Today, a judge ordered the ex-Mayor of San Cristobal, Daniel Ceballos, to stand trial for rebellion. The charges stem from an accusation made by the Public Ministry that Ceballos somehow helped to encourage the protests that have been taking place in the country since February 12.
Ceballos is currently serving a one year sentence for allegedly disobeying a Supreme Court order to put an end to the massive protests that are still taking place in his home town of San Cristobal, Tachira.
Third Party Congress Kicks Off July 26
The third PSUV party congress will take place between the 26 and the 29 of July. The vice-president of the National Assembly, Dario Vivas, said that he hopes that the congress will bring some fresh air to the party, which has recently been rocked by a series of public displays of discontent with Maduro’s leadership. According to Vivas:
We are sure that we are going to come out of this really excited, with more conviction, with clarity and with unity under the guidance of the revolutionaries.
Prior to the congress, the approximately 7,632,606 registered PSUV members will have the opportunity to vote for their congressional speakers of choice. The elected congressional speakers will then represent their respective communities at the party congress.
Arreaza Blames Corruption on Private Sector
Vice-President Jorge Arreaza address the allegations of massive corruption that have recently been leveled against the PSUV, and assured listeners that the private sector was to blame:
If there is indeed corruption inside State institutions it’s because someone from the private sector is corrupting them.
Beyond his assertion, Arreaza offered no explanation of how exactly “the private sector” might be responsible for the tremendous level of corruption with which the Venezuelan government is currently overwhelmed.
His comments come after the Comptroller of the Republic announced last week that the majority of corrupt officials belong to the PSUV, and that the list of people who have been stripped of the right to work in civil service due to corruption currently stands at about 1,500.
Just today, National Assembly deputy Nancy Ascencio (PSUV-Bolivar) announced that 174 (current and former) government officials are under investigation for corruption, and encouraged all Venezuelans to come forward with any claims of corruptions to the comptroller’s office.
Poll: 57% of Latin American Have Negative Opinion of Venezuelan Democracy
Latinobarometro, a Chilean polling firm that focuses on opinions on democracy and the economy, found that only 43% of those polled across 18 Latin American countries have a positive opinion of the Venezuelan system of democratic government.
Nicaraguans were most supportive of Venezuelan democracy (70%), and were followed by El Salvadorians (60%), Hondurans (55%), and Bolivians (47%). The rest of the countries polled had a mostly negative opinion of Venezuelan democracy.
Finally, two pictures from Venezuela today.
Universidad Central de Venezuela students sign a petition demanding the immediate release of all students and political prisoners:
From Merida, where demonstrators clashed with security forces again today:
In Venezuela 