Briefing

Straight Into the Second Wave of Coronavirus in Venezuela

There are deep concerns on how coronavirus develops in Venezuela after recent events; The CNE grants AN seats to candidates that weren't even elected

Naky Soto
Dr. Castro heads the Guaidó-appointed Commission of Health Experts to fight COVID-19

Photo: Tal Cual Digital

  • Dr. Julio Castro, specialized in infectious diseases, warned that during the first week that quarantine has been lifted in December, the number of coronavirus patients in the main hospitals of Caracas has increased and that data from private hospitals reflects the same situation, which might mean a second wave of infections: “I have no doubt that we’re starting a new cycle of the epidemic,” he said. The vice president of the Venezuelan Infectology Society (SVI) Manuel Figuera, also thinks that there could be a second wave of COVID-19, after commercial flights were reactivated, the electoral campaigns, and the normalized mobility of the flexibilization. 
  • The committee behind the opposition’s Popular Consultation admitted there are some technical difficulties brought on by “citizens’ massive participation” and promised that when the voting platforms are stable (Telegram, Voatz and consutaporvzla.com), they’ll announce the first bulletin with results. “On December 12th, we’ll be on the streets bringing our participation code to voting points,” said coordinator Enrique Colmenares Finol. Emilio Graterón asked to separate the platforms of participation, so Venezuelans abroad use Voatz and allow Venezuelans in the country to use Telegram. By the way, VE Sin Filtro denounced on Tuesday that the state-owned telecom company, Cantv, blocked access to Voatz servers. 
  • The CNE announced on Sunday night that Luis Parra (the deputy who lobbied for Alex Saab and took over the National Assembly), Timoteo Zambrano and Claudio Fermín didn’t win seats. On Tuesday, however, that same CNE violated its own rules so Luis Parra obtained a seat on the national list for Yaracuy, a list that didn’t even feature him in the first place. 
  • The TSJ-imposed president of the CNE, Indira Alfonzo, had already proclaimed José Brito and José Gregorio Noriega as deputies for the Primero Venezuela party. Journalist Víctor Amaya reported that Brito said on Tuesday in a press conference that, after his defeat, Parra would take over the leadership of the party, but now, suddenly, and just a few hours later, he’s a deputy. It’s unknown which deputy was kicked out of his seat to give it to Parra. It’s interesting how this fake opposition is making the dimension and magnitude of the chavista fraud so evident. 
  • Nicolás said that the change of his voting center in real time from Catia to Fuerte Tiuna was because Colombian intelligence sources said that there was a plan to kill him that day: “From the Casa de Nariño, Iván Duque participated in the plans to kill me,” he said, and affirmed that Duque has a thousand mercenaries to be deployed in Venezuela. Nicolás denied the presence of irregular groups from Colombia in Venezuelan territory and assured that after the AN is installed, he will work on the economy (that he destroyed), support productive sectors and dialogue, ratifying his disposition to Norway. He hopes to do so with a tailor-made opposition. He thinks the economy isn’t dollarized because the official currency “isn’t and will never be the dollar” and changed his discourse to say that the de facto dollarization is a mechanism of “economy of resistance”. He said that there will be presidential elections in 2024 because “I can’t perpetuate in power”. About the relations with the U.S., Nicolás said that Trump’s policy on Venezuela failed and that he expects President-elect Joe Biden “has time to think and open possibilities for communication and dialogue”. 
  • The International Contact Group said that what happened on Sunday wasn’t a credible, inclusive or transparent process, so they don’t recognize the results. Argentina didn’t sign the document. The Group asked for the elimination of all obstacles for political participation so a significant electoral process can take place. 
  • The WHO reported 66.7 million cases and 1.5 million deaths from the pandemic, and no decrease or flattening of the curve of daily deaths. 
  • A 90-year-old woman, Margaret Keenan, was the first person in the world to get a vaccine, developed by American pharma company Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. Mr. William Shakespeare, 81 years old, not related to The Bard, was the second. 
  • Conindustria has registered a sustained drop of the industrial sector in the last 33 quarters, or eight years. The average productivity index has decreased 30.8 points since 2012, a year before Maduro took office. In addition, 36% of businessmen foresee that production will keep dropping. 
  • The president of the AN’s Commission for Public Services, Nora Bracho, denounced the detention of a group of protesters from the La Lucha slum in Maracaibo, who were complaining lack of water and electricity. 
  • The two largest planets in the Solar System, Jupiter and Saturn will be close to each other during Christmas week, which will be seen from any part of the world. This phenomenon hasn’t happened in 800 years, said astronomers. It’s said that a similar conjunction of planets may have been the origin to the Bethlehem Star myth, which guided the Three Wise Men  😉
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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