Briefing

One More Year of Hyperinflation

Iris Varela reiterated her suggestion of detaining traitors, including Juan Guaidó; the Delegate Commission warned that FARC dissidents are operating in Apure and Bolívar states and Maduro knows about it; Chile said they’ll expel around 100 Venezuelan migrants who entered the country illegally.

Naky Soto
  • The dollar surpassed the 500,000 bolivar mark and the bolivar devalued 64% compared to the dollar. According to the Observatorio Venezolano de Finanzas, the average increase in prices was 55.2%. The inter-annual inflation rate was 3,478%, the highest in the world again. The basic food basket is now 423 million bolivars, a 2,524% increase and salaries and pensions increased only 380%. 
  • Iris Varela reiterated her suggestion of detaining traitors, including Juan Guaidó. 
  • Jorge Rodríguez swore in the members of the electoral nomination committee, who will be in charge of selecting chavista deputies who will be considered for the board of authorities of the National Electoral Council. 
  • Eulogio del Pino’s trial started yesterday. He was the president of PDVSA and Oil minister. Del Pino and other four men are accused of embezzlement, obstructing free commerce, causing damages to the industry and violating agreements of protecting certain exploiting areas. The trial started three years after they were detained, and their rights have been violated over and over. Nelson Martínez, who was detained with Eulogio del Pino, died in prison in 2018. In the hearing, former PDVSA officers admitted to be responsible for the crimes they were accused of. 
  • ANC-imposed prosecutor general Tarek William Saab told Iris Varela that in order to arrest anyone, a warrant must be issued. He gave this statement as a response to Varela criticizing him for not detaining Guaidó.
  • Jorge Rodríguez’s dialogue commission put on a show with public workers to “listen to their demands and requests”. Chavista representatives proposed punitive measures on opposition members who celebrated the sanctions, a permanent working table with the regime to debate wages and to constantly communicate with Maduro’s Assembly. They proposed creating an emergency bonus and even the return of dialogue, including informal economy workers.
  • Maduro announced on Tuesday that the first doses of Russian vaccine  Sputnik V are on the way. He said that sanitary personnel will get the vaccine first, then the vulnerable population, teachers and then members of Somos Venezuela so “they can go home by home to find victims of the blockade.” 100,000 doses are less than 0.2% of the vaccines we need.
  • PAHO has set aside 2 million doses for Venezuela under the Covax mechanism. The Delegate Commission Ratified their will to approve resources for a vaccination plan under humanitarian and neutral principles but chavismo keeps blocking that possibility. 
  • The WHO mission that traveled to China ruled out the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 originating in a lab. They think it’s likely the virus made its way to China through frozen foods from other countries. 
  • Mission chief Peter Ben Embarek assured that everything points to this virus coming from a population of bats. 
  • The Delegate Commission approved extending the contract of financial services with a BRV, an American financial services company, to execute 80 million dollars of the special emergency fund.
  • The Delegate Commission warned that FARC dissidents are operating in Apure and Bolívar states and Maduro knows about it. Gaby Arellano said they gave evidence to the Colombian and American intelligence services.
  • Trump’s second impeachment process started with a divided Senate, which will make it harder to rule on his responsibility on the attack against the Capitol. Today, witha 56-44 vote, the Senate ruled it was constitutional to take him to trial. 
  • Chile said on Wednesday they’ll expel around one hundred Colombian and Venezuelan migrants who entered the country illegally. 
  • Lucas Gómez, Colombian head of border management, announced that the country will purchase 2 million doses of the vaccine for Venezuelan migrants who register for obtaining legal status.

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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