Criminalizing Opinions on Social Media

Juan Carlos Alemán reported that the commission to study the reform of the RESORTE Law has been installed; they’ll also debate a Cyberspace Law. Diosdado Cabello said that every journalist covering the armed conflict in Apure has to be considered an enemy.

  • Maduro’s Assembly spokesman Juan Carlos Alemán reported that the commission to study the reform of the RESORTE Law has been installed. He said that they are considering “a full restructuring”, including tying administrative sanctions to the petro and not the taxing unit. 
    • They’ll also debate a Cyberspace Law and they assured that they’ll review the use of social media. He said that “freedom of speech is important but with responsibility. We can’t allow a social media platform being used for conspiracy against an institution.” 
    • They’ll include criminal sanctions for violating the RESORTE Law in the existing criminal laws. 
  • The CEV expressed that a vaccination plan is urgently needed in Venezuela and that
    “The people have the right to be provided prevention and adequate care”. They mourn the deaths and they stand in solidarity with the patients. They also said that “we need to find ways for social and political agreements to get vaccines for the entire population (…) We can’t wait any longer.” Hours later, VTV anchorman Barry Cartaya Zambrano said that “Venezuela has put the vaccine not as a priority, but as one of the elements.” 
  • The Espromed Bio factory will produce the unapproved Cuban vaccine Abdala, said Delcy Rodríguez. Cuban experts visited the factory to check the production conditions. 
  • The president of Bolipuertos, Irwin Ascanio, said that they’re delivering 3,650 tons of beans to Vietnam y China, allies of Maduro. This is happening while 95% of Venezuelans can’t afford the basic food basket and 10 million people need humanitarian aid to eat. 
  • The Ministry of Commerce is still promoting price controls on private gas distributors and medicinal oxygen as a victory. 
  • Tony Boza, deputy to Maduro’s Assembly presented a proposal to index the economy to the dollar: “We’re thinking that public and retired workers and the estimated public budget could be under a formula that is similar to the one the state has been using.” 
  • COVAX has sent 38 million vaccine doses to 102 countries since  February and 61 of those countries are among the poorest in the world. 
    • The vaccine hasn’t arrived in Venezuela because chavismo kicked the negotiating table after they had reached an agreement. 
  • Transporte Unido por Venezuela coordinator José Sayago asked the regime to include the transportation sector in the vaccination program and cooperate with donations of PPE gear. 
  • Vietnam Vera, vice president of the JM de Los Ríos Hospital Medical Society said that the ICU has been closed since February 2020 and there are only four specialists working. 
  • Diosdado Cabello said that every journalist covering the armed conflict in Apure has to be considered an enemy. “They are promoting hate against the FANB and the government,” he said. FundaRedes rejected the statement, saying that documenting human rights violations isn’t a crime. 
  • Sonia Medina, deputy to the National Assembly elected in 2015, assured that protective measures by international institutions are urgently required to protect Venezuelan journalists’ lives after Cabello’s threat. 
  • Mary Rodríguez, wife of political prisoner Alvaro Sánchez Negro, warned about his health and said she’s afraid for his life. Sánchez, an engineer and community leader in Chacao, has been in Yare III in a 2×2 mts. cell alongside eight more prisoners. 
  • The Venezuelan Observatory of Finance reported that the cumulative inflation in 2021 is 155.3%. Interannual inflation is 3,867%.
  • Fedeagro’s Celso Fantinel said that over $1,500 million dollars are needed to restart the agricultural sector. He insisted on the fuel shortages threatening production. 
  • When comparing GDPs across the world, Venezuela is 21% under African countries’ average GDP. 
  • A judge of the Brazilian Supreme Court ruled that the regime’s diplomats must legalize their immigration status in order to remain in Brazil. 
  • The Greek Ministry of Justice authorized a woman to take things from the Venezuelan Embassy in Athens, as compensation for being fired after she accused the chief of the chavista diplomatic mission Franklin Ramón González of sexual abuse. 
  • A group of researchers discovered a new species, an 8.5 cm lizard in the Venezuelan Amazon. They named it  Kataphraktosaurus ungerhamiltoni, reported scientific organization Provita. 

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.