The government continued its assault on dissenters today, as the Public Ministry cited Miguel Otero – the editor of the opposition newspaper El Nacional – along with his daughter, summoning them to present themselves before SEBIN (The Venezuelan intelligence agency) tomorrow at 11:00 AM. Otero and his daughter received the citation this afternoon. The citations were handed out in connection with the alleged plot to assassinate Maduro, the same one Maria Corina Machado and several other opposition voices have been accused of being a part of.
Maduro Vows to End Extreme Poverty
Maduro gave a speech today to address the country’s poverty crisis. The speech was given in the El Jabillito sector of Charallave, where Maduro said:
We were in Cristina’s house. Look, she’s been living there for nine months. Do you know how much her rancho [makeshift shack] cost? 30,000 bolivares. Just so you see how poverty multiplies itself, before our own eyes it multiplies, and we should… chavistas should dedicate 24 hours a day to fight to eradicate poverty in our homeland and give [people] a happy and dignified life.
(…)
It’s clear that the poverty that Venezuela has today is different from the poverty that we know in the 80s and 90s. Why? As Cristina said to me in her house, her son is studying, right? With the poverty of 20, 30 years ago, education did not reach poor children… her two year old daughter is also entering school, the Mercal Mission [the state-run food subsidy program] has made her chubby – you saw her, really chubby.
Maduro also announced a plan to build missions to tackle poverty in some particularly hard hit areas, and asked the opposition to restrain itself and cooperate with the program, saying:
Don’t let the right sabotage, burn or try to stop the installation of these socialist mission bases!
(…)
[The opposition] don’t do anything for education, it’s all pomp and show from the governor [Capriles].
Maduro also committed his government to eradicating extreme poverty by the year 2018, saying:
In 2018 I will be happy to say that we have achieved our goal: zero misery in Venezuela!
Government sources announced earlier this year that both poverty and extreme poverty had increased in Venezuela in 2013. Poverty rates shot up from 21.2% to 27.3%, while extreme poverty rates increased from 7.1% to 9.8%
In Other News
Speaking on the march planned for tomorrow throughout Venezuela, Maria Corina Machado said that it was “time to advance our struggle“. She qualified the start of the protests back in February 12 as an “awakening”, and asked all of her supporters to continue the struggle on the streets, peacefully.
The protests tomorrow have been titled by Voluntad Popular “Liberate Venezuela“. Freddy Guevara, Voluntad Popular’s political coordinator, asked all participants to wear white. Freddy also sent out a written message, saying:
This Sunday, June 8, starting at 10:00 Am we will meet in Caracas at the Plaza Brion in Chacaito to define from all of the constitutional mechanisms to build the constitutional #LaSalida [The Exit], in order to transition towards democracy.
A National Guard building – possibly a fuel depot – was on fire in Ureña, Tachira earlier this afternoon. It is unclear if the fire was set deliberately:
Finally, a picture of a road near Carayaca, in Vargas state:
Residents have been asking the government to fix the road for the past four years. National Assembly deputy Bernardo Guerra said:
Neither 15 days, nor 4 months, nor 4 years have been enough to finish the repairs which affect more than 20,000 people in the area.
Repairs to the road have been bogged down by disorganization at every level of government, as funds that have already been approved by the National Assembly have failed to reach the affected area.
In Venezuela 