The leader of the La Causa R party, Andrés Velásquez, began a tour to urge people to participate in the primaries and also seeks to dismantle the falsehoods of Chavismo about an economic recovery in the country
Text: Francesca Diaz / Mail of the Caroni
With the slogan “Burst the Bubble”, La Causa R will tour different states of the country to, in the words of the leader Andres Velasquezstripping the discourse of Chavismo that seeks to manipulate the population to make them infer that the country is fixing itself.
Maracaibo, Falcón and Aragua will be the first destinations for Velásquez and his travel companion Alfredo Ramos. Under the premise that 90% of Venezuelans living in poverty are excluded from the honeys of the “bubble” that represents economic recovery; The political leader asserts that this visit will seek to motivate citizens to eradicate the root problem, through electoral participation in the opposition primaries, which seek to determine who will be the leader who will face Maduro in the 2024 elections.
* Read: Andrés Velásquez warns that the opposition has not learned anything in 20 years of Chavismo
“Venezuela is not fixing itself”
Referring to the campaign slogan, Velásquez argued that “Venezuela is not getting ready because they have installed still lifes. That is a bubble that we have to break to leave Maduro without a speech. Whoever comes out to say that Venezuela is fixing itself is ignorant and an ally of Maduro. Venezuela is not fixing itself. A country with 94% poverty cannot be fixed.
The party has proposed January 23, 2023 as a tentative date for the opposition primaries. Although he did not state whether there is progress regarding the regulations for this election, he confirmed that, until now, the conditions are the exclusion of the National Electoral Council, manual voting and the participation of the Venezuelan diaspora.
Venezuelan industry begs for the rescue of the private sector
Proposing a tentative date, defining three lines of action and allying with the interim government represented by Juan Guaidó, have been some of the political actions of La Causa R ahead of the 2024 presidential elections. Time is short and under the leadership of Velásquez, a former trade unionist and a native of Bolívar state, call themselves the workers’ party.
The first proposal points to the economy, a sector in which they propose the release of oil and the privatization of the industrial park of Guayana. The purpose of privatization is to promote foreign investment, which is the only alternative to rescue the country’s industrial engine, whose administration has been in the hands of Chavista governors for almost two decades.
Private capital
Petróleos de Venezuela, Sociedad Anónima, declared itself in default since 2017 and the companies in Guayana work at barely 5% of their capacity, consequently, private capital is the only thing that could return productivity to Bolívar state.
On the subject, Nicolás Maduro announced on the national network that he will offer shares of companies that are in the hands of the State on the stock market, which translates as a discrepancy with the violation of private property promoted by Hugo Chávez, an administration that appropriated at least 5 thousand productive companies to, after changing their name, send them directly to bankruptcy.
About the sale of CVG shares, Velásquez assures that it is about “makeup and watering down” | Photo: Archive
CVG actions
– What do you think of the presidential announcement regarding the sale of shares of public companies such as Cantv, Corpoelec and the industries of Guayana?
– Makeup and water. Bankrupt companies like the companies in Guayana, with so many labor problems raised, unproductive and assaulted by corruption… Who is going to want to have a shareholding of 5% and 10%? That is nonsense. What they will want is to associate some of the members of the new madurista oligarchy.
“Opacity has taken over the daily work of basic companies, even the spreadsheets that in other years broke down the earnings of workers have become surreptitious material,” he questioned. Despite the lack of official data, according to the general coordinator of the investigative commission of basic companies, all companies are bankrupt.
– The Cause R has proposed to privatize the companies of Guayana, in that case, do you think that Maduro’s initiative is correct?
– What you are proposing is not a privatization to seek capital, what you are doing is a caricature. You are talking about 5% and 10%. That’s not serious. What capitalist is going to come to invest in the companies of Guayana, in the state they are in, to associate themselves with Maduro for that percentage? We have to change the government. Here there is no rule of law, there is no legal certainty, there are no institutions or guarantees. There is a general state of corruption: money coming in, money going to be stolen. Rather, without freedom and democracy there is no possibility of development.
Velásquez: the bonus is discriminatory
The party’s second line of action is the equalization of the minimum wage with the basic food basket, which ranges between $380-$400, while public stipends barely reach $40. Likewise, the problem of pensions has been reiterative in the political discourse of Causa Errista.
On May 1, the Maduro administration promised to grant a bonus of 10,000 bolívares for people who retired in the period between 2018-2022, because this group suffered the effects of the “economic blockade.” In this regard, the political leader believed that taking into account only 120,000 retirees is a discriminatory action.
“That has nothing to do with pensions. That has to do with an insensitive government that bankrupted the country and mistreats all retirees in Venezuela. Giving a bonus to a small group and leaving the rest out is a position that does not agree with the sentiment of retirees. It’s not fair to do it this way. It is not fair to do it for a small group and leave the rest out, “said Velásquez.
The value of pensions is set at 130 bolivars, which translates into a retirement that is not enough to pay for medicines or basic food. Likewise, the Hospitalization, Surgery and Maternity service enjoyed by retirees from basic companies is inoperative, leaving many older adults without the possibility of medical care.
– You have promised to equate wages to the basic food basket; however, companies do not have the capital to increase workers’ wages. Is it really a promise that can be kept?
– Yes, but changing the economic model. Making the country productive. Pushing forward and giving the social value that work has. The Cause R is the workers’ party, we are interested, above all else, in creating decent work. Provide decent salaries and pensions. We have 60% unemployment in Venezuela and we can improve this by strengthening industry, technology and tourism, these are the three great pillars to strengthen our economy.
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