni.

Former National Assembly speaker, deputy Henry Ramos Allup cautioned about the alleged intention of the ANC to dissolve Parliament: “They may send the military to take over this building, we’ll wait for the PSUV’s Assembly’s session in the protocol hemicycle, it seems that they’ll consummate there what could be the last of their mistakes, I’d say the second to last because they can also make one more mistake,” he said and asked all other lawmakers to defend the AN.

Humanitarian aid

Lawmaker Miguel Pizarro, head of the National Assembly’s Special Committee to Monitor Humanitarian Aid, explained yesterday morning the first phase of the humanitarian aid and its entry logistics. He said that the focus will be the most vulnerable population and it won’t cover 100% of the citizens affected. The target population are newborn children up to five years old suffering from malnutrition; pregnant women with compromised nutrition; the elderly with nutritional deficit; people with chronic diseases (focusing on diabetics and hypertensive patients); people in shelters with compromised nutrition; and patients in hospitals in critical condition. Soon, there will be information on when, how and where this aid will enter the country and be distributed. “The Armed Forces must be part of the solution and not an obstacle,” asked Pizarro, but last night in Paraguachón, two military vehicles were set blocking the passage way. Meanwhile, the European Commission announced that they’ll soon open a humanitarian office in Caracas to see to the needs of those affected by the socio-economic crisis and assigned five million euro for emergency aid; and Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said that his government is making all possible efforts to secure the arrival of humanitarian aid in Venezuela and that they’re working with their Latin American partners to achieve that.

Chavismo’s noise

“I think and I bet that the initiative of the governments of Mexico, Uruguay, Bolivia and the 14 governments of the Caribbean representing Caricom, will be successful,” said Nicolás yesterday, and then he thanks the pro-dialogue and diplomatic position of the leaders of Russia, China and Turkey; later saying that it was a “diplomatic, political and moral” mistake that most countries of the European Union had recognized Juan Guaidó as caretaker President. Sadly, he didn’t explain that Thomas Kwesi Quartey, vice-president of the African Union, denied having expressed his support for him and sent a note of protest demanding clarification for this lie. Diosdado Cabello told the journalists gathered in the Federal Legislative Palace that the ANC would call for legislative elections (they must take place in December, 2020) but then came the absurd session where PSUV members discussed about how to fight corruption (when they could offer lectures on how to engage in it with impunity), without dissolving Parliament or calling for elections; they just created a special committee to “make consultations” about legislative elections. Also yesterday, Táchira Robocop Freddy Bernal told Blu Radio (Colombia): “If any government wants to donate something to Venezuela, the Venezuelan government will be willing to accept it,” restating that Venezuela isn’t a country of “beggars”. He should verify that against each Venezuelan who depends on a box distributed as a political muzzle in order to eat.

Movements on the board

Yesterday, Malta and Bulgaria also recognized Juan Guaidó as caretaker President of Venezuela, giving him an enormous counterweight for the anti-imperialism with which so many left-wing fanatics have diminished our crisis. France hopes that the Montevideo meeting of the international contact group will serve to find the means to reach an end to the country’s crisis, avoiding an intensification of the situation and the resort of violence. German Foreign Affairs Minister Heiko Maas travelled to Washington to attend several meetings, and Venezuela will be discussed in one of them. Colombia’s Iván Duque said that if democracy returns to Venezuela, it means an opportunity for Colombia, because it would open a market of over $7 billion. Pope Francis said yesterday that in order to open a dialogue in the crisis, both parties must ask for it. “Just like when people go to see a priest because there’s a problem between husband and wife: one does this… Is the other coming or not? ¿Do they want or not?”; with such a metaphor, he minimized the request of a dictator entrenched in power versus a country that demands its freedom, its future. Husband and wife, eh. Last night, in the State of the Union address, President Donald Trump said: “Two weeks ago, the United States officially recognized the legitimate government of Venezuela, and its new interim President, Juan Guaido (…) and we condemn the brutality of the Maduro regime.”

…

We go on.

Naky Soto

Naky gets called Naibet at home and at the bank. She coordinates training programs for an NGO. She collects moments and turns them into words. She has more stories than freckles.

Related