Briefing

Food Rationing, Posing as Selective Quarantine

Food will be sold according to the last number of our ID cards; Neither Luis Motta Domínguez nor Eustiquio Lugo, along with their direct family members, are allowed to enter the U.S.

Naky Soto

Photo: Twitter

  • Miranda governor Héctor Rodríguez announced that, starting July 29th, essential products will be sold according to the last digit on your ID card, two numbers per day of the week and five numbers on each day of the weekend. Official Gazette Nº 5067, where the measure is established, says that “purchasing medicine is exempt from this rule,” allegedly imposed to avoid the spread of coronavirus in this state, the third state with more confirmed cases of COVID-19. The decree demands stores to put signs up with the schedule that they “must abide by in their sales process.” The measure will be in place for 30 days. 
  • Nicolás’s vice president Delcy Rodríguez reported 583 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, for a total of 16,571 cases they’ve admitted to. In addition, she reported five new deaths, bringing the total to 151, including a pregnant woman who went into labor before her due date because of coronavirus: “The baby is alive and getting better, but she died of cardiac/respiratory arrest,” she said about this woman from Guarenas, Miranda. 
  • Deputies called the murder of Carlos Chaparro “state violence.” Chaparro was a salesman, shot by GNB officers in Anzoátegui state. Deputy Tatiana Montiel assured this happened because of use of force and imposing a mafia scheme over gas sales and deputy Adriana Pichardo denounced the severe violation of human rights of deputies Gilber Caro and Renzo Prieto, detained for political reasons. 
  • Last night, Juan Guaidó announced that a “process for sharing the results of management and protection of assets abroad” will start today. 
  • Carlos Berrizbeitia proposed the creation of the National Assembly’s Food and Nutrition Security Monitor, to diagnose and recommend public policy. The agreement establishes the performance of surveys and reception of complaints about alimentary rights. Miguel Pizarro, deputy in exile, reported to the AN yesterday about the financing stage of the humanitarian response of organizations like the PAHO and the Red Cross, with an order of payment for 17 million dollars approved on July 25th, to import protection gear. Part of that amount will be used to increase the capacity to detect the virus and decentralize PCR tests in the country, a task that will be executed by the PAHO, the institution in charge of supplying the labs that have been identified in the country. Pizarro explained that the aid will be prioritized for the states that have been hit the hardest by the pandemic. 
  • The IACHR approved a resolution for “Human Rights of COVID-19 Patients,” because of the risk in so many countries, where their rights to life and health aren’t guaranteed. The pandemic has worsened discrimination, poverty and inequality in Latin America and the conditions of public health systems. 
  • Union leader Rubén González will remain detained in La Pica prison, because the Military Appeals Court of Monagas didn’t issue a sentence and gave itself ten days to rule on the case. González is another civilian undergoing trial in a military court. 
  • NGO Foro Penal published the report about political prisoners in Venezuela. There are 382 prisoners for conscience crimes, 12 less than last week. There are 353 men and 29 women; 253 civilians and 126 military officers in jail. Two of the prisoners are teenagers. 
  • Freddy Bernal reported on people detained for using illegal pathways to enter the country: 180 “trocheros” had been detained as of Tuesday. They presented 110 people to the Public Ministry (the Venezuelan equivalent of the Prosecutor’s Office) and 13 were “prosecuted”, they’ll be sent to El Dorado, for sentences from six to ten years for “human trafficking, instigation to commit a crime, conspiracy and violation of the special security regime.”
  • The poor conditions of our national electricity system, for lack of maintenance and investment, caused an important contraction of our electricity supply, 9,000 megawatts: the lowest in 50 years. One of the sources explained that it “operates at around 10% or less of its installed capacity.”
  • The president of the IDB, Luis Alberto Moreno, said that Latin America (which already presented a deterioration in its growth) will be poorer after the pandemic. About Venezuela, he said that even though “the bank can’t do anything” (because the country has been in default since 2018, for around $700 million), the country will receive aid as soon as there’s a change of government. “In the history of humanity, there hasn’t been a country that has had a contraction of the magnitude of Venezuela’s without having a war, a devastating natural disaster or both. There hasn’t been a situation equal to the destruction of value that has happened in Venezuela,” said Moreno. 
  • Retired PDVSA workers protested in several cities to demand better salaries and other labor benefits. 
  • UN researchers overseeing sanctions on North Korea (imposed on 2006), are analyzing a potential technology and military agreement between Pyongyang and Venezuela and have warned Nicolás’s ambassador to the UN, Samuel Moncada, that Venezuela could be violating Security Council resolutions, reported Reuters. 
  • Former Energy minister, Luis Motta Domínguez, and general of the GNB Eustiquio Lugo, and their immediate families are forbidden from entering U.S. territory, as announced by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, for committing acts of corruption. 
  • German bank Sparkasse Bank was fined with 217,635 euros by Malta’s anti-money laundering unit after they discovered severe deficiencies in an inspection. Sparkasse Bank has been known since 2018 for shady transactions of Portmann Capital as part of an alleged money laundering scheme between Malta and Venezuela, using embezzled PDVSA money. 
  • Álex Saab, accused of being Nicolás’s middleman, requested house arrest in Cape Verde, for alleged health issues. In addition, his defense team accused the U.S. of “fake integrity” in their request for extradition. According to the documents presented to the Cape Verdean government, lawyers say that the U.S. has violated “the principle of criminal loyalty” in this case. 
  • Colombian authorities reported on Tuesday that the Venezuelan Consulate in Bogotá was destroyed and raided, months after Nicolás’s diplomatic delegation left the place. The Venezuelan Foreign Minister denounced that the Colombian government violates the Vienna Convention agreement on diplomatic relations, “allowing, by action or inaction, illegal occupancy” of consular headquarters. They will take the matter before the UN to denounce the raid. Jorge Arreaza asked Colombia to investigate and said that Venezuela “will take any proportional measure, but always using civility and legality.”
Briefing

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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