A memo from the chairman of the Parliament of the Southern Common Market (Parlasur), Juan José Domínguez, was sufficient for the parliament's Committee for Citizenship and Human Rights to refuse to receive a delegation of Venezuelan citizens who sought to raise awareness of democratic freedoms in the country. The Venezuelan delegation was composed of the metropolitan councilor Freddy Guevara and Marcos Ruiz of the National Union of Press Workers; Silvia Alegrett of the National College of Journalists; Rafael Cadavieco and Andreína Márquez of We Are Radio and the lawyer Gonzalo Himiob from the Venezuelan Penal Forum. The group intended to present a report concerning the alleged violation of human rights in Venezuela and invite the Commission to visit Caracas to corroborate the veracity of their findings.
Caracas mayor Antonio Ledezma went to court Monday to answer the accusation of alleged defamation and slander which was brought against him by former governing council member Boris Burgos. Burgos said he had been defamed by Ledezma following the complaint the mayor made about administrative irregularities during the term of former Mayor Juan Barreto, regarding the recruitment of workers which did not comply with city hall's budget.
The lawyer of Oscar Pérez in Peru, Ángel Delgado, reported Monday that a formal request for territorial asylum was presented to the Foreign Ministry of Peru. Delgado confirmed in an interview with Unión Radio that they "have agreed in writing with the Foreign Ministry on the format in which territorial asylum in Peru will be formally requested." The lawyer explained that the two crimes Pérez has been charged with in Venezuela are "hallucinatory and absolutely disproportionate as are the investigation and the sanctions by which he has been punished." He said that the punishments for the two offences "are not applicable because this has to do with a political personality and his public acts, which can be an object of criticism but at no time should be a cause for a penalty because that implies that politics can be criminalised."
On Monday the transmissions of the renowned journalist, Nelson Bocaranda, were supposed to return to the microphones, he said yesterday through the social network Twitter that the program he ran Monday through Friday through the Circuito Onda 107.9 FM, of Radio Unión, will not continue on the air; he simultaneously said that he would work on a new project that would come next year. Bocaranda, identified as one of the most critical journalists of the government, is in Miami, where he has been on vacation since late August. At the scheduled hour of his program, a variety program called Arroz con Mango has begun without a regular host. It is worth noting that after the closure of 34 radio stations sorted by Conatel on 1 August, rumors had already been swirling about the possible closure of Bocaranda's show.
The unemployment rate in Venezuela in August rose 8 percent, compared with 7.1 percent in the same month of 2008, at a time when the nation's economy shrank for the first time in over five years due to the global crisis. The result was lower than in July, when unemployment reached 8.5 percent. After enjoying five years of economic growth from the upsurge in oil prices in the international market, the economy declined by 2.4 percent in the second quarter, while the government insists the country will not slide into recession. The president of the National Statistics Institute (INE), Elías Eljuri, justified the outcome in a statement claiming that "it is still a figure well below that existing at the time President Chávez came to power."
The subsidiary of Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors Corp (MMC), the fifth largest in the country, reactivated operations on Monday to 60% capacity after a month of paralysis due to severe labor disputes that have forced the company to expect to culminate the year with "rather significant losses." MMC resumed normal activities at its plant in the eastern state of Anzoátegui with a target of producing 60 units a day, although its capacity is nearly 100 vehicles a day, a company spokesman told the AP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak. The spokesman said that so far "everything is going well," on the ground, but they are maintain reduced expectations because there is still friction with a group of employees. He reported that following the three month work stoppage the company faced earlier this year, and the suspension last month, MMC will culminate this year with either "significant losses" because "we could barely reach the 6,000 (units) for this year."
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