Caracas Chronicles

• ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan met with Maduro after a three-day visit to Venezuela that the public only found out about yesterday. 
  • He announced they agreed that the ICC could open an office in Caracas, and the regime will approve visas for his team, hold meetings with regime officials, and international organizations and that chavismo will provide technical assistance and hold a high-level conference in 2023. 
  • Despite violating the human rights of millions of people, Maduro assured that they’re interested in “having human rights prevail” and getting justice and added that by having an office in Caracas, they’ll have a “more efficient dialogue.” 
  • International law expert Mariano de Alba, thinks Khan is prioritizing building a cooperation relationship with authorities, which doesn’t mean the ICC can’t get more information on crimes against humanity. Crime

Read more about what to expect from the visit of the ICC Chief Prosecutor

• A video of Assembly deputy Pedro Carreño went viral today. He says that the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) is a mess and assured there are two people imposing decisions even though they aren’t judges. “They say there are 34 justices, not 32, that there’s a 33rd judge making all decisions. There’s one more lady that, with the appointment, decides when it comes into force, when they’ll be sworn in (…) Both of them should be in jail,” he said but didn’t reveal the women’s identities. Carreño criticized Maikel Moreno and Marjorie Calderón: “Like the Titanic: the ship was sinking and it was all about applause, achievement, victories. And the corruption, and everything that’s going on in our justice system,” emphasized Carreño. 
• Venezuela and North Korea signed a memorandum of agreement for sports cooperation, to support training for citizens. 
• The National Assembly approved the reform of the law against corruption, “to be upheld with rigurosity, strength and the necessary fierceness to protect public assets and money,” said Jorge Rodríguez.
• On International Day of Trans Visibility, LGBTQIA activists protested in Plaza Caracas to demand guarantees for trans people’s right to identity. 
• Agro producer Robert Maldonado denounced GNB officers in Anzoátegui punished producers for refusing to be extorted and threw their produce out on the street, stepping on it and leaving it under the sun for seven hours. He explained that every truck traveling from Táchira to Anzoátegui has to go through 80 checkpoints, which forces producers to pay cash or give some food.

• University workers are still protesting and demanding a review of their salaries. They insist on this new adjustment violating the collective bargaining contract. 
• A survey of the private sector carried out by the Venezuelan Financial Observatory revealed that, on average, the minimum wage is $101 in the sector and payments in dollars are more common every day. 

Electricity experts of NGO Activos por la Luz warned that Guri is working at half of its installed capacity, which affects the power supply. Guri should be producing 13,580 MV but it’s producing 8,000 MW. 

• INAC president Juan Manuel Teixeira said that Conviasa will add new international routes to Argentina, Chile, Peu, Ecuador and Spain. He didn’t say when. 
• In a hearing at the U.S. Senate, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary for public diplomacy Kerri Hannan, accused Russia of wanting to export the Ukrainian crisis to the continent through its ties with Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. 
• NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg assured Russia isn’t withdrawing but reorganizing. The U.S. released reports of its intelligence services, suggesting that Putin receives fake or incomplete information from his advisors about the war, which has created tensions. The U.S. sanctioned 21 tech companies and 13 people for aiding Russia. President Joe Biden ordered the release of one million barrels of oil per day for six months to respond to the increase in energy prices. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned the Australian Parliament: “If Russia isn’t stopped now, there’s a possibility that other countries will follow in its footsteps.” 
• Almost 4.1 million Ukrainians have fled the country, reported the UNHCR. 
• Russian troops have forcefully deported 45,000 Mariupol residents to occupied regions and stole 14 T of humanitarian aid that had been delivered to Melitopol.