Netblocks, an organization that tracks government interference with internet service, reported this morning that the Venezuelan government had “for the first time during the crisis” blocked access to Twitter, arguably the most popular social media network in the country. Netblocks also reported that the audio sharing website SoundCloud was also being restricted.
The outage lasted approximately 40 minutes, from 8:50 AM to 9:30 AM local time.
Below, the tweet:
As Netblocks pointed out in its report, the outage coincided with a tweet sent by interim president Juan Guaido containing a link to a voice message that was hosted on SoundCloud. Guaido shared the tweet at 7:57 AM local time:
#Attention
Let’s make this recording reach every Venezuelan inside and outside of our country. Let no one be kept from hearing this our instructions to the country.
Help us distribute it!
In the audio message, Guaido said that he was planning to return to Venezuela soon, and suggested that his arrival would be marked by demonstrations. Guaido said:
I want to announce that I am returning to Venezuela (…) I want to ask the country to get ready. We should be mobilized. We cannot lose this capacidad (literally “capability”, but I think Guaido meant “momentum”)….
While Guaido did not give the day of his return, he said in the message that he would do so “in the coming days”.
After having spend five days in Colombia, Guaido is headed tomorrow for Brasilia, where he is expected to meet with that country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro.
Colombia: 441 Venezuelan Soldiers Have Defected
Colombian authorities provided an update today to the number of Venezuelan soldiers who have defected into the country since Saturday, putting the number at 441. The authorities claim that the figure jumped by 85 over the last 24 hours alone.
The chart below shows the number of defectors who have been detected in Colombia since Saturday by region:
The “Oriente” region of Colombia includes the Santander and Norte de Sandander departments, which border Venezuela’s Tachira state.
The vice president of the ruling PSUV party, Diosdado Cabello, said today during a regime event that only seven soldiers have defected into Colombia since the weekend.
Diplomats Walk Out as Arreaza Takes Stand in UNHRC
Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza spoke at the United Nations’ Human Rights Council in Geneva today. As he took the podium, several diplomats walked out of the room in disapproval of the Maduro regime.
Below, a video of the diplomats walking out as Arreaza stands at the podium:
The Canadian government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted the following image:
Arreaza had a chance to meet with UN’C High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet:
Reuters: Regime Moved 8 Tonnes of Gold Out of Central Bank
Citing an opposition National Assembly deputy and three government sources, Reuters reported today that “at least 8 tonnes of gold” were moved from the vaults at the Banco Central de Venezuela (Venezuelan Central Bank) some time last week. Reuters claims that the move happened “when there were no regular security guards present at the bank”.
National Assembly deputy Angel Alvarado told Reuters that the regime plans to “sell [the gold] abroad illegally”.
Alvarado and the government sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not say where the central bank was sending the gold. They said the operation took place while central bank head Calixto Ortega was abroad on a trip.
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