Briefing

A Victory at the OAS

Gustavo Tarre Briceño is officially the new Venezuelan representative to the OAS. New members of PDVSA’s ad hoc board of directors were appointed. A full report about the Pemon massacre in February was presented in the AN. Pediatric transplant patients are dying in hospitals. Michelle Bachelet said she’ll come, but didn’t say when.

Naky Soto
Photo: @OAS_official

With 18 votes in favor, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) approved the appointment of Gustavo Tarre Briceño as representative of Venezuela before the institution, during the extraordinary session held this Tuesday, April 9th.

Nine countries voted against and six countries abstained. Jamaica proposed an amendment to the original document to add that “the appointment of Gustavo Tarre as permanent representative before the General Assembly is accepted, along with new elections and the appointment of a new democratic government.” Asbina Marín, regime representative in the session, said that Venezuela “will never again” return to the institution, adding that appointing a different member “violates the foundational charter” of the OAS, which implies its dissolution. Regime Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza called the approval a “brazen and criminal violation of International Law” and labeled Tarre Briceño as an “usurping political puppet,” restating chavismo’s decision to abandon de OAS on April 27th.

The next PDVSA

The National Assembly’s plenary authorized caretaker President Juan Guaidó to expand the number of members of the PDVSA’s ad hoc Administrative Board from five to nine, and to appoint Luis Pacheco as its chairman.

Attorney General José Ignacio Hernández explained that the expansion of PDVSA’s administrative board’s faculties has three goals: facilitating the appointment of managers of branch companies abroad; honoring financial commitments and assuming its legal representation.

In addition to Luis Pacheco, the board will be composed of Simón Antúnez, Gustavo Velásquez, Carlos José Balza, Ricardo Alfredo Prada, Claudio Martínez, León Miura, María Lizardo and Alejandro Grisanti. For professor and oil expert Francisco Monaldi, the appointment of Luis Pacheco as the ad hoc board chairman “is an excellent decision that puts one of the most brilliant and important oil experts to work in setting the foundations for rebuilding the Venezuelan oil industry.”

The massacre at Santa Elena de Uairen

Lawmaker Dennis Fernández, head of the National Assembly’s Interior Policy Committee, presented a report about what happened between February 20th and 25th, 2019, during the attempt to deliver humanitarian aid into the country, which they called “the massacre of Santa Elena de Uairen.” She denounced the action of “irregular forces” along with National Guard officers, alleged paramilitaries, FAES and DGCIM officers against the Pemon people which left at least seven people dead, 80 missing, 62 in jail, over 100 people who fled to Brazil; 651 students without school and 319 Brazilian citizens affected. Fernández said that they’ll alert the international community about human rights violations in the area and they’ll also take the case before the International Criminal Court. Juan Guaidó announced last night the delivery of 20 tons of humanitarian aid in food to the Pemon people of Santa Elena de Uairen.

Chavismo Herod

20 out of the 30 children and teenagers with indications of bone marrow transplant at the J.M. de los Ríos Children’s Hospital require urgent surgery or else they’ll die. Their parents bravely denounced the patients’ severe situation.

Each testimony sums up the tragedy of the decline and the urgency of some official response for a group that has already lost three patients. Since June 1st, 2017, the Health Ministry suspended the organ supply program, but moreover, all the services in the J.M. de los Ríos are severely compromised, from electricity to hematology. A ruling issued on April 27th, 2004, ordered the state to provide the highest-quality medical treatment for all children and teenagers with leukemia and other hematological diseases. NGOs Cecodap and Prepara Familia denounce the lack of conditions to guarantee this ruling nor the protective measure issued by the IACHR in February, 2018.

Moving migrants

In a 14-point compilation, nine Latin American countries issued the statement of the 3rd Technical Meeting about the human mobility of Venezuelans in the region, a document that comprises the ideas discussed in the meeting held in Quito between April 8th and 9th.

The nations restate their concern before the serious migration and humanitarian crisis that we’re facing; they recognize the progress in the attention of vulnerable citizens, but at the same time highlight the importance of increasing coordination, communication and articulation between the governments of transit and reception countries, with the hope of developing mechanisms focused on human rights. The countries urged the international community to provide non-repayable funds to help in assisting Venezuelans. Due to disagreements with some points, Bolivia, Mexico and Guatemala didn’t sign the statement, and this is the first time that Venezuelan participates in the forum with the representation of René de Sola Quintero, ambassador appointed by Guaidó. Remember that the WHO estimates that our diaspora will add five million people by late 2019.

Coming to Venezuela

Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Right, confirmed that she’ll visit Venezuela to evaluate the humanitarian crisis in a date to be determined and that she demands, among other conditions, the guarantee of being able to talk with all actors involved: regime, opposition, civil society and victims. As usual, her emphasis on neutrality sparked criticism, but she still insisted on the need to establish a dialogue to offer an urgent solution to the situation of human rights in Venezuela.

Meanwhile, Esmeralda Arosemana de Troitiño, chairwoman of the Inter American Committee on Human Rights (IACHR), sent a message to the Venezuelan state because she wants to come and see the situation that the country’s experiencing on the field: “I’ll go from a human rights perspective, not a political assessment perspective,” she said, adding that she’s made this proposal several times but it’s been impossible due to Nicolás’s absolute refusal, preventing the assistance work in managing the crisis. For Arosemana, Venezuela’s even more vulnerable than Nicaragua.

Briefs and serious

  • The International Monetary Fund estimates a 47.9% unemployment rate for Venezuela by 2020, on top of the 44.3% this year. In the “World Economic Outlook – April 2019” report, they reveal that the Gross Domestic Product for this year will be -25% and in 2020, they estimate it at -10%. All of the region’s countries, except for us, will grow. The institution estimates that in 2019 and 2020, Venezuela’s inflation rate might reach 10,000,000%.
  • Another eight tons of gold were removed from BCV vaults in April to be allegedly sold abroad, said an opposition lawmaker and a regime source. The ingots, part of the international reserves, were removed from the entity in a moment when the bank works with minimum staff due to the severe water supply problems.
  • An investigation carried out by the IESA School of Management along with the British Embassy revealed that the subsidies applied to services such as fuel, electricity, transport, telecommunications and water are over 95% of what users should pay and causes annual losses for more than $25 billion, 55% of them go to energy and the figure reaches 75% with transport.
  • The Argentine government will send 29 tons of food and hygiene items for Venezuela. Representatives of the International Red Cross met this Tuesday morning with Juan Guaidó and at night, with Nicolás himself, as a prelude for the start of what could be the largest humanitarian aid operation in Latin America.

  • The dictators of Nicaragua, Venezuela and Honduras won’t be invited to the inauguration of Nayib Bukele as President of El Salvador on June 1st.

…

The UN Security Council will meet this Wednesday 10th to discuss our humanitarian situation.

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.

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