Caracas Chronicles

Photo: Wikipedia, retrieved.

• The TSJ repeated the protocol to strip four National Assembly deputies of their parliamentary immunity, following the ANC and the imposed prosecutor general’s formula. Justice Mónica Misticchio Tortorella copied the script of previous sentences that violated 19 other deputies’ rights and the ANC gave the final approval. Jorge Millán, Hernán Alemán, Luis Stefanelli and Carlos Lozano lost their immunity. 
• The AN says that 35 deputies have been victims of unconstitutional maneuvers so far. 
• ANC-imposed prosecutor general, Tarek William Saab, said that he appointed two prosecutors to investigate an alleged conspiracy to destabilize the country last December 15th, directed by deputies Fernando Orozco and Yanet Fermín, according to Minister Jorge Rodríguez. 
• Last October, the UCAB’s faculty of Economy and Social Sciences issued a statement about the need for transparency in the presentation and debate of the country’s 2020 budget. Right on time, since the Budget Law was to be sent to the AN for debate on October (again, the National Assembly is the only institution who can do this, by law) and publication before December 15th. Reminding us yet again of how much they despise the law, Nicolás’s vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez, was late on delivering the documents (some of which were wrong,) and she just followed the procedure with the ANC instead. The only number disclosed was 252 billion bolivars. That’s in hyperinflation. The ANC, true to its purpose, approved it without debate or objections. The regime hasn’t published the nation’s budget since 2017. 
• The Caracas Metro’s president, César Vega, denied there was an accident on Tuesday: according to him, no trails derailed, it was just a train failure. Too bad that Twitter account @VEN911Oficial posted photos of the injured. They were deleted, but we have the screengrabs.
• Economist Luis Oliveros explained today that, once again, we have no cash. Banks haven’t gotten remittances in three weeks and some are paying 50,000 bolivars a dollar.
• The OAS will send a mission, led by commissioner David Smolansky, to help Venezuelan refugees in Colombia. Smolansky began today his tour in Barranquilla, with the goal of obtaining and creating a database. Deputy Miguel Pizarro will be at the Global Refugee Forum, presenting data about Venezuela’s migration crisis, to coordinate actions and better protect Venezuelan migrants and refugees.