Caracas Chronicles

The National Assembly approved in July Venezuela’s reentry to TIAR, to strengthen cooperation between countries in the region and elevate pressure against Nicolás. On Wednesday, 12 signatory countries voted in favor of calling the 19 countries’ foreign ministers to tackle the Venezuelan crisis in the Consultation Organization that the treaty establishes. U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo said that this ability to summon, proves that Nicolás’s government has a “destabilizing influence in the region”. Costa Rica, Chile and Peru tried, without success, to include an amendment to eliminate the explicit military action in the options that TIAR provides for tackling a crisis; even though the U.S. said that invoking the treaty doesn’t seek a military action but establishing a framework for applying more pressure to generate democratic change in Venezuela. The Venezuelan opposition is preparing a document for Foreign ministers to argue why invoking the TIAR is justified and why the Venezuelan crisis threatens peace in the entire continent. 

OAS Agenda

Before the consideration about invoking the TIAR Consultation Organization, Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo made a presentation about “the challenges of narcoterrorism and democratic institutionality” in which he reiterated the accusation against Nicolás for sheltering armed groups like ELN and FARC dissidents in our soil: “Maduro’s regime has political support and social control. These groups get protection, logistical support, training and arms in return,” he said during his long intervention. Trujillo asked 34 OAS member states to face together what he called the region’s “largest threat for democratic security and stability” with measures on the Inter American Convention Against Terrorism and other methods provided by international law. The Permanent Council approved a resolution that condemns persecution of AN deputies, withdrawing parliamentary immunity and rejects and rejects the possibility of holding early parliamentary elections. 

Void and Null?

Using big adjectives, Nicolás’s Foreign minister Jorge Arreaza released a statement yesterday condemning “a small group of countries’ infamous decisions which, aligned with American ideals of supremacy, have invoked activating a horrible instrument in the history of our continent,” the TIAR. Chavismo says that this treaty was imposed by the U.S. to “legitimize military interventions in Latin America for ideological reasons.” Arreaza said it was painful that countries that had been invaded by American troops now “stand by this kind of crime.” He called the OAS session “void and null” and said that “history and people” will judge “this undignified attitude.” 

Let’s Talk Oil

Between July and August, Venezuelan oil production dropped 43,000 bpd (5.7 % ), for a total of 712,000 bpd according to the OPEC. Since 2015, the drop has been of almost 70 %, but, according to chavismo’s figures oil production increased by 2.89 % compared to July, reaching 933,000 bpd. Meanwhile, they informed that PDVSA’s European office was moved from Lisbon to Moscow and it’s up and running. Rosneft will issue a statement after the recent Elliott Abrams’s press conference about the possibility of imposing sanctions on the company for their business with Pdvsa. Rosneft said that Abrams’s words only want to cause additional tension in the global market “which in the end affects the company’s investment and value,” but they warn that their transactions with Pdvsa are only to “guarantee the return of previous investments. 

The Non-Country

On Wednesday, there were two massive prisoner escapes in Caracas: at least 29 inmates escaped the CICPC garrison in El Paraíso and other 30 escapes PNB’s Zona 7 garrison in Boleíta. The numbers about those who’ve been taken back into custody vary, but all of them say that two of the inmates who escaped Boleíta died in the morning. 

Deputy Manuela Bolívar said that Sebin officers are persecuting local leaders of her party: “Sebin officers arrive with weapons, covering their faces and take pictures of our leaders and their families,” she tweeted, with a video showing how one of the vehicles left the premises. 

Deputy Juan Pablo Guanipa accused Nicolás Maduro and his Defense minister Vladimir Padrino López of turning into “Colombian guerrilla bodyguards” allowing them to freely move around the country. He said that in Zulia there are over 400 runways for drug trafficking and used by FARC and ELN factions. 

HIV positive patients are at risk in Venezuela for lack of antiretrovirals. In Lara, no clinic or hospital carries the treatment they need to remain stable. NGOs demand these medicines. 

Building in Contraction

Despite all the construction sector reports reporting a 95% contraction, Nicolás variety show showed a Misión Vivienda event, handing out houses. His Housing and Habitat minister, , Ildemaro Villarroel, said that they’ve produced steel rods to build “60 cities like Geneva” (15.93 km²) and suggested using the petro “so people can buy a house or land.” Nicolás said that he’ll issue instructions to the Economy Mystery for new measures regarding petro and cryptocurrency. According to him, the Colombian Foreign minister underperformed in the OAS when he said that he supports terrorist groups, but that he has the evidence that the Colombian government is trying to murder him and will present them in the UN Security Council. He celebrated the military exercises on the border and informed that they’re distributing 500,000 weapons to militia, while they coordinate their participation in the Sistema Misilístico de Defensa Terrestre Antiaérea. God have mercy on our souls.

Other Movements on the Board

Colombian General Luis Navarro, said that because of the Venezuelan maneuvers, they’re “in special alert, because on the Colombia – Venezuela border there are factors like illicit economies and armed groups that are organized to commit crimes.” 

“I disagreed with John Bolton on his attitude towards Venezuela. I think he crossed the line, a lot, and proved I was right from the beginning,” said President Donald Trump about his former national security advisor. 

Elliot Abrams said that Bolton’s resignation wouldn’t change Trump’s policy in Caracas and that it’s likely that more sanctions are coming. He reiterated his request to the EU for more sanctions on Nicolás. 

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It’s been 18 years from 9/11, when 19 terrorists from Al Qaeda kidnapped four commercial airplanes and flew two of them into the Twin Towers, another on the Pentagon and another on Shanksville, Pennsylvania. 2,976 died. Under the hashtag #NeverForget, Americans commemorated those terrible events with ceremonies, volunteers and calls for action regarding the number of first responders that died or got sick after the attacks, because of their exposure to debris and toxins in the air. The sequels of the terrorist attacks remain.