Caracas Chronicles

Photo: Nacho Doce / Reuters retrieved

Caretaker President Juan Guaidó celebrated a meeting with political parties’ leaders and activists to assure them that the cause he leads, re-establishing democracy, has made it to a phase of more pressure for the cese de la usurpación. He said that several international sectors back the Venezuelan people and are trying to find a viable solution to the crisis, meaning his representatives have talked to the U.S. and members of the Armed Forces: “We’re at the highest level regarding international cooperation. We’ll extend our hand to those officers that side with the Constitution because we’re in talks, but to get rid of Maduro.” He said that the government is desperate. “It’s not that Venezuela already won, it’s that the regime is defeated,” he said and called for protests on August 24th. 

Two different stories

White House Security Advisor John Bolton, said that the U.S. talked to Venezuelan officers behind Nicolás’s back about his ouster from power and holding free and fair elections. Bolton denied Maduro’s claims and said: “The only thing discussed with those who are coming to us behind Maduro’s back is their ouster and free and fair elections. Nicolás’s vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez met with Russian Foreign Minister Serguéi Lavrov, who rejected interventionism. “Russia has pulled its sword for all the countries that fight for independence, liberty and sovereignty,” said Delcy. By the way, Pdvsa reduced its debt to Russian oil company Rosneft from $ 1,800 a $ 1,100 million. What a coincidence, huh? 

Citgo with the opposition

Citgo Petroleum’s board of directors was confirmed by a U.S. judge, putting an end to the complaint by former directors loyal to Nicolás. The order signed by a judge in a Delaware court, diminished Nicolás’s efforts to retake control of Citgo, with headquarters in Houston. The company appointed this month a former Citgo executive, Carlos Jordá, as their new CEO. Guaidó’s team wanted to ensure control over the business and protect it from legal attempts to seize Venezuelan assets abroad. Citgo was planning on presenting Jorda to investors on Wednesday. 

The non-country

Cepal (Economic Commission for Latin America) believes that our GDP will drop 35% this year, unprecedented in Latin America. Our GDP’s cumulative drop (since 2014) is enormous, and it’s never been seen before, even worse than in countries that went through war. 

Cendas reported that the basic food basket was  3,247,472.13 bolivars in July, an increase of 23,7%  (Bs. 621,893.98) from last month. It takes over 81 minimum wages to pay for it. 

ULA Trujillo students went to the Ombudsman’s Office to demand a solution from their Main Civil Registry: over 200 graduates haven’t been able to legalize their degrees. They called for a protest on August 27th. 

It’s been five months since Roberto Marrero was detained. He was charged with conspiracy in an attempt to murder Nicolás. His lawyer informed today that they overcame a stumbling block: the 1st Control Tribunal decided that they’ll proceed with the trial. 

The National Coalition of Unions demanded the state dollarize salaries, compensate workers and single contracts, calling for a march on Friday, August 23rd, from La Hoyada to downtown Caracas.  Eduardo Sánchez, University Workers representative, considers that

the working class “lives the worst time in our republican history” and said that minimum wage should be 300 dollars a month. 

Other movements on the board

John Bolton spoke about Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s measure of barring Nicolás’s officials from entering Brazil and encouraged other countries of the region to pressure the regime by applying similar measures to isolate him and achieve Maduro’s removal. 

“Today, we face an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, stemming from the Venezuelan crisis that threatens regional peace and represents an inter-generational security challenge,” said Admiral Craig Faller, chief of the U.S. Southern Command in the South America Defense Conference and added: “We’re still ready to execute political decisions and we stand firm. If there’s a decision to deploy the Navy, I’m sure we’ll be capable to do so.” After he reported about his meeting with UN Secretary General António Guterres, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, informed about his participation before the UN Security Council. Arreaza should write this down. 

Turkey said that they’d continue supporting the Venezuelan regime and confirmed they reject Trump’s “interventionist measures”. Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Assoy,  said that his government opposes any attempt to overthrow “legitimate governments” and called for resuming negotiations. 

Chilean government published a resolution that shares instructions for safe passage for Venezuelans who don’t have a valid passport, with the goal of reuniting Venezuelans with their families that are legal residents in the country, whether they’re the spouse, a single minor or legal representative. Hopefully other nations will do the same. 

…

The fire in the Brazilian Amazon was all over social media on Wednesday. Carlos Nobre, professor at Sao Paulo University, said that politics is responsible of this year increase in fires. 73,000 fires have been reported from January, compared to 39,759 in 2018. Nobre explained that this year’s dry season is normal and that the winds in that area of the Amazon aren’t that strong, and that’s why fires aren’t natural, they’re man made, generally from farmers. In 2019, this represents more deforestation, estimating that forest areas have decreased 20-30% in 2019.