Briefing

Venezuela Protests on Women’s Day

Maduro had a boring event for Women’s Day on mandatory broadcast, but he only complimented two men: his predecessor and himself; Reporters Without Borders named Venezuela one of the most dangerous countries in the world for female reporters

Naky Soto
  • On Monday morning, women from several political and social organizations gathered in commemoration of International Women’s Day in front of the Center for Human Development and Chacaito in Caracas, and several other cities in the country. They demanded better jobs, better education, respect for reproductive rights and to and to be protected against gender violence. The pandemic and the humanitarian emergency only made the situation worse, and women are the main victims: 
    • One-third of Venezuelan women don’t make enough money to survive.
    •  52% of workers are part of the informal economy, where vulnerability is higher. 
    • Between 2019 and 2020 women’s participation in the workforce dropped, even though women are the main provider in 60% of Venezuelan homes. 
  • Maduro had a boring event for Women’s Day on mandatory broadcast, but he only complimented two men: his predecessor and himself. He was bold enough to speak about his role in women’s emancipation, guaranteeing rights and the end of violence. 
  • Journalist Luis Lopez was arrested by GNB officers while he was covering a women’s protest in Maiquetía. He was released after four hours. 
  • Reporters Without Borders named Venezuela one of the most dangerous countries in the world for female reporters, and Latin America one of the most dangerous regions. Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua are “very dangerous” and El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia are “dangerous”. 
  • José Guerra, deputy to the 2015 Assembly, reported that inflation was 50,9% in February. It’s the second month in a row with a rate over 50%, said Guerra during a press conference from the Venezuelan Observatory of Finance (OVF). The annual rate has accelerated compared to February 2020. “The 50.9% inflation rate in February surpassed the bolivar’s 2.3% depreciation rate.” The OVF estimated the basic food basket at $282.6 in February, a 14% increase in a month. 
  • On Monday, when the automated Caracas Metro fee was supposed to begin, there was a power failure that complicated operations at key stations like Plaza Venezuela and Zona Rental.
  • Maduro’s Education minister, Aristóbulo Istúriz, announced the start of a vaccination program for teachers in Caracas and Vargas. The plan includes workers, cooks, and administrative personnel and state, district, private and subsidized schools. 
  • OPSU demanded lists of professors from several universities, in order to make payments through the Patria system. The Venezuelan Association of University Rectors rejected this measure, they think it’s an intervention and violation of universities’ financial autonomy. 
  • The Biden government announced it’s granting TPS to Venezuelan migrants. Around 320,000 Venezuelan migrants are eligible to apply and be able to legally live and work in the U.S. for 18 months. They will have to prove that they entered the country before March, 8th, 2021. 
  • The Peruvian Health Minister, Óscar Ugarte, assured that Venezuelans in the country (over a million people) are guaranteed a COVID-19 vaccine. In Peru, two out of every three Venezuelan immigrants are in a vulnerable situation because of the sanitary, economic and political crises, according to the UNHCR. Nine out of ten immigrants are unemployed or have a precarious job, seven out of ten eat less than three times a day and one-third of families have had to resort to extreme measures like grabbing food from the trash, beg on the streets or prostitution. 
  • The process for updating Venezuelan migrants’ data in the Trinidad and Tobago registry, to legally work and live in the country, started on Monday and will be open until March 26th. 
  • The Venezuelan opposition asked for the governments of Mali and UAE’s governments to investigate the illegal sale of Venezuelan gold by the Maduro regime and in which these countries are allegedly participating. 
  • Cape Verde denied entrance to Alex Saab’s lawyers for the fourth time. Saab is allegedly Maduro’s middleman. 
  • The Dominican Republic announced that they’ll accept expired Venezuelan passports from Venezuelans that legally entered the country, reported OAS commissioner for the Venezuelan migrant and refugee crisis, David Smolansky. The measure applies to Venezuelans who arrived between January 2014 and March 2021. 

 

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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