Caracas Chronicles

• Argenis Chávez resigned from the Barinas governorship and said PSUV should decide who’s the next candidate. 
• MUD candidate Freddy Superlano rejected the decision by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) of a new election in Barinas. The TSJ annulled his victory by accepting an impugnment of his candidacy. Maduro had lifted the ban on some candidates running for office in August 2020, after a political agreement. In Caracas, next to Juan Guaidó and other leaders, Superlano assured that the TSJ’s decision was a “constitutional coup”. He condemned the fact that military officers kidnapped voting tallies and delivered them one week after the election. Superlano called for a peaceful protest in Barinas on Saturday. 
• The CNE abided by the TSJ sentence and called for a new election in Barinas on January 9th, 2022. They approved a timeline and announced that parties can nominate candidates between December 2nd and December 6th. 
• Henri Falcón, a pioneer of the prêt-à-porter opposition created by chavismo, called on CNE authorities to repeat the elections in Lara, for considering that the TSJ ruling can be applied to his state. 
• Board member Roberto Picón assured that he’ll stay in the CNE: “The electoral path and negotiation are the way to re-establishing the Rule of Law (…) While I can help us get there, I’ll stay in the CNE,” he said. He demanded CNE board members make the TSJ “respect their autonomy.” 
• Josep Borrell said that the electoral observation mission will help us find a solution to our crisis, through negotiation and dialogue.
• Nicolás Maduro received Morel Rodríguez and Manuel Rosales, elected in Nueva Esparta and Zulia, respectively, in Miraflores. 
• José Gregorio Correa, deputy of Maduro’s National Assembly, assured that opposition leaders must now be in charge of newly elected governors and mayors. 

The ICU of Dr. Miguel Pérez Carreño Hospital in Caracas registered mass resignation for the abuses of the hospital’s authorities. Six doctors resigned when the chief of the critical medicine unit, Dr. Ingrid Von der Osten, was forced to retire. 

• The deadline for the regime to request differing the investigation phase of the ICC expires on Friday, December 3rd. If they do, they’ll have to share detailed information of the investigations they’ve done or are ongoing. 
• The release from prison of oil worker Hirto Hurtado was ordered 15 days ago, but the director of the Tocuyito prison and the ministry refuse to execute the order. 
• The IACHR expressed its concern for Chile expelling Venezuelan and Colombian migrants. 
• The representative of the Assembly in Australia Alejandro Martínez Ubieda said that the IPU rejected Maduro’s Assembly and reiterated their concern for severe human rights violations endured by Venezuelan deputies, according to the 154 cases documented so far. 
• The president of the Venezuelan Chamber of Construction, Enrique Madureri, said that over 1.2 million jobs have been lost in the sector since 2012. 
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported they intercepted two large groups of Venezuelan migrants coming from the border with Mexico. 
• The elections didn’t get the necessary approval in order to make the international community suspend sanctions on Maduro’s regime, since there was evidence of irregularities and abuses said ABC.

• Hugo “El Pollo” Carvajal introduced a new measure before the Spanish justice system questioning the guarantees offered by the U.S. for his extradition. 

The National Police arrested Rafael Alfredo Sarría in Madrid. He’s accused of being one of Diosdado Cabello’s middlemen. He was arrested for a fight he had with his son-in-law. As a threat, the son-in-law said he knew many facts and confidential information that would cause “great concern.” They were both released hours later but the case is still open in two courts. 

• Judge Robert Scola agreed to the prosecutor’s requests and evidence and documents presented by Alex Saab for his defense will remain sealed and the public won’t be able to access them. 
• President Joe Biden invited Juan Guaidó to a democracy summit against authoritarianism. The summit will take place on December 9th and 10th. 
• Foreign minister Félix Plasencia accused the Colombian government of committing a scam against the international community, for requesting money to help 1.8 million Venezuelan migrants. He says Colombia doesn’t use the money on helping these people and requested an audit.