As of the writing of this update (9:20 EST time), Maduro is speaking live on television. He is expected to announce, among other things, his “sacudon”, the restructuring of his cabinet.
Look to tomorrow’s update for a comprehensive breakdown of Maduro’s speech.
Charges against 46 students arrested on May 8 of this year at the Plaza Alfredo Sael in Caracas have been stayed. This means that legal proceedings against the students have stopped. The students, who’ve been held in detention since their arrest, have been released.
Three students remain in custody. They are Sairam Rivas, Manuel Cotiz and Cristian Gil. Like their 46 counterparts, the students are charged with instigation, assault and using minors in the commission of an offence. Since they face the same charges laid against the 46 freed students, they are expected to be released shortly.
“No Raw Materials” for Home Construction
Aquiles Martini, the head of the Camara Immobiliaria de Venezeula [Venezuelan Chamber of Real Estate] said today that there are no raw materials left with which to build new homes. As a result, Martini argued, the government needs to invest in production, eliminate “mafias” and strict controls, as well as introduce new laws to stimulate the real state sector.
According to Martini, the home construction sector has been contracting for 18 straight months, even though the desire is there within the private sector to build.
Martini predicts that at the current rate of contraction, the Mision Vivienda – the government’s ambitious public housing project – will be unable to meet its 2019 goal to build 3 million homes.
Maduro Calls for “Respect” for Russia, Putin
Maduro referred to the “anti-Russian” policies of the United Nations and the United States as ideologies bent on keeping emerging powers down at an address made yesterday. He also voiced his support for Russia, given the negative publicity the country and its leader – Vladimir Putin – have received in recent months due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
We raise the clear and independent voice of our homeland, Venezuela, and demand that those who demand from and harass Russia to stop their attacks against Russia, stop looking for a war with Russia.
Earlier this year, Russia invaded and annexed Crimea, a region of Ukraine. More recently, Russian military forces invaded eastern Ukraine, and are currently fighting the Ukrainian army in the region. The Russian involvement in Ukraine has been universally condemned by western democracies as an unjustified act of aggression.
During the same address, Maduro called for “respect” for Syria:
To call for respect for Russia and Syria is to call for respect for the people, respect to become and make another world, a world of equals.
Syria is three and a half years into a bloody civil war that has left at least 180,000 people dead and 4.5 million refugees. The civil war started as a popular uprising against the country’s dictator, Bashar al-Assad.
In Venezuela 