Caracas/Washington/Delcy Rodríguez, the Chavista leader who assumed power after the arrest of Nicolás Maduro, is celebrating one hundred days at the head of Venezuela under the tutelage of the United States, with an agenda focused on reforms to attract investments, while criticism persists over human rights and doubts about the legal framework of her management in the absence of an electoral calendar.
Rodríguez’s promotion has given way, according to analysts consulted by EFE, to changes in strategic sectors such as oil and mining, aimed at making the legal framework more flexible and facilitating the arrival of foreign capital, in an attempt to reactivate an economy hit by years of crisis.
These reforms have been accompanied by announcements of fiscal and tax adjustments and the promise of a “responsible” salary increase, in a context of protests by workers demanding improvements in their income amid persistent inflation and deterioration in purchasing power.
In parallel, Rodríguez has promoted a reconfiguration of the Executive, with changes in the cabinet and in key areas of the State, in an attempt to adapt the Government structure to a new political and economic scenario after the departure of Maduro.
One hundred days after his arrival to power, one of the main sources of tension continues to be the legal basis for his mandate and the absence of a date for elections.
One hundred days after his arrival in power, one of the main sources of tension continues to be the legal basis for his mandate and the absence of a date for elections. According to the documentation recorded by Rodríguez’s lawyer in the United States, he plans to run in future elections.
Rodríguez registered on Tuesday the lawyer Jihad Smaili, with an office in California, to represent her before the US Justice, in accordance with the Registry of Foreign Agents (FARA, in English), which US legislation requires of lobbyists who work in the country for foreign people or governments.
According to that document, Smaili will represent Rodríguez in pending and future litigation related to the state oil company Pdvsa, its subsidiary Citgo and creditor claims.
The lawyer will also provide daily advice on matters related to the White House and the State Department, including recommendations to “strengthen and promote the relationship for the benefit of the Venezuelan people.”
The Vente Venezuela party has demanded that Parliament evaluate “the existence of an absolute absence” of Maduro
The contract also includes services related to “the future political campaign”, that is, “its participation in the next presidential elections in Venezuela”, as well as efforts aimed at lifting sanctions.
Meanwhile, the Vente Venezuela party, led by opposition leader María Corina Machado, has demanded that Parliament evaluate “the existence of an absolute absence” of Maduro, which, it maintains, would force elections to be called “in the following 30 days of said declaration.”
In its ruling of January 3, the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) left the final legal classification of this absence in the hands of “other State bodies”, without setting deadlines for an eventual electoral process.
In this context, former ambassador and professor Sadio Garavino warned EFE that for “a long time” the Constitution “has not been respected” in Venezuela, so he did not rule out that possible changes respond to “political reasons” or external “decisions.”
Without committing dates, the president of Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, stated last March that there will be elections, but stressed that “the most important thing right now is the economy.”
Another aspect that marks these first hundred days is the situation of human rights, where organizations and experts warn of limited changes.
Another aspect that marks these first hundred days is the situation of human rights, where organizations and experts warn of limited changes.
For the lawyer and co-director of the NGO Access to Justice, Alí Daniels, although there is “a certain openness in terms of freedom of expression”, this “is very limited”, since “there continue to be blockades of media portals”, “repression of the coverage of certain public events” and journalists “beaten in demonstrations”, in addition to arrests that he described as “arbitrary”.
“In these 100 days there has been a difference in degree, but not in nature, in the regime: we have the same structures, especially in the repressive apparatus, practically intact, and what there has been is a restraint in repressive activity, but not its total cessation,” Daniels explained.
Measures such as the approval of an amnesty law and the release of some detainees have been presented by the ruling party as progress towards reconciliation, although human rights organizations consider that their scope is limited and that they do not dismantle the existing control structures.
In that sense, Daniels warned that, despite these gestures, “we cannot even speak of a change of regime, much less the beginning of a transition,” pointing out that there are still hundreds of political prisoners and that the releases represent only a part of those detained prior to January 3.
