Dictatorship Nostalgia as a Campaign Platform

Former political prisoner Daniel Ceballos posted a questionable campaign video where he flattered Venezuelan dictators. Maduro’s regime arbitrarily detained nurse Ada Macuare for demanding better wages and a vaccination plan. She was charged with terrorism on Tuesday.

Photo: Noticiero Digital

  • Former political prisoner Daniel Ceballos posted a questionable campaign video where he flattered Venezuelan dictators and many social media users criticized how he described the dictators’ “qualities.”
    • Several leaders of Ceballos’s party, Voluntad Popular, requested that he be to expelled from the party. 
  • The prêt-à-porter opposition candidate for Miranda, David Uzcátegui, is using regular events of Caracas mayorships for his personal campaign. On Tuesday afternoon, he justified the attendees’ lack of enthusiasm with “lack of food” when talking about citizens who were there to get medicine. 
  • The special committee that claims to be investigating “actions against the Republic” perpetrated by the National Assembly elected in 2015, published a list of names of deputies who would have to attend a hearing presided by José Brito, a former opposition deputy. Brito, who’s been accused of corruption many times, said the deputies will have to testify on cases of mismanagement in Citgo and Monómeros, among others. 
  • The delegate commission of the 2015 Assembly approved an agreement backing UNESCO’s request to come to Venezuela and assess the environmental impact of illegal mining in Canaima. 
    • Deputies warned that this action is urgent because there’s “endangered heritage.” 
    • They exhorted the UN and UNESCO to protect organizations and people providing information on environmental issues and human rights like Provea, SOS Orinoco, and World Heritage Watch. 
    • These organizations have denounced that illegal mining has destroyed over 22,000 hectares, that entire forests have disappeared, and that mercury contamination has affected the water, fauna, and plant life. 
    • Deputies also debated the severe gas shortage in the country. 
  • Regime officials mocked Venezuelan boxer Eldric Sellas, who participated as a refugee in the Olympics and doesn’t have a country to go back to. They made fun of his defeat and also attacked the UNHCR. 
  • Tarek William Saab reported an arrest warrant for Alfredo Rodríguez, director of Banda Show Caracas, for sexual abuse against teenagers who are part of the band. 
  • There have been 194.6 million cases of COVID-19 and 4.1 million deaths in the world. 
  • “They’re dying like dogs,” said family members of the COVID-19 unit patients at Barinas’ Razetti Hospital, because of lack of supplies and personnel. 
  • The Maduro regime arbitrarily detained nurse Ada Macuare for demanding better wages and a vaccination plan. She was charged with terrorism on Tuesday. 
  • Over 100 NGOs demanded prioritizing the safety and right to life of people during special security operations. 
  • Monitor de Víctimas counted 599 homicides in Caracas in 2020, 204 of which were cases of excessive use of force. 
  • There were protests against the fuel shortage in several states. Chavismo said that they’re “in the last phase of restarting El Palito refinery” which will “definitely solve the fuel problem,” said Manuel Páez, a member of PSUV who pretends to be a union leader even though he doesn’t defend workers. 
  • The president of the chavista version of political party AD, Bernabé Gutiérrez, said that the prêt-à-porter opposition is ready to dialogue in Mexico and that they’ll propose Luis Eduardo Martínez and Timoteo Zambrano as their representatives. 
  • Juan Carlos Montesinos, president of the Venezuelan Association of Family Agriculture, reported that the price of food increased by 1,600% during the first semester of 2021, mainly because of fuel shortages. 
  • The black market dollar closed at 4,182,830 bolivars on Tuesday, according to the platform En Paralelo Vzla. 
  • Colombian President Iván Duque reiterated his call on the U.S. to declare Maduro’s regime as a promoter of terrorism. 
  • Colombian citizen Alex Saab gave testimony against the general prosecutor and the prime minister of Cape Verde, right as the court is about to rule on his extradition. 
  • Chavismo asked the international community to mediate for ending the sanctions and demanded for “respect for our sovereignty” in Rome. 

On Tuesday, the rector of Simón Bolívar University Enrique Planchart died. Authorities, professors, alumni, and students are mourning his loss. May he rest in peace.

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.