Caracas Chronicles

The Daily Briefing is a summary of the daily news in Venezuela. 

• On Monday, the caretaker government’s Security and Intelligence Commissioner Iván Simonovis resigned to the position he held from 2019, in a letter saying that it wasn’t an easy decision to make but that he’ll keep “giving it his best efforts to achieve the great common goal”. He didn’t explain why he resigned and he also wished Juan Guaidó “success in the complex task that he’s had to face”. 

• CNE rector Enrique Márquez, representing Maduro’s prêt-à-porter opposition, considers that political parties barred from running are a difficult topic which is in the hands of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice and hopes it can be discussed in the negotiation. He assured that the main obstacle the Electoral Branch faces is its credibility. “I hope that the political class can be sure that it can participate and that there will actually be a moderately transparent process.” The problem with chaviso has always been its post-electoral behavior. 
• The Venezuelan Electoral Observatory expressed its concern for the calendar provided by the CNE to hold an election in merely 25 weeks. 
• The Venezuelan Federation of Medicine (FMV) demanded the regime provide one million doses of the vaccine for the immunization of sanitary workers.

• Starting at 2:00 a.m., citizens went to Los Magallanes de Catia Hospital in Caracas, to write their names on lists in order to get the vaccine. 
• 25 tonnes of medical supplies arrived to Maiquetía airport from China, destined to the states with the highest numbers of COVID-19 patients, said Maduro’s Health minister, Carlos Alvarado.
• Ramón Guillermo Aveledo, former MUD executive secretary, considers the new CNE “opens a crack through which democracy can sneak in,” but, in order to achieve it, we must work for “partial achievements that make those cracks wider.” 
• UCAB dean Francisco José Virtuoso applauded Carlos Ocariz’s proposal of re-legitimizing the opposition leadership before an electoral process. He thinks that Venezuelan politicians must reset and reconnect with the Venezuelan population.
• Américo De Grazia, who’s been in exile since 2019, said he’ll return to the country in June, to start a campaign tour in Bolívar. 
  • De Grazia was accused of participating in the military rebellion on April, 30th, 2019. He’s barred from running for public office for 15 years. 

• FundaRedes director Javier Tarazona asked for a meeting with Vladimir Padrino López to hand over the investigation the NGO has done on irregular groups in Venezuela. 
  • Tarazona said on Sunday that he’s been a victim of harassment. 

• While eight military officers remain war prisoners of the FARC dissidence, General José Adelino Ornelas Ferreira posted a video on Twitter where we see dozens of troops walking with Maduro as a sign of “loyalty”, to the tune of an Alí Primera song. 
• The basic food basket reached 803.3 million bolivars in April, which is the equivalent to 321 dollars. 
  • It represents an increase of 76 dollars compared to March. 

• The National Guard detained 61 Venezuelans who illegally left from Delta Amacuro for Trinidad and Tobago, said citizen security secretary Noel Valderrama. 
  • There are 20 minors in the group. 

• PDVSA will have to pay over 40 million dollars to Portuguese company Cimontubo – Tubagens E Soldadura, which installs oil pipes after the regime defaulted a payment. 
• OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro published a letter supporting the Agreement for National Salvation proposed by Juan Guaidó.