Briefing

No Country for Us Women

Among other news, feminist organizations protested in Caracas to demand security and justice for victims of gender violence.

Naky Soto

Photo: José Daniel Ramos / El Diario

  • On Tuesday, feminist organizations protested in Caracas to demand security and justice for victims of gender violence. 
    • Several spokeswomen said the State takes action if it ever does, only after women are murdered. 
    • According to the Digital Observatory of Femicide, there were 20 femicides in Venezuela in January 2022: 10% of the victims were under 18 and one of them was pregnant. 
    • Even though chavismo has used feminism as a pillar, there isn’t one single indicator that points to women being better than 23 years ago. 
    • While protesters asked for labor and reproductive rights and protection, the Ministry of Women only tweeted photos and said that Venezuela “is feminist” thanks to Hugo Chávez and Maduro. 
    • There isn’t a single factual achievement that chavismo can show beyond its discourse. 
    • Foro Penal demanded the release of 14 female political prisoners. Those who have been released were victims of torture and other violations of their rights. 
  • On Monday night, Maduro gave his version of the meeting with high-ranking American officials. He announced the reactivation of the negotiation process, which had been suspended in October 2021 because of Alex Saab’s extradition to the U.S. He said this time, the process will be broader and more inclusive, so we expect more actions with his tailor-made opposition. On Tuesday, U.S. press secretary Jen Psaki reiterated that “the conversations are ongoing” and that they include managing the release of American prisoners in Venezuela, but the New York Times reported that the regime released one of the CITGO 6, Gustavo Cárdenas. Then, Telesur anchor Madelein García said that the measure also benefited José Alberto Fernández.
  • National Assembly deputy Francisco Torrealba expects the dialogue process to include other sectors, “where the G4 isn’t the only sector that’s considered, but also the different expressions of the opposition in the country,” he said. 
  • The Armed Forces reported that they “dismantled and destroyed” an alleged center for manufacturing explosives “with over 1000 kg of gunpowder and chemicals” in Apure. 
  • In Falcón, they reported that they’ve seized 658 bricks of marijuana and cocaine and that nine people have been arrested. 
  • NGO Sin Mordaza presented the results of their self-censorship survey in Venezuela, where 700 people were surveyed: 93% considered they can’t freely exercise their right to freedom of expression and 26% have never felt safe when expressing their opinion. 29.4% considered they’ve done some self-censorship and 30.1% said that they almost always self-censor on social media. 
  • In 2021, there were 42 incidents between retentions and arbitrary detentions of journalists and private citizens in diffusion and free access to information.  There were 87 threats, harassment and aggressions and 39 traditional news outlets were shut down and 21 digital outlets were blocked on the internet. 
  • Espacio Público documented 31 violations of freedom of expression in Venezuela during February, like censorship, administrative restrictions and intimidation. 
  • A Venezuelan citizen living in Miami, Jorge Nóbrega, pleaded guilty to receiving payments from the regime and providing services for the fleet of Sukhoi, violating U.S. sanctions. 
  • The U.S. Department of Justice accused two Venezuelan prosecutors of money laundering and receiving bribes in exchange for not charging other people with their crimes. If Daniel D’Andrea Golindano and Luis Javier Sánchez Rangel are declared guilty, they could face severe sentences. 
  • The UN registered 474 dead civilians in Ukraine, among which were 29 children, and 861 injured. There are two million refugees. 
  • McDonald’s temporarily shut down 850 restaurants in Russia. Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Starbucks also announced they’re closing their operations. 
  • Ukraine started evacuating civilians and the government denounced diplomatic missions are being bombed. President Joe Biden announced barring Russian oil and gas imports and Putin signed a decree establishing “special economic measures” prohibiting exporting products and raw materials. 
  • The IAEA said that the systems that monitor nuclear material in Chernobyl have stopped transmitting data. 
  • “We won’t give up, but we need help,” said Ukrainian president Volodymir Zelenskyy before the British Parliament. He reiterated the need for a no-fly zone and closing the airspace to any military flights. 

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.

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