A boat carrying Venezuelan migrants sank earlier today on its journey to the island of Trinidad & Tobago, reportedly killing “at least” 23 people. The news came via a Trinidadian news outlet called Daily Express, in an article that claims that the boat capsized “early” yesterday morning.
According to the Daily Express report, the boat was called “Yonaili Jose”, and it had set off from the city of Guiria in Sucre state towards Icacos, in Trinidad. The two locations are separated by a stretch of water that spans 70 kilometres, as seen in the image below:
The Daily Express also reported that the trip normally takes three-and-a-half hours to complete.
There are conflicting reports on the number of passangers that were on the vessel, how many are feared dead, and how many have been rescued. El Vistazo reported that there were 24 people aboard the ship when it capsized, while Noticiero Digital claims that the number is actually 35.
Noticiero Digital is also reporting that eleven people have been rescued so far thanks to the joint efforts of the Trinidadian navy, as well as fishermen from Sucre state.
Regime Extends “Special Schedule” Until Tomorrow
Minister of Communication Jorge Rodriguez announced today that a “special schedule” announced over the weekend affecting school and work hours will be extended until tomorrow. The schedule–which was originally meant to last until Wednesday–cuts working hours until 2:00 PM, and school hours until noon.
Below, Rodriguez’s tweet:
We’re informing all of the people that on Thursday 25/04 and Friday 26/04 we will maintain the special schedule towards the objective of consolidating the [national electrical system] [sic] which was attacked by criminal terrorism; work activities will go on until 2:00 PM and school [activities] until 12 PM. We will be victorious!
The special schedule was announced earlier this week, and follows the near total collapse of the electrical system in March. The measure is meant to reduce the load on the country’s electrical system.
323,575 Venezuelans Now Live in Spain
Spain’s Instituto Nacional de Estadistica (National Statistics Institute, INE) has released updated figures on the number of Venezuelans living in the country, pegging the figure at 323,575 as of January 1 of this year. The number represents a 27% increase from the year before.
The INE’s figure is split into two categories: individuals born in Venezuela who have a Spanish citizenship, and individuals born in Venezuela who have a foreign citizenship. When combined, the two figures add up to 323,575 individuals born in Venezuela.
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