Caracas Chronicles

• On June 22nd, 2017, David Vallenilla was murdered in a protest. He was shot from La Carlota by sargeant Arli Cleiwi Méndez Terán. The action was recorded in several videos and photos. Méndez Terán was charged with murder but on Monday, he was absolved by Maduro’s justice system, proving the Fact-Finding Mission report right. Lawyer Maria Alejandra Poleo assured that “every piece of evidence to sentence him” was in the file. 
• Primero Justicia issued a communiqué to announce they’re withdrawing from all spaces concerning Venezuelan assets abroad. 
  • They argue the lack of response of the caretaker government and Voluntad Popular representatives to the party’s proposals. 
  • PJ said they are stepping down “with the intention of facilitating and pressuring for a solution that will preserve the assets” and ratify Julio Borges’s proposal to create a trust fund managed by a high-level external entity. 
  • They also said that the constitutional extension of the Delegate Commission and the caretaker government is valid till January 4th, 2022. 

The protest in Iquique, Chile on Saturday ended with Venezuelan refugees’ belongings being set on fire. The cruelty and inaction by the police have been denounced by different NGOs and institutions like the IACHR, UNHCR and the IMO, which demanded Sebastián Piñera’s government adopt urgent measures to prevent and eliminate xenophobia. The Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation on the attack. 

• The negotiation between Maduro’s regime and the Unitary Platform in Mexico was marked by all sorts of obstacles imposed by the chavista delegation: they arrived on Saturday instead of Friday. The chief of the Norwegian delegation Dag Nylander had to reiterate his impartiality and regretted that words by the Norwegian prime minister affected the trust in the process. Chavismo demands Alex Saab be made a member of the delegation, trying to avoid his extradition to the U.S. 
• Juan Pablo Guanipa announced he won’t be running in the election, but he respects the position of the Unitary Platform to run. 
• Carlos Ocariz said that the decision to make him the MUD candidate was made under consensus, even if it was a complex process: “It wasn’t an imposition (…) We asked to re-do the polls that weren’t audited and they didn’t accept.” 
• Alfonso Marquina demanded an answer from MUD, on why they backed Luis Florido for Lara governor and Sobella Mejías for Iribarren mayor. 

The general manager of Monómeros, Guillermo Rodríguez, and main director Luis Hurtado were questioned by the comptrollership commission, which demanded information on the financial status of the company. Rodríguez reiterated that it isn’t bankrupt. Hurtado said that he quit last week to allow for the necessary investigations on the management of Monómeros.

Read more about how the intervention of a Venezuela owned company in Colombia has become an embarrassing chapter of the Venezuelan political crisis and the strategic war to control our foreign assets: Venezuelan Foreign Asset War: Monómeros

• The IACHR’s special rapporteur for freedom of expression Pedro Vaca expressed his concern for the situation of Armando.Info journalists, Ewald Scharfenberg y Roberto Deniz. 
• The Spanish Foreign minister requested to extend invitations to Maduro’s ambassadors to the events on October 12th. They’ll also invite the representatives of the caretaker government, but as private citizens, not in an official capacity.  
• The Colombian Foreign Ministry denounced a Venezuelan drone that entered their airspace and rejected this violation of territorial sovereignty. Nicolás’s ministry denied the accusation. 
• According to Joshua Goodman, journalist of The Associated Press, Clíver Alcalá Cordones doesn’t intend to plead guilty to drug trafficking charges. In addition, if Hugo “El Pollo” Carvajal is extradited, his process could be merged with that of Alcalá Cordones.
• Delcy Rodríguez said that all banks will enter an operative pause on September 30th at 8:00 p.m., when they will adapt to the new currency redenomination. Delcy insisted this reconversion won’t affect the value of a currency that has had 14 zeroes taken away, but that it will make transactions and accounting processes easier.