What Happened Last Week in Venezuela? 🗳️ The Oppositions Loses Space In The Ballot
16 political parties removed from the ballot, more detentions and the Auyantepui on fire.
Uphill elections
The National Electoral Council (CNE) eliminated the cards of 16 parties, including that of MAS, that of Leocenis García's party, that of Eduardo Fernández's party and those of two of the three parties (Convergencia and Movimiento por Venezuela) of the Unitary Platform that had their own cards. The Platform still maintains the MUD card and that of Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT), another member party. The cards of other 33 parties were also approved by the CNE: including five new parties, such as that of Benjamín Rausseo “er Conde del Guácharo” and that of Daniel Ceballos. However, the survival of the MUD card could be affected by a court decision. In fact, Luis Ratti –a politician close to Chavismo who has asked the government for judicial decisions against the opposition– attended the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) on Friday, before the CNE decision, to request that the Convergencia, Movimiento por Venezuela and MUD cards be eliminated.
Hours earlier, Gerardo Blyde –chief negotiator of the opposition– said that such a “closely compacted electoral schedule makes the process difficult” and that the CNE has not yet sent the invitations it announced for the electoral observation missions. “This is clearly intended to prevent them from coming on time,” he said. Furthermore, “there has also been no opportunity to sit down and discuss the monitoring and verification commission that is so needed to verify compliance with the agreement” in Barbados.
The negotiator urged the government to respect the Barbados Agreements and stop the repressive wave. Days before, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said that the United States is committing “economic and social genocide” in Venezuela through sanctions and described the Barbados Accords –signed between Chavismo and the opposition– as “a policy of blackmail and extortion.”
And there are other technical challenges, explains the journalist specialized in electoral affairs Eugenio Martínez. The audit of the database of voters eligible as members of subordinate organizations (table members, regional boards, etc.) was postponed from Friday, March 15 to Monday, March 18, since the list of parties authorized to participate in the elections had not yet been approved.
Blyde, for his part, explicitly ruled out the possibility of being a “substitute” presidential candidate. He also said that “the candidate exists and she is María Corina Machado and she will decide with the Unitary Platform what will be done from now on.”
On the other hand, El Pitazo reported that UNT, Acción Democrática and a part of Primero Justicia have pressured Manuel Rosales –governor of Zulia and the opposition’s presidential candidate in 2006– to be Machado’s replacement, who remains banned from running for office. Rosales and UNT denied these reports. However, at the beginning of March, Luis Emilio Rondón –a member of the party– said that “among our ranks is one of the best Venezuelans to be president, such as Manuel Rosales.” The name of Eduardo “El Tigre” Fernández, who is not a member of the Unitary Platform, has also emerged. In fact, Fernández traveled to Zulia to meet with Rosales.
The national coordinator of the María Corina campaign assured that daily conversations are held with other opposition figures to evaluate options: “Yes, we are meeting with the Platform, there were interesting meetings,” he said, “[Machado] will do the right thing for the country.”
Meanwhile, José Luis Alcalá Rhode –Secretary General of the Government of Zulia– resigned from his position. “I told [the governor] that I could not continue accompanying him in this administration,” he said, “Zulia and Venezuela deserve to have freedom and progress, a true change that activates the country, so my commitment from today is focused on the presidential election on July 28th. Without political change there is no future in Venezuela.”
Nicolás Maduro is also preparing for the elections: he exempted payments and fees from evangelical churches in Venezuela. The president said that “it is necessary to adopt measures to favor the constitution of non-profit civil associations of a religious nature,” in what appears to be another attempt to capture the evangelical vote and the networks of these churches.
And others are playing their own games. Associated Press reported that a charity with links to Leocenis García, an opposition politician who is not a member of the Unitary Platform and was recently authorized to run by the TSJ, hired Blue Star Strategies -Washington DC lobbyists related to the Democrats- to make his party known and approach members of Congress. The one-year contract is $180,000.
Spring of repression
The government released Vente activist and unionist Víctor Venegas, detained at the beginning of January in Barinas, on parole. However, the Public Ministry announced an arrest warrant against Edison Arciniegas, sociologist and president of the think tank tank Centers for Agri-Food Studies, for "inciting hatred" and spreading "false information through social media to cause anxiety and panic."
The opposition party La Causa R also denounced the arrest in Maturín of regional militant Whilfer Piña for publishing an alleged “death threat” against Maduro on WhatsApp and discussing an alleged insurgent plan with a defecting sergeant from the National Guard. Piña was charged with “conspiracy, association and assassination.”
A content creator was also detained by the PNB in Coro for a video in which he consulted locals about Maduro's government, reported the NGO Espacio Público. And the radio stations closures continue: Estéreo 93.9 FM, from Upata, is the most recent.
In addition, the VE Sin Filtro program of the NGO Conexión Segura y Libre reported that in Venezuela there are 85 blocked websites: including 51 media outlets, 5 human rights sites and 14 sites of political criticism.
Also, after the delivery to the United States of the Emtrasur plane with alleged links to Iran that was held in Buenos Aires, the Venezuelan government banned planes with Argentine registration from crossing Venezuelan airspace and sparked a diplomatic crisis with Argentina.
Judges, judges, judges
Three female judges will be in charge of the Investigation into crimes against humanity in Venezuela of the International Criminal Court: Reine Alapini-Gansou , María del Socorro Flores Liera and Iulia Motoc. In other latitudes, a judge in Miami reduced the sentences for money laundering of the nurse and former treasurer of the Nation, Claudia Díaz, and that of her partner Adrián Velásquez from 15 to 12 years.
The Chavista site La Tabla also reported that Juan Carlos Hidalgo Pandares was sworn in as the new vice president of the political-administrative chamber of the TSJ. He was Military Attorney General of the FANB and replaces Bárbara César Siero due to the family relationship with people involved in the Brazalete Blanco plan.
The return of sanctions is in one month
The Brazilian state oil company Petrobras sent a team of production specialists to Venezuela, specifically to Lake Maracaibo, at the request of Maduro. Petrobras hopes to expand abroad at a time when it has not had much success exploring in Brazil.
And, with the imminent return of sanctions, Iran and Venezuela are trying to rebuild an oil alliance after the South American country fell behind on oil swaps that had helped curb domestic fuel shortages.
The Auyantepui burns
A large fire is affecting the tepui Auyantepui, from which Angel Falls springs, in the Canaima National Park. Unofficially, it was reported that the fire was caused by the burning of a field near the Kamarata community. “ It was thought that the surrounding river would stop the flames, but the drought and the wind spread the fire across the savanna to the tepui ,” said writer Emiliana Duarte, “ The last fire of this magnitude that occurred in the area of Canaima and Kamarata and extended to Auyantepui was in 2013. It lasted more than a week and consumed more than 1,200 hectares of the Canaima National Park. The task of extinguishing it was impossible since Inparques did not have air support for the mobilization of personnel, so firefighting operations were stopped." Although the fire has spread to other areas of the park, at the tepui it has slowed down due to a light drizzle.
So far, Inparques –the body in charge of Venezuelan national parks– has not given official data beyond announcing the firefighters from Caracas were being sent. Meanwhile, it was announced that Rosinés Chávez –the youngest daughter of Hugo Chávez– will direct Inparques despite having no previous experience in the area. “By the 1990s Venezuela had one of the best national parks systems in the world, the principal threat to which is current government. The appointment of Hugo Chávez's daughter as the President of Inparques indicates a lack of institutionality and bodes ill for the country's parks.," said biologist Chris Sharpe.