Caracas Chronicles

• On Tuesday, UCAB published its National Youth Survey 2021. There are 6,817,000 people between 15 and 29 years old in Venezuela: 
  • Half of them are part of 40% of low-income homes
  • 23% don’t work or study, compared to 37% registered in the last survey. 
  • Over 1.2 million dropped out of school, 821,000 in 2020-2021 and 313,000 did so before the pandemic. 
  • In 2013, 30% of Venezuelan youth had an associate’s or bachelor’s degree, but the figure dropped to 19% in 2021. 
  • Young men and women make up 51% of the Venezuelan diaspora in the last five years. 67% migrated alone. 
  • One of the most common reasons for dropping out of school was having to work to support families.
  • The country’s main problems for young people are the economy (47.1%), social services and politics. Their main problem is getting jobs.
  • Only half of them answered that democracy was better than any other system, while 22% thought autocracy is better.
  • 66.4% said they felt social control and have to self-censor.  
• Education Minister Yelitze Santaella said that in-person classes will take place every week and not under the 7+7 system, as had been announced weeks ago. 

The Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict registered 568 protests in September, an average of 19 protests per day: 81% were protests for economic and social rights. 

• ANC-imposed prosecutor general Tarek William Saab said that the International Criminal Court visit will serve to “evaluate the great work” that state institutions are doing. 
• The president of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, Maikel Moreno, met with the chief of the Red Cross regional delegation, Arnaud de Baecque, “as part of a series of cooperation agreements for technical humanitarian assistance.” 
• The officers that will guard the process and the campaign were sworn in today. CNE board member Pedro Calzadilla said that the CNE will become the inspector to guarantee a balanced campaign. The CNE exhorted the media to guarantee electoral options. The campaign starts on Wednesday, October 28th. Calzadilla asked for media balance and for guaranteeing that “the likeness of over 70,000 candidates may be seen equally on screens, radio stations and newspapers.” 
• Health Minister Carlos Alvarado said that an “entrance green light” will be used in malls and pharmacies starting November 1st after he met with representatives of both sectors. 
• Two FundaRedes activists were released, Omar de Dios García y Rafael Tarazona. They were arbitrarily detained in July. Javier Tarazona is still imprisoned in El Helicoide. 
• Journalist Ronald Carreño has been behind bars for a year. He denounced that the regime tampered with his file and that his trial hasn’t even started. Carreño’s health has worsened in prison. 
• Lawyer Joel García reported that Jorge Pereira, one of the CITGO-6 who was taken back to jail when Álex Saab was extradited, had a heart attack in El Helicoide.
• The demolition of the Cabimas prison started yesterday. Some changes are being made because of the ICC visit. 
• Reuters reported that a shipment of 2.1 million barrels of oil will arrive in Venezuela from Iran on Wednesday and that CITGO is in talks with U.S. officers to extend Washington’s protection. 
• The special commission appointed to investigate the irregularities in the management of Monómeros will hand their report on October 28th, with their findings and recommendations. Guaidó asked for calm since the restructuring and the external audit have been delayed because of this process. 
• Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro traveled to the border with Venezuela to see the migrant situation. 

1.4 million Venezuelans have finished the first phase of enrollment for the Colombian TPS. Immigration director Juan Francisco Espinosa said that 70% of Venezuelan migrants are between 18 and 60 years old, 3% are over 60 and 23% are minors. 52.2% are women, 47.7% are men and 0.03% are transgender or intersex. 

• Miami-Dade mayor Daniella Levine-Cava announced an alliance with the Venezuelan Embassy to help Venezuelans in the U.S. with their TPS application.

• The Spanish Supreme Court rejected a new appeal made by Hugo “El Pollo” Carvajal’s to block his extradition to the U.S. 
• Argentinian federal judge Julián Ercolini asked the Spanish justice system for the statement of “El Pollo” Carvajal, who assured that Venezuela sent 21 million dollars in suitcases for Néstor Kirchner.