A man with a face mask walks in front of an image of Nicolás Maduro in downtown Caracas on July 6.Carlos Becerra / Getty Images
The coronavirus borders on 12,000 cases and 112 deaths in Venezuela. Among those infected, the number of officials, members of the Nicolás Maduro’s cabinet and his party affected by the virus and now also from the state channel Venezuelan Television (VTV), that transmits all the official acts of the Government. Over the weekend, Information Minister Jorge Rodríguez confirmed an outbreak among 45 workers from the channel that had been discussed for several days.
“Today we have detected that 45 brave and worthy VTV workers, including its president, Freddy Ñáñez, have been positive for covid-19,” he wrote in a string of tweets. “At the present time we are carrying out the epidemiological sweep of all the plant’s personnel and we will have the greatest medical and personal care. To you, who contracted the infection in strict compliance with their duty to inform the Venezuelan people, I send a hug of gratitude and certainty that beyond adversity, we will win, ”she added.
The television plant, with some 2,000 employees, did not introduce major changes in its operation during the pandemic, apart from the use of face masks by reporters who take to the streets. Regular programs have continued and the news broadcasts from their studios. In other countries, the audiovisual industry has taken measures to avoid the concentration of people in closed spaces, such as recording centers, to avoid contagion by coronavirus.
VTV, however, did not and even released new productions such as Maduro Guerra Live, hosted by the son of the head of state, known as Nicolasito, in which they interviewed part of the government leadership. A study of the international channel Telesur also operates in the same facilities. As the main propaganda platform of Chavismo, the chain has broadcast live official acts, such as the promotion event of more than 300 soldiers from the Presidential Honor Guard and the Directorate of Military Counterintelligence held in early July at the Barracks of the Mountain, and Maduro’s daily addresses from the Miraflores Palace on the covid-19.
I send a sincere hug and my solidarity to the workers of @ VTVcanal8, in these moments of struggle against the Pandemic. They have earned the recognition of the Venezuelan people for always being on the front line of the battle for truth. Count on my support! pic.twitter.com/gvWvYDOPUl
This Monday, the channel workers covered the day of updating the electoral register for the parliamentary elections called for December. The operation has been carried out for two weeks in 551 points of the territory, although the strict quarantine in force throughout the country only allows essential activities related to food and health.
The presenter Barry Cartaya explained that the reporters will continue to work with their biosecurity teams on the street and that work from home will be enabled for others. Two weeks ago, the VTV programming grid began to be altered. Number two of the regime, God given hair, president of the National Constituent Assembly, reported the suspension of his program With the gavel giving after testing positive for covid-19.
Later, another leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, Fidel Madroñero, host of a space called Timbale politics, warned that it was coming off the air for the same reason. The presenters of Left-handed Konducta They also announced that they would suspend their broadcast for testing, in which they tested negative. For months, a group of workers has been confined within the facilities of the television plant to maintain operations.
Meanwhile, the positive cases in the ruling party continue to rise. The Chavista governor of Zulia, Omar Prieto, was one of the first infections that were known within the Government. The official, who heads the entity with the highest number of deaths and cases, reported Monday that he is recovering from home. Too Oil ministers, Tareck El Aissami, have confirmed their contagion, and of University Education, César Trompiz; Darío Vivas, in addition to a governor, two constituents and two Chavista mayors.
Coronavirus in the Armed Forces
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López reported that 160 members of the Armed Forces had been infected at border posts for the return of Venezuelan migrants in the midst of the pandemic. On the other hand, the deputy Luis Parra faces bilateral pneumonia, although the molecular and rapid tests of the covid-19 have given negative, according to José Brito, who accompanies him in the parallel directive of the Parliament, formed last January in a chaotic session to unseat Juan Guaidó, recognized as valid by Maduro, and for which he was recently sanctioned by the European Union.
Despite the increase in cases registered since mid-May, the Government launched a weekly scheme to make confinement more flexible in June, allowing commercial activities in broad sectors. According to epidemiologists, the pandemic has not yet reached its peak and full occupation is already being reported in hospitals and private centers in the cities of Maracaibo and Caracas, where the bulk of the cases are.
