Briefing

Private Companies Authorized to Import Gas

Or that's what Omar Prieto, Zulia governor, says; Two healthcare workers die every day, said Médicos Unidos de Venezuela; There’s a lot of extrajudicial killings going on during the pandemic

Naky Soto
Still pushing the sabotage stories.

Photo: CBS News

  • On Monday, the governor of Zulia state, Omar Prieto, said that 24 private gas stations that sell gas at international rates are allowed to import: “Every owner of a gas station can do it.” The price of gas will be over 0.75 dollars per litre. He added that “the price can change depending on the type of gas: premium or super premium.” He assured that the supply for priority sectors is assured and reiterated that they’re holding a public transport sector census with the Transport Department. So, the shortage these months and years has been a political decision, since there are different solutions to buying gas from shady partners like the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, paying them with gold from the Mining Arc. They just didn’t want to. 
  • On Monday, Nicolás’s Communications minister, Freddy Náñez, reported 1,029 cases of coronavirus (for a total of 61,569 cases they’ve admitted to) and nine deaths (494 deaths they’ve admitted to).
  • NGO Médicos Unidos de Venezuela reported that in the week from September 3rd to September 13th, at least 15 healthcare workers died in Venezuela (13 doctors, one nurse and one stretcher-bearer). Venezuela keeps the average of two dead sanitary workers per day. Only during the first few days of September, 29 people died. On Monday, Héctor Morfe died in Anzoátegui state, on the eastern coast. He was the director of the Lechería Municipality Clinic. 
  • UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, in her oral report about Venezuela, asked Nicolás’s regime to release “all of those who have been arbitrarily detained” and expressed her satisfaction for the 110 people released, because she thinks that it contributes to the political strain. Bachelet reported the regime renewed the cooperation agreement with her office and accepted that her officers have more autonomy. She didn’t mention the FAES in her speech. Last year she asked the FAES be dissolved. The new agreement would allow a team of six officers in the country (there are two at the moment) and, for the first time, two officers were able to confidentially interview 39 inmates at SEBIN and DGCIM headquarters, which Bachelet called a “quality leap” in cooperation with authorities. However, Nicolás’s regime opposed a debate at the UN Human Rights Council session about the abuses committed by Alexander Lukashenko’s government in Belarus, after the wave of protests that has been repressed by security forces. 
  • ANC-imposed prosecutor general, Tarek William Saab, talked about capturing an alleged “American spy” and three Venezuelan citizens on Friday, and they confiscated, among other things, grenade launchers and C4. Funny thing, they didn’t use all that against people who detained them. Saab said that John Heath Mattew’s target was sabotaging military, oil and electric facilities. He also explained that the detainees confessed an alliance with other people in Zulia, already detained by FAES. Despite the failure of Operation Gedeón, allegedly these people used again the Colombian Guajira to establish a route for drug trafficking and for sabotage. The crucial evidence about the spy’s citizenship and field is a “currency that ties him to the CIA,” organization that he has worked for as a communications operative in secret bases, according to what this regime official said. 
  • Indira Alfonzo, president of the CNE imposed by the TSJ, reported that 20,710,421 voters will be able to express their will in the parliamentary election, with a registry that, according to her, was audited. The former TSJ judge said that every phase of the electoral timetable has been respected, even though less than three months away, nobody knows which voting system the CNE will use. 
  • The TSJ Civil Cassation Chamber admitted they’re estimating lawsuits and professional fees in dollars, reported on Monday the NGO Acceso a la Justicia.
  • AN Speaker and caretaker President Juan Guaidó said that in the transition scenario, the Armed Forces must be included, to recover our sovereignty. Guaidó had a meeting with active reserve officers, said the National Communications Center. He insisted that the political change for Venezuela is through free, fair and verifiable presidential elections, not the parliamentary elections that are still scheduled for December. 
  • Thai firm Tipco will cease all purchase of Venezuelan oil in November, to avoid the risk of U.S. sanctions, said Argus Media. Tipco explained that 90% of their raw materials for the Kemaman refinery is Venezuelan, so they’ll have to shut down temporarily until they find another supplier. 
  • From March 16th, when the decree of a state of alarm because of the coronavirus pandemic was issued, there have been at least 1,180 extrajudicial killings, said NGO Proiuris on Monday during the forum “Pandemic in Venezuela: 8 Extrajudial Executions per Day.” 
  • The Spanish government said that they’ll support elections in Venezuela, if they’re democratic, said Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya, who highlighted that that is a fundamental condition. The International Contact Group will meet next Thursday, called for Josep Borrell, the European Union Minister for Foreign Affairs. 
  • Liechtenstein, a principality between Switzerland and Austria, is now part of the file that the U.S. is collecting against Alex Saab. Federal sources said to El Tiempo that they froze over 700 million dollars tied to Saab in bank accounts in that country, and linked to at least three other countries. They foresee new confiscations with the cooperation of other authorities. This offense move by federal agencies comes amid the rumor that Saab’s extradition would happen this week. However, it must be reiterated that the final decision is in the hands of the Cape Verde court, and that they have time until the second week of October.
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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