Dry tremor, wet tremor

Your daily briefing for Saturday, April 28, 2018. Translated by Javier Liendo.


At 4:45 a.m. this Friday, a magnitude 4.7 tremor shook Caracas, Carabobo, Miranda and Vargas. According to data from the Venezuelan Foundation of Seismological Research (Funvisis), the epicenter was located 20 kilometers to the northeast of Morón, Carabobo state. Shortly after, Funvisis reported a second 3.0 tremor. There was no material damage nor human losses. Completely omitting this event, Nicolás used a campaign event to order the takeover of the Hydrological Company of Mérida due to the constant water rationing and the increase in the service’s price, blaming governor Ramón Guevara for the layoffs at the Hydrological Company and for the “sabotage to the supply” of water. The company “Aguas de Mérida,” charged with supplying that state, rejected Nicolás’ statement and the expropriation order with a communiqué touching all the necessary details: water shortages are being reported all over the country due to poor policies to maintain the service. Later, a main pipeline ruptured in the La Toma sector of El Hatillo municipality, causing a landslide in the community that destroyed three houses and left another five at severe risk. The pipeline’s collapse is a tragedy revealing another: the existence of housing on top of pipelines, just because the State allowed it. Clinging to the official script, the ministries of Electric Energy, Ecosocialism and Water denounced sabotages to explain water rationings, asking the people to keep a high morale. Chavismo evades the magnitude of the water problem and the direct ties between their policies and the collapse of a service managed by loyalists instead of specialists; loyalists who enjoy impunity for their mistakes, so nothing ever improves.

#ProtestamosDeFrente

The protests called by the Broad Front for a Free Venezuela this Friday fulfilled their humble aims considering how hastily they were proposed and the lack of available information about their structure and purpose. Let’s keep in mind that the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict has a pretty detailed record of our demonstrations and that’s why they establish that there’s been a 93% increase in protests across the country, and that most of them demand social rights. Yesterday’s protests had the same pattern: demands for food, health, better salaries, medicines and supplies, essentially. Several Broad Front spokespeople insisted that they don’t seek to call for massive protests, but instead brief, focalized demonstrations, “connected” with each sector’s agenda. These protests may reduce the level of exposure to regime repression, but are they effective beyond social networks?

False dichotomies


Early in the morning, a regional campaign chief for candidate Javier Bertucci was shot, apparently by a criminal who wanted to steal his cellphone. He’s currently out of danger. Minister Vladimir Padrino López asked the Armed Forces to remain “united” and urged their members to exercise the right to vote, adding that soldiers are called to “wield the sword to preserve Venezuelan independence and sovereignty” right before explaining the two opposing models for May 20: the one he supports and another he deemed unpatriotic and treasonous. Meanwhile, Nicolás said that people will choose between him and Henri “Faltrump”, blithely admitting in El Vigía a crime established in the Law against corruption, that he uses State resources to his favor: “… for the mobilization of inauguration of public works, because we combined a didactic but constructive electoral campaign.”


He said that the crowd waiting for him in Falcón state was the biggest ever seen by Falcón’s people in their entire political history. He claimed that he’ll build 100,000 new housing units and restated that the sale of gasoline for international services supplied by Venezuela will be charged and paid in petros.

Abroad

If you want an Infinity War, it’s ours, my friends.

Naky Soto

Naky gets called Naibet at home and at the bank. She coordinates training programs for an NGO. She collects moments and turns them into words. She has more stories than freckles.