Briefing

Vaccines At Risk in Venezuela

The day after chavismo announced that COVAX vaccines by AstraZeneca were forbidden, Fedecámaras president Ricardo Cusanno presented a vaccination plan that’s awaiting Maduro’s approval after months of negotiation; Provea said that Maduro is forbidding AstraZeneca for political reasons, while the Human Rights Council pushed for a resolution to guarantee universal access to the vaccine.

Naky Soto
  • The day after chavismo announced that COVAX vaccines by AstraZeneca were forbidden, Fedecámaras president Ricardo Cusanno presented a vaccination plan that’s awaiting Maduro’s approval after months of negotiation. 
    • On Monday, Cusanno had said that the plan hadn’t been approved, but three days later he said they’d be importing six million doses in phase one, 80% for workers of the private sector and 20% for vulnerable sectors. 
    • They’d be entitled to determine which vaccine to import. The proposal was designed by Meditron, the National Academy of Medicine and NGO Médicos Unidos. Cusanno reiterated that “political agreements are necessary for the national vaccination plan to be successful.” 
  • Many Venezuelans rejected chavismo’s position regarding COVAX. The president of Caracas’ Nurses Guild Ana Rosario Contreras demanded that the doses be allowed into the country and to guarantee the right to life. Doctor and deputy Dinorah Figuera condemned chavismo’s manipulation of the entrance and management of vaccines and demanded that they stop playing with Venezuelans’ health. 
  • AstraZeneca  is 75% efficient against COVID-19, said the lab after they updated the data from a clinical trial in the U.S., Peru and Chile. 
  • Provea said that Maduro is forbidding AstraZeneca for political reasons, while the Human Rights Council pushed for a resolution to guarantee universal access to the vaccine, 
  • The National Center for Bioethics warned about the risks that citizens participating in trials for vaccines Soberana 02 and Abdala would be exposed to. The regime announced that they’d arrive from Cuba in April and be tested on Venezuelan citizens. “We’ll be vaccinating with Abdala in July (…) We’ll vaccinate the entire education sector in April and May,” said Nicolás on Thursday about a product that is still in the early phases of clinical trials. 
  • On Thursday, Dr. Yelitza Castillo and her brother Dr. Rafael Castillo died. Dr. Alejandro Crespo said that this week, at least four doctors have died per day, which means it isn’t true that most of the healthcare sector has been vaccinated. 
  • ANC-imposed general prosecutor Tarek William Saab said that they’ll start an investigation for “kidnapping” funds abroad. Saab said that there are 25 ongoing investigations against Guaidó and other members of the opposition. 
  • Five days after the first clash in La Victoria, Apure State, Jorge Rodríguez condemned the events and said that he won’t allow “criminal armed groups” to threaten stability. 
    • He didn’t say anything about the 3,000 Venezuelan citizens who have been forcefully displaced. 
  • The electoral nomination committee accepted seven of the 46 claims presented against the candidates to the CNE board of authorities, said Giuseppe Alessandrello who presides the commission. There are now 67 potential candidates.
  • Maduro assured that schooling rates grew by 10% during the pandemic, a figure that can’t be proved and that lacks coherence considering the decaying national infrastructure. 
  • Laser Airlines announced that tickets issued starting March 30th will include 60 dollars for the PCR test upon arrival in Maiquetía with Casalab, just because chavismo wants it so. 
  • Up to 20,000 tonnes of food and produce go to waste in Venezuela because of fuel shortages. 
  • Infobae published new information about how Diego Armando Maradona benefited from selling Casillo brand food to Corpovex. The voice messages from Matías Morla to Diego Maradona talk about payments in gold and confirm Maradona’s role. He got up to 300,000 euros in an account in the UAE. 
  • Former director of a Swiss bank Matthias Krull, detained for a corruption scheme and money laundering cases for up to 1.2 billion dollars involving former PDVSA executives, had his sentence reduced from ten to three and a half years in prison for cooperating with the U.S. 
  • Argentinian Foreign Minister Felipe Solá was asked by the U.S. about their decision to leave the Lima Group, and that he told them they merely formalized their exit from the Lima Group because Argentina is part of the EU’s Contact Group. 
  • Venezuelans entering Brazil can present any form of ID even it has expired to apply for residence in Brazil, said on Thursday the Ministry of Justice. 
  • A UN report on drug trafficking in the world in 202 warned the Sinaloa cartel is operating in Venezuelan territory. JIFE said that they’re operating from Zulia with help of Colombian guerrilla group ELN.

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.

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