Caracas Chronicles

• Maduro met with the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Monday. Kharim Khan arrived on Sunday for a three-day visit. “There’s nothing triumphant about this visit and it’s done within the framework of the competencies of the ICC prosecutor and a preliminary investigation on crimes against humanity,” said human rights lawyer Alí Daniels. He thinks that this visit would entail a more thorough compilation of the case and because of it, Khan’s statement on the preliminary report could be delayed and won’t take place in December 2021. Families of political prisoners protested and asked to be heard by Khan. 
• Humberto Prado warned that the regime will try to show a country with a solid and independent justice system, and emphasized that cooperation by the Venezuelan State can’t be considered genuine because of the constant human rights violations. The last-minute legal reforms don’t tackle the deep-rooted problems, especially in the processes occurring for political reasons. In November 2020, Khan’s predecessor Fatou Bensouda, said that there were reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity had been committed in Venezuela. 
• The regime authorized all aviation operations in Venezuelan airports during the total flexibilization that started on Monday, said Minister of transportation, Hipólito Abreu. 
• Maduro’s commerce minister, Dheliz Álvarez, announced the start of the “access traffic light,” a system that could exclude many citizens in a country that hasn’t guaranteed the vaccine for all of its population. 
• The president of the National Restaurant Chamber, Iván Puerta, said that 400 stores had registered for the COVID-19 access traffic light, which will be supervised by SUNDDE and will cross-check ID card numbers in the Patria system with the person’s vaccination status. 
• Médicos Unidos warned there aren’t enough public labs to diagnose COVID-19 and challenged the Health Ministry to publish the list of places where Venezuelans can get tested for free. They denounced the high cost of tests in private labs: PCR tests start at $60; the antigen test starts at $30, and the COVID-19 profile at $40.
• The National Electoral Council (CNE) board of authorities presented the Media Monitoring Room, from which 25 people will evaluate content and propaganda spread on traditional and social media. 

The CNE identified violations in electoral propaganda during the first few days of the campaign, said CNE board member Pedro Calzadilla, but he didn’t say which candidates or parties had violated the rules or whether or not they’ll be sanctioned. 

• CNE board member Enrique Márquez said that over “2,000 fiscales electorales” will be deployed to monitor candidates if are abiding by the rules during the campaign.
• A team of 28 journalists is participating in Monitor Venezuela, to cover the electoral process in November. The project is supported by UCAB, Súmate and the National Press Workers Guild (SNTP). The project seeks to “defeat disinformation.” 
• Álex Saab’s arraignment was postponed till Monday, November 15th. His lawyers expect to meet with him in jail soon since he already completed his mandatory COVID-19 quarantine. 
  • The office of the prosecutor asked to disregard seven of eight counts related to money laundering, and only prosecute him for conspiracy to commit money laundering, based on guarantees made to the Cape Verdean government. The Miami court dropped the charges. 

• Journalist Roberto Deniz explained that this was negotiated during the extradition process, because every one of the eight counts would potentially mean 20 years in prison, which is the maximum sentence allowed by Cape Verde in cases of extradition. This confirms that Saab’s rights have been respected. 

The president of the Federación de Productos Medicinales y Cosméticos, Lily Rincón, said that they’ll take the case to the ILO, to denounce the violation of pharmaceutical workers’ rights: “Some of our workers’ children are going hungry,” she said. 

• The World Food Program intends to expand its activities in the country by the end of the year, to Barinas, Trujillo and Yaracuy. They’d be distributing food to over 75,000 people in 700 schools. The WFP intends to include more states, like Anzoátegui, Delta Amacuro and Monagas, by the first part of 2022.  
• Ambassador Fernando Gerbasi died in exile yesterday, he was a great diplomat, always at the service of our country. May he rest in peace. 
• Venezuela is the main asylum petitioner in the world, according to the Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económico. 
• Venezuela took the last place among 139 countries in the Rule of Law Index, elaborated by World Justice Project. 
• Kristina Rosales, the Spanish spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, said that Venezuelans must have the right to elect their leaders in free and fair elections. She said that Joe Biden’s government will carefully watch the November election.