Briefing

The Trump Administration Firmly Supports the Caretaker Government

While the political in-fighting continues, the pandemic causes serious damages, the regime plans the parliamentary elections and the opposition signals the political and technical problems that would prevent a normal, fair process.

Naky Soto
Chargé d’ Affaires Story was pretty explicit.

Photo: Tal Cual Digital

  • AN Speaker and caretaker President Juan Guaidó assured on Thursday that he’s still working on the actions of the unity pact that was announced on August, 23rd. During a virtual meeting with James Story, chargé d’affaires at the Venezuelan Affairs Unit, they announced that they’re preparing three actions: updating the Anti Drug Treaty of Cooperation with the U.S. in order to collaborate directly with the DEA; achieving that the FAES is named a terrorist group, and; building a framework that will work within the unity pact (27 political parties and several civil organizations) as part of the way to end the dictatorship. About the lack of unity within the opposition, Guaidó said that he understands the frustration that can be felt because of the differences expressed by Henrique Capriles and María Corina Machado, but he said that 27 political parties, 107 civil organizations and thousands of Venezuelans understand that unity is mandatory. He explained that the unity pact has two main communication channels, one for incorporating ideas, diverse to tackle any kind of problem, and another practical one, where unity is necessary to “protect each other from a brutal dictatorship.”
  • James Story said during the key point, when talking about unity, that unity doesn’t mean unanimity: “The goal of democratic forces is that people can express their will in a presidential election, with conditions and guarantees. Consider this a framework for a democratic transition,” he said. The U.S. only recognizes the caretaker government led by President Guaidó and democratic political parties, said Story, and highlighted that it will remain that way until the end of usurpation. “We will continue to support President Guaidó and the international community will do so, too,” he added and insisted that they must have an agreement that includes presidential elections and the National Assembly. He said that the pressure against Nicolás’s regime will continue. 
  • Delcy Rodríguez tweeted that there were 994 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, for a total of 49,877 cases they’ve admitted to. She also wrote that four people have died, for a total of 402 deaths they’ve admitted to. According to her, there are only 8,901 active cases and 40,574 people have recovered (81%) and they’ve done 1,789,371 tests, which would mean that there was an average of 59,646 per million inhabitants. They’re counting rapid-response tests with the PCR tests, which are a really small fraction of the total.
  • Dr. Jorge Gallardo died in Anzoátegui state, at the Dr. Luis Razetti University Hospital, where he was studying a specialization in ER medicine and Disaster Management. 
  • Journalist Eugenio Martínez summarized in a Twitter thread the main problems (political and technical) that Venezuelans face in the electoral conditions. The political problems are: an unbalanced CNE, several parties kidnapped by the TSJ, hundreds of political prisoners and people barred from running, and the absence of international electoral observers. The journalist thinks that the unbalance at the CNE won’t be solved before December, and neither will the situation with political parties. There was some progress with the recent “pardons” but there are still many politicians barred from running, exiled or in jail. There seems to be the most progress in the international observation issue; Martínez considers that the main technical issues are: the social control that chavismo has, the access to the media and the power of censorship. Within the Electoral Registry: usurpation of identity and voting without voters, the control of voting stations at the hands of PSUV, a new voting system, potentially altering the results and the important sanitary risks. “Achieving the minimum conditions (not ideal) will probably require postponing the event (especially if you want international observation),” said Martínez. 
  • Both Capriles and Jorge Arreaza (Nicolás’s Foreign Minister) called for an election with international observation so the election has some legitimacy, but organizing a true observation mission, not only “an accompanying mission,” would take around six monts, so the election would have to be postponed. 
  • Diosdado Cabello, first vice president of PSUV, alongside Cilia Flores and Jorge Rodríguez formalized their nomination before the CNE for candidates for the “election”.
  • Retired officers of the Armed Forces asked Nicolás’s Defense minister, Vladimir Padrino López, for help, because at least 45 officers have died during the pandemic without any help or support from institutions. 
  • On Monday, August 31st, the Inparques union denounced that a hill was destroyed in El Ávila to build a mansion, which is ecocide and a violation of the current legal and environmental orders. In an interview with Tal Cual, the secretary of the union Marlene Sifontes explained that it’s four houses that Inparques allowed to be built in Galipán and that Morrocoy has also been violated. 
  • The indigenous community of Santo Domingo de Turasen, in the Venezuelan south, rejected the installation and operation of the Venezuelan Mining Corporation in their land and accused it of formalizing gold extraction in protected areas, among them, the Canaima National Park. As always, this atrocity wasn’t consulted with the communities nor does it respect sustainability in the area. 
  • The U.S. State Department assured that the allegations of torture coming from Colombian citizen Alex Saab “can be proved wrong” and they’re a new attempt to pressure the Cape Verdean system for his extradition. Journalist Roberto Deniz reported that in order to pressure Cape Verde, former UN officer Alfred De Zayas joins the team:“He’s a player that always comes to rescue chavismo.” In 2018, De Zayas said that there wasn’t a humanitarian crisis in Venezuela.
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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