Briefing

95% of Venezuelan Homes in Poverty

Six youth members of Primero Justicia and Voluntad Popular were detained after disinfecting a building in Aragua; Human Rights commissioner Humberto Prado presented his human rights report, where he concluded that economic, social, cultural and environmental rights have been violated; The daily average of COVID-19 cases has tripled in the last few weeks.

Naky Soto
  • The National Assembly elected in 2015 demanded the release of six youth members of Primero Justicia and Voluntad Popular who were detained after disinfecting common areas in La Victoria, Aragua.
  • Human Rights commissioner Humberto Prado presented his human rights report, where he concluded that economic, social, cultural and environmental rights have been violated. 
    • 79.3% of Venezuelans can’t afford the basic food basket and 95% of Venezuelan homes live in poverty. 
    • His office managed to count 400 victims of extrajudicial executions in slums at the hands of the FAES, and 125 victims who haven’t been identified. 
    • There have been 232 arbitrary detentions, 69% of those involving press workers. 
    • There have been 212 femicides in the country and 56 Venezuelan women have been murdered abroad. 
    • 229 inmates were killed in prison in 2020, and 109 LGBTQIA+ citizens were murdered. 
    • Prado denounced a “mass ecocide” in the last five years, at least 5 million hectares have been impacted. 
    • He denounced 286 attacks against human rights activists. 
  • Maduro’s Foreign minister Jorge Arreaza assured that the Armed Forces have control of La Victoria, Apure and said that chavismo has representatives on the border, while Duque’s government doesn’t.  However, the deployment to receive displaced Venezuelans, the decree of calamity and the combined UN agency efforts, disprove his words. Arreaza also said that he expects the UN Security Council to debate on the Colombia-Venezuela case soon. 
  • Deputy to Maduro’s Assembly Héctor Zambrano accused Colombia of asking displaced Venezuelans for money because the conflict “has become a business”. 
  • Former deputy Walter Márquez warned that there have been war crimes and crimes against humanity in parts of Apure, in addition to violations of international treaties. 
  • Ombudsman Alfredo Ruiz gave a statement, 17 days after the events on the border began, and said that they interviewed every person who had been detained before taking them to their hearings and they determined that they weren’t involved in the conflict, as human right NGOs had been saying since day one. 
  • Union leader Mauro Zambrano assured that health centers are seeing a spike in COVID-19  cases. He estimates that less than 30% of healthcare workers have been vaccinated and that 25% simply don’t show up to work. 
  • Maduro said on Tuesday that he’s flexibilizing the lockdown with a new 7+7 system, that he didn’t fully explain, on Monday, April 12th, after three weeks of radical lockdown because of the increase of cases. The daily average of cases has tripled in the last few weeks. 
  • Colectivos sabotaged a student protest when students demanded vaccines in front of the Caracas University Hospital.
  • Maduro warned that he decided to extend the decree barring employers from firing any of their workers until December 2022, violating, once more, employers’ rights. However, the State has openly and blatantly violated this decree several times. 
  • Despite spokespeople for the agriculture sector warning every day about the crops going to waste if there are no solutions to the diesel fuel shortages, Nicolás said on Tuesday that resources must be directed to the sector in order to “guarantee the people’s food”. 
  • The Assembly Delegate Commission approved an agreement to expand the Special Litigation Fund to pay for expenses and professional fees of the trial for the Venezuelan gold in the Bank of England. The law firm Arnold & Porter and lawyer Andrew Fulton are owed  $3,720,687.43. The resources would be paid by the ad hoc board of the Venezuelan Central Bank. 
  • The IMF foresees economic growth in the Latin American region in 2021, except for Venezuela, where they foresee a 10% economic contraction and a 5,500% inflation rate by the end of 2021. 
  • Economist Tamara Herrera reported that because of COVID-19, they predicted a drop in economic activity that will worsen Venezuela’s financial vulnerability. 
  • Colombian President Iván Duque and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken talked about the Venezuelan situation and ratified both governments’ commitment to re-establishing democracy. Blinken thanked Colombia’s decision to grant TPS to Venezuelan migrants. 

 

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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