The term “social justice” means different things to different people.Well, I now have a new way to think about it. In Venezuela there is no justice if there are no social implications and by that I mean social media. The Venezuela Attorney General will only investigate cases after they have been trending on social media. If there is no outcry on social media the prosecutor’s office doesn’t deem it worthy of looking into. Could that have anything to do with the fact that 98% of crimes go unsolved? Or maybe it’s the fact that authorities of one form or another are usually implicated or involved in one form or another? Either way…how’s that for social justice?

 And speaking of social media, ProBox (social media monitor) reports that four Maduro regime hashtags, in the following percentages : 60%,73%,67%,69%, were inorganic tweets. In contrast, there were two primary hashtags from civil society in percentages of 97% and 74% respectively, and they were organic. Most of the tweets pertained to the ICC’s investigation into the Maduro regime’s Human Rights violations and crimes against humanity. ProBox had this to say,” This is another episode pf ‘Chavismo’s Classic Fantasies’ : they simulate control, create inorganic support,misinform on the case, create interpretations on why they’re being attacked, and silence people who are denouncing violence from the government.”

 And in a related item 62% of Venezuelans have no internet in their homes…and those that do give it a 50% negative rating. I actually thought it would be higher. When I was still in Venezuela I had satellite internet. I paid about 75 times the standard rate charged for internet service but I was the only person I knew that was happy with their internet service. I think maybe most of these people that say they are happy with their internet service have never traveled and experienced good internet service. Venezuela’s internet is ,on average, the slowest in Latin America.

 The next one just made me think “Why would anyone want to do that?” Tass reports that the Venezuela Foreign Minister says Venezuela wants to participate in activities with the EAEU (Eurasian Economic Union). Why would any economic entity want any involvement with a regime that has seen it’s economy in recession every year since Maduro took power in 2013?

 Following up on last week’s story about the seizure or 1,000 Bitcoin mining rigs by Venezuelan authorities we have Bitcoin.com reporting that a Venezuela court has ordered the equipment returned to it’s owners, mostly third party groups, however, the equipment can’t be used until permits are reviewed by Sunacrip, the same agency that seized it.

 Caracas Chronicles reports that Venezuela still has active Interpol alerts against former political prisoners. They never let go of anything. They went on to say that the hearing of two men accused in the murder of Captain Rafael Acosta  has been postponed because they have Covid-19. You remember Captain Acosta don’t you? The guy that was wheeled into court with obvious signs of torture and was so weak he could only weakly utter “Help Me” and was ordered transferred to a medical facility where he subsequently died.Well, this hearing is now years later and we have yet another delay. We also have no mention of the question, “Who ordered the torture?”

 With the November 21st regional and local elections in Venezuela inching closer we are sure to have all kinds of stories coming from both sides. The European Popular Party tells us that they refused to participate in the EU observatory mission calling the staffer’s preliminary report “devastating”. “Borrell’s mission will only legitimize a dictatorship.”

 Venezuela opposition party, Voluntad Popular, calls for “rebellion through the vote.”

 The Secretary General of MAS (Movimiento al Socialismo) says “vote and turn this election into a referendum against the worst government this country has had.” That description pretty much sums up Chavismo although it may be understated.

 The CNE (electoral council) has received a complaint from party,First Justice, for destruction of posters. I wonder if this was reported because the story trended on social media?

Sumate tells us that CNE was 12 days late in starting the process for giving electoral credentials to witnesses of political parties. The CNE board has informed that the process is now closed. But not to worry. The CNE board has published a list of 14 guarantees for the upcoming election.

 We also have Comptroller Elvis Amoroso telling us his office has created a committee to defend the vote,providing legal counsel,and to receive complaints. This is the same guy that was sanctioned by the US in 2017 for electoral fraud and censoring media outlets.

 The question is…Does any of this matter? As Caracas Chronicles tells us : The shadow opposition has achieved it’s goal – dividing, distorting, and complicating the real opposition’s understanding with the people. (All of this with the cooperation of the CNE) In short, there is no clear choice ie; Chavismo versus the Opposition. As many have stated, and we concur, the electoral fraud has already been committed so all this is merely window dressing. We’ll keep bringing the stories to you since that’s what we do but, again, Does any of this matter?

 In a totally unrelated matter 10 people were killed and 4 injured in a clash between SEBIN (government security) and gang members. Just another day in Venezuela.

 And let us not forget about “The Chicken”. The office of the Milan Prosecutor has asked Spanish authorities for permission to question him regarding Chavismo’s irregular financing of the 5 Star Movement political party in Spain. We now have the Spanish authorities giving them the OK to question him in Miami since their investigation involves the party in Spain, the Venezuela Consular Office in Milan, and Hugo Carvajal, “The Chicken”. We’ll have to keep tabs on this one,as well as all the other people, places, and things involving “The Chicken” and the other people in the process of extradition or already extradited to the US.

 More tomorrow….