An Average of 19 Protests A Day During 2021

The Observatorio Venezolano de Conflictividad Social registered 3,393 protests during the first quarter of the year. The UK announced sanctions on Alex Saab and Álvaro Pulido for “exploiting two Venezuelan public programs” that provide food for the poorest citizens.

Photo: EFE

  • The UK announced sanctions on Alex Saab and Álvaro Pulido for “exploiting two Venezuelan public programs” that provide food for the poorest citizens. 
  • Maduro celebrated achieving a goal that can’t be proved, giving away the 3,600,000th home from a mission that was created in 2011. 
    • Maduro said he has the infrastructure to build more and promised to build 500,000 per year. “I won’t accept the excuse of not getting things done because of the American blockade. We’ll have attacks from the empire today, tomorrow and forever.” 
    • Maduro assured that he’s happy because “all of the opposition” is going to participate in the elections in November and congratulated Jorge Rodríguez and Miranda governor Héctor Rodríguez, for negotiating with “all of the oppositions.” 
  • Maduro also said, “we’re ready to go to Mexico, to sit down with an objective, achievable agenda, to deal with all matters that must be dealt with, to reach partial agreements for peace and sovereignty.” 
  • Vice president of the 2015 Assembly Juan Pablo Guanipa ruled out the call for elections because he thinks that “it won’t solve the country’s problems.” He demanded fair conditions and an electoral calendar for a presidential election. 
  • Henrique Capriles insisted on the need to recover the vote but warned that we’ll have to fight for the results to be respected. “The big issue in the negotiation is respect for the Constitution,” he said and added that we need a “serious, incremental process that can yield results.” 
  • The Civic Forum will visit Washington in July to hold meetings with representatives of the Biden administration, Congress and the Senate. They say their agenda is a “response to the need to broaden the space for reflection and dialogue in Venezuela.” 
  • Governor Héctor Rodríguez considers that reaching an agreement with all sectors is necessary to “bring the country back to normal.” He said that every sector agrees on the need to recover the economy and public utilities. 
  • Maduro’s Assembly recognized that police officers don’t have social benefits and are deeply affected by the humanitarian emergency. 
  • CNE board member Pedro Calzadilla announced that they’ll adjust the voting system so disabled citizens can exercise their right to vote. 
  • The EU technical mission is working on a memo, said CNE board member Roberto Picón. They expect a decision by August.
  • Primero Justicia member and Alimenta la Solidaridad general coordinator Roberto Patiño announced he’ll be running for mayor of the Libertador municipality. 
  • Carlos Ocariz proposed that 3.6% of the VAT collected in Miranda is destined to improve the salaries of the state’s workers. 
  • OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro met with Freddy Guevara’s team and family members. He demanded Guevara’s immediate release. 
  • Provea and Centro Gumilla said that there were 825 alleged extrajudicial executions in Venezuela in the first quarter of 2021. 

  • The black market dollar reached the Bs.4,000,000 mark on Thursday. 
  • The agriculture sector registered the loss of 600,000 tonnes of solid foods and 480 million lts. of milk, said Juan Carlos Montesinos. This is a consequence of the fuel shortage and the sector’s lack of resources.  
  • Carlos Fernández is the new president of Fedecámaras. He said that the worst problem of our economy is the minimum income and said that the only way to deal with this and other problems is with solutions of the market and said that institutional dialogue is mandatory in designing a country that doesn’t exist today. 
  • Even though they speak of “American blockade,” Venezuela sells oil thanks to the efforts of Chinese company China Concord Petroleum Co (CCPC), according to Reuters. This company helps Venezuela access ships that transport over 20% of total exports. 
  • Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano assured that the magnicide attempt on President Duque was orchestrated from Venezuela. Nicolás’s Foreign minister Jorge Arreaza denied the accusation. 
  • The Argentinian Chamber of Deputies presented a draft resolution condemning chavismo’s “political persecution and demands for the imprisonment of Venezuelan opposition leaders.” They questioned the silence of the Argentinian government. 

Venezuelan culture is mourning the death of Guillermo Sucre Figarella, translator, critic, writer, poet, and beloved university professor. An extraordinary part of our intelligentsia. May he rest in peace, our condolences to his friends and family.

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.