“The Way of the Cross of Public Services”: the creative protest of Venezuelan activists to warn of the worsening crisis in the country

A group of Venezuelan NGOs and activists held this Thursday, in connection with the commemoration of Holy Week, a creative protest in Caracas that they called the “highway of public services” to demand improved access to water, electricity and transport and to warn of “the exacerbation of the crisis” in Venezuela.

“Together for the demand for quality public services and human rights. Human rights activists, organizations and committees marched peacefully on a Way of the Cross because of the crisis of basic services,” NGO Provea, a participant in the activity, explained on its Twitter account.

The demonstration, which took place in a popular area of western Caracas, also involved NGOs Caracas, Mi Convive, Human Rights Committee, Radar Caracas and, at least two dozen residents of the community and retirees and pensioners from different areas.

In each of the stations set up for the Way of the Cross, activists explained how human rights to essential services such as water, electricity, education and the Internet, among others, are violated in Venezuela.

The activist and president of the Caracas College of Nursing, Ana Rosario Contreras, participated in the activity and assured that Venezuelans continue to experience the violation of human rights.

“Venezuelans continue to have a continuous violation of our human rights. Today, 22 years after having this so-called revolution, Venezuelans have to say that the right to life, the right to education, the right to the Internet, which is a human right, have all been violated,” Contreras said in a video published by Provea.

In this regard, the activist asked her compatriots to rise “with a flag of struggle” for the defense of rights.

For several years now, opposition NGOs, activists and politicians have denounced the collapse of public services in Venezuela.

Last week, the Venezuelan Observatory of Public Services (OVSP) reported that 47% of citizens in 12 cities of the country must store water as an alternative to the lack of continuous supply of the liquid through the pipes.

The organization explained in a press release that this practice was most evident in San Cristóbal, capital of the border state of Táchira, by 81.7%, followed by Mérida, capital of the namesake Andean state, by 68.8% and Caracas by 65.1 percent.

He added that since they did not have a constant supply of water, 22.7% of those consulted chose to pay for a tanker, which sells the resource, especially in Maracaibo, the capital of Zulia state, at 48.2%, followed by Punto Fijo, in the coastal state of Falcón, at 42.7% and Porlamar, in Nueva Esparta, at 37.1%.

On electricity service, this Tuesday, the Committee for People Affected by Blackouts, an independent entity that accounts for power outages and their effects, informed the EFE agency that power failures in Venezuela were reduced by 64.6% this year, compared to 2021, when 38,004 were registered, compared to 13,423 service interruptions computed during the first quarter of 2022.

The Venezuelan Observatory of Public Services (OVSP) told EFE that, based on network and digital media monitoring, complaints of power fluctuations were detected in nine regions: Zulia, Barinas, Apure, Falcón, Carabobo, Aragua, Portuguesa, Táchira and Trujillo.

Regarding the failures recorded last Monday, Interim President Juan Guaido said, through Twitter, that “there is no mirage of normality that can hide the electricity disaster that continues to be experienced in Venezuela, with daily downturns and blackouts throughout the country.”

Despite the fact that electrical installations have been in the custody and control of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) since 2013, the authorities hold the failures responsible for “attacks”, “attacks” or “sabotage” organized mainly by the United States and Colombia.

(With information from EFE)

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