Briefing

Working Towards a Better Unity

In 2020, the State only supplied 9% through programs like CLAP; El Carabobeño journalist Kevin Arteaga was subpoenaed and doesn't know why he's under investigation; journalist Lorena Arráiz informed that the last pediatric neurosurgeon in Táchira, Dr. Carlos Colmenares, died of COVID-19.

Naky Soto
  • Juan Guaidó said on Wednesday that he’ll keep pushing for political change in Venezuela and that there would be a day of mobilization next Friday, February 12th. He asked citizens to accompany students on their day. He ruled out creating a new unitarian platform because “we don’t need a new unity, we need a better unity.” He rejected a new dialogue process with Maduro, and he reiterated that chavismo only wants to win some time to stay in power and doesn’t want to solve the crisis that the country is going through. He said he’s willing to meet anyone who’s willing to collaborate in achieving transparent elections, he said going to an election is a fake dilemma, while the CNE and the spots on the ballot are kidnapped and politicians are barred from running, detained or persecuted.
  • Guaidó already met with UN Special Rapporteur Alena Douham and said she told her that sanctions weren’t the problem, but men like Alex Saab. Norway sent another delegation to evaluate the political and humanitarian situation in the country. Guaidó said that he routinely holds meetings with Norway, while chavismo only wants to take pictures with anything that provides a semblance of legitimacy. 
  • He thanked the International Contact Group for the communiqué and the call for a peaceful transition as soon as possible and explained he’s willing to “channel the necessary resources to pay the debt with PAHO and to pay for the Covax mechanism”. He explained that they were doing the event in the open air because all the places that have allowed opposition press conferences have been raided by SEBIN. 
  • In 2020, the private sector provided 91% of the food in the country and the State only supplied 9% through programs like CLAP, said Ciudadanía en Acción. Their executive director, Edison Arciniega, said that in 2020 the country had 449,586 metric tonnes of food, which represents 44% of the food requirement.  
  • The increase in the disposition of food responds to the progressive reactivation of the agroindustrial processing of food, a higher amount of farmers and more imports. Imports constitute 82% of a plate of food, the field barely reports 18% of what we eat. Ten years ago Venezuelan crops provided 45% of the plate. “Anyone who has dollars can access the food market and those with bolivars are at risk of malnutrition,” said Arciniega.
  • Maduro announced that from February 15th to February 17th will be days of flexibilization because of Carnival and Ash Wednesday. No concerts or parades will be allowed.
  • Iris Varela said that there’s no repression or political prisoners in Venezuela. “She said that Rafael Ramírez has hurt the country more than Juan Guaidó. Her performance was against Guaidó, grabbed handcuffs from her purse and said that if she saw him, she’d detain Guaidó herself, no arrest warrant needed. 
  • Jorge Rodríguez, the speaker of Maduro’s Assembly, announced the installment of a sub-committee to debate topics relevant to Christian churches and accept their petitions.. One of the members proposed creating a Law of Religion, where the State recognizes the Christian Evangelical church. He criticized proposals like the gay marriage and abortion laws. 
  • Timoteo Zambrano, member of Maduro’s prêt-à-porter opposition, asked for the end of sanctions on Globovisión, announced that he won’t be a candidate in 2024 and predicted that the candidate will be “an outsider from the business sector, parties should back that and maybe then we’ll see a political change in the country.”
  • PAHO reported that Maduro’s regime and Guaidó are willing to work to make Venezuela part of the Covax mechanism but are seeking agreements to pay the country’s quota and creating a plan that guarantees a neutral distribution. 
  • Starting February 10th, the health sector will hold several activities to protest poor conditions and demand Health minister Carlos Alvarado better wages. 
  • Journalist Lorena Arráiz informed that the last pediatric neurosurgeon in Táchira, Dr. Carlos Colmenares, died of COVID-19. 
  • Venezuela received the first Red Cross humanitarian aid shipment of the year, 22 tonnes of medical supplies for the pandemic. 
  • Using the #MaestrosReclaman hashtag, denounced their low salaries and lack of resources to start class.
  • El Carabobeño journalist Kevin Arteaga was subpoenaed in Valencia. Arteaga, his lawyers and El Carabobeño don’t know why he’s under investigation. 
  • Venezuela has the ninth largest water reserve in the world, but most Venezuelans don’t often have running water in their homes. 
  •  Fedecámaras president Ricardo Cusanno said that they’ll hand some proposals to the Dialogue commission on Friday. 
  • President Joe Biden doesn’t expect to be in contact with Maduro, said Ned Price, spokesperson for the Department of State. He ratified that the U.S. considers Maduro is a dictator and that they don’t plan on having a dialogue with the chavista regime.
  • Niels Annen, the German minister of Foreign Affairs, tweeted: “After a parliamentary election that wasn’t fair, free or transparent, Germany will remain supporting the democratic forces and are thankful for the interesting exchange with Leopoldo López. 
  • Carlos Millán, representative of the caretaker government in Chile reported that Chilean authorities approved two-year extensions of Venezuelan passports issued after 2013. 
  • Chavismo released 12 Guyanese fishermen that the Navy detained on January 23rd. The Foreign Ministry reiterated that they were found in “Venezuelan waters”. 

 

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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