Caracas Chronicles

• Vice president Delcy Rodríguez announced that commercial activity between Venezuela and Colombia will restart on Tuesday, October 5th, after they take the last container the regime put on the border to block the entrance of humanitarian aid in February 2019. Delcy said that the governments had a “shared but differentiated responsibility” in the matter. 
• The protector imposed by the PSUV in Táchira Freddy Bernal was at the Simón Bolívar Int. Bridge, and after Delcy emphasized that opening the border required more vaccination on both sides, he responded that 44% of the population on the border has been vaccinated, even though there isn’t an authority capable of confirming that figure. They still haven’t moved containers on other bridges on the border, and the ones they moved from the Simón Bolívar Bridge were moved by the Santander government and the industrial, transportation, and commercial sectors of the area. 
• President Iván Duque assured that his country is willing to start an “organized process” to guarantee commercial transit with Venezuela. “But I’ll be very clear, this won’t be done poorly and it won’t happen immediately,” he said and added that his border has been open since June 2nd and that humanitarian transit was always allowed. 
• FEDECÁMARAS president Carlos Fernández considers that the “fiscal deficit in Venezuela doesn’t respond to immense public expenditure, but to the low income” and added that in order to alleviate the crisis and face hyperinflation “we must focus on how to stimulate the economy.” He highlighted that the private sector did better this year, “it’s going to be 1% bigger than in 2020.”

Read more about Carlos Fernández Gallardo explanation on how the private sector can solve many of the population’s most urgent problems: ‘Economic Solutions Shouldn’t Be Held to Who Gets the Political Win’

• The Banco Central de Venezuela injected 50 million dollars to invest in the stock exchange, said vice minister William Castillo on Twitter, confirming the BCV intervenes in the market and influences supply and demand to artificially impede the increase of the price of the dollar. The dollar closed at 4.39 bolivars. 50 million dollars, that’s an interesting figure that proves there’s an economic crisis and how vulnerable the exchange rate is. One decade ago, the BCV liquidated 100 million dollars every day. 

Read more about how the stock market is changing in Venezuela: The Caracas Stock Exchange: an Investment Oasis or a Mirage?

• PDVSA exports dropped 34% in September, the lowest level in a year. Reuters reported a lack of diluents since August. 
• The National Electoral Council asked institutions participating as observers in the election to not interfere in the country’s affairs, “especially in the public powers exercising their competences,” and to abide by the sovereignty principle. Where does this warning come from? 
• A group of deputies of the 2015 Assembly said the November election isn’t constitutional because there are no conditions to participate. 

• Stalin González said that “November 21st is a way to organize and see the future and manage to end the crisis for Venezuela.” He warned that “it’s a difficult road” because these aren’t “the best conditions”. He isn’t a candidate in this election he’s promoting. 
• Mérida governor Ramón Guevara said that he hasn’t received resources to supply healthcare centers (16 hospitals and over 260 outpatient clinics) despite the pandemic, a method used by the regime to restrict the opposition’s capability to govern. 

The Pandora papers, a new ICIJ investigation, registered how many important people have hidden their money in the last few decades. They revealed that Venezuela is the seventh country with the most inhabitants in tax havens, with over 1212 Venezuelans who own companies having money in these countries and 863 companies with Venezuelan beneficiaries.