Caracas Chronicles

#NowWhatVenezuela keeps you informed about what’s happening deep inside la patria—from headline-making events to underreported stories that provide the clearest picture of our reality. This digest is published weekly.

Join our official channel through this link.

Human Rights Watch: portraits of post-electoral terror

The latest report by international NGO Human Rights Watch, Punished for Seeking Change, offers a deep dive into many of the abuses we’ve been covering and reviewing over the past 10 months: the crackdown that followed the July 28 election fraud, the lies from Amoroso’s National Electoral Council, forced disappearances, the conditions of political prisoners and the re-victimization of their families, deaths in custody, and the arbitrary, clandestine detention of journalists and human rights defenders.

But the most striking part of the report is how it reconstructs in technical detail—using interviews with relatives and witnesses, death certificates, and social media material—the murders of nine young men carried out by colectivos and security forces between July 29 and August 4.

One of them was Isaías Fuenmayor González, a 15-year-old in San Francisco, Zulia. He wasn’t even protesting that day. He was walking home from a dance rehearsal for a quinceañera party when he crossed paths with National Guards stationed in front of a demonstration, which was close to a school that had served as a voting center on July 28, and near a PSUV office. He never made it home.

HRW was able to geolocate the scene of Fuenmayor’s death by analyzing two videos posted on social media, which show another boy carrying his body in front of that same PSUV office after 7:30 p.m. Colectivos who had shown up to assist the National Guard reportedly shot him in the neck.

Then there’s the case of Aníbal “Pimpina” Romero Salazar, a 24-year-old construction worker who was protesting in Carapita, southwest Caracas, on the afternoon of July 28. Protesters had been demonstrating and clashing with police on the Intercomunal Avenue in Antímano all afternoon. Around 7 p.m., Romero was shot in the forehead.

His death is documented in a photo showing him injured, taken 230 meters away from the crowd. It’s also captured in a YouTube video published on August 2 showing the moment he fell dead, and in a TikTok video that shows DAET officers firing weapons near a church. Maduro went as far as claiming Romero faked his own death, using a video of a man claiming to be alive and pretending to be Romero.

Another case is that of Rancés Yzarra Bolívar, a 30-year-old civil engineer, and Jesús Tovar Perdomo, 21. Both were protesting near the obelisk in Maracay when they were shot from a National Guard outpost.

More information: On Wednesday, local NGO Provea also released its 2024 human rights report, The Democratic Blackout in Venezuela. It recorded 2,224 victims of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment last year—an 88.1% increase compared to 2023. At least 60 people reported being tortured. Last year also marked an insane spike in forced disappearances—up 671.42% from 2023. And state violence by police and military forces resulted in 522 deaths.

Labor Day, with token raises

Ahead of planned Labor Day protests on May 1st, Maduro announced an increase in the “economic war bonus” for active workers, retirees, and pensioners—from $90 to $120, allegedly indexed. He implied this payment would be adjusted monthly according to the official BCV exchange rate.

As expected, he didn’t mention the official minimum wage—which remains frozen since March 2022 at under $2 a month, effectively nonexistent.

With the food bonus still at $40, Maduro claimed that the “integral minimum income” for workers now totals $160. On top of that, he announced a $5 raise for pensions, from $45 to $50—also supposedly indexed. But as El Pitazo reports, the basic food basket for a family of five currently costs $526.

“In other instances, they’ve promised similar indexing and never followed through—they just let it collapse,” said digital activist Luis Carlos Díaz on X. “And on top of that, they announce pensions in dollars, but they’re not paid in dollars. People get bolívares, printed monthly by the BCV. It’s basically monetary emission to cover payroll, which means more inflation for everyone.”

More information: Last week, the government raised the minimum fare for public transportation to 23 bolívares (about $0.25 at the unofficial rate). Now, transport unions are asking for a base fare of at least half a dollar—or roughly 43 bolívares. According to El Impulso, the 23-bolívar fare doesn’t even cover bus maintenance costs. Drivers say they’re operating at a loss. Yelmira Jiménez, head of a Caracas-based drivers’ association, told the outlet that the operational bus fleet shrank by 70% in the first quarter of 2025.

Recommended reads:

• Runrunes: Juan Requesens launches his campaign for Miranda governor with the slogan “I refuse to give up,” vowing not to move on from Edmundo González’s victory in the presidential elections.

• Crónica Uno: Residents of Antímano promote the organization of political and civic activities to overcome the apathy triggered by electoral fraud.

• Diario de los Andes: In an event in Altamira, Diosdado Cabello marked six years since the failed military uprising of April 30, 2019, also accusing “infiltrated” chavista leaders of collaborating with the rebels.

• Efecto Cocuyo: Venezuela Sin Filtro, an initiative by NGO Conexión Segura, demands answers from Movistar after the personal data of 3.2 million users—including names, phone numbers, ID numbers, and addresses—was leaked in a public online forum.