Does the Maduro government guarantee respect for the dignity of older adults through comprehensive care, as it stated before the UN?
«In the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, thanks to the Organic Law for the Comprehensive Care and Development of Older Adults, respect for the human dignity of older adults and the full exercise of their rights are guaranteed, recognizing their autonomy and the free development of their personality, through the comprehensive care that the State must provide. Likewise, the Plan de la Patria 2019-2025 establishes the full protection of older people as a structural policy, guaranteeing their autonomy, independence and dignified aging.»
Contrary to what the authorities claim, the elderly population is one of the most vulnerable in Venezuela. Since 2022, pensioners who are not registered in the Patria System receive Bs 130 – taking the minimum wage as a reference – equivalent to 3.50 dollars at the official exchange rate (Bs 36.74). Those who do have a Carnet de la Patria also receive the Economic War Bonus, as well as other bonuses. However, these benefits are not enough to cover basic necessities. By June of this year, the Documentation and Social Analysis Center of the Venezuelan Federation of Teachers (Cendas-FVM) estimated that the elderly population is one of the most vulnerable in Venezuela. The basic basket for a pensioner was around 587.78 dollars.
As a result, older adults require other sources of income to survive. assessment of 2023 on the living and health conditions of older people in Venezuela, prepared by the civil association Convite, reveals that of 1,535 interviewees in 19 cities of the country, 579 people are working, especially informally: home services, peddling, masonry or small businesses.
Likewise, 75% of the older people interviewed said they are receiving financial support from their families, both those who remain in the country and those who are abroad, while 24% indicated that they help themselves with various alternatives (borrowing and others).
The lack of economic independence translates into precarious food. Convite found that 51% of the elderly people surveyed “have had to reduce their food portions to make it last.” Not even the Local Supply and Production Committees (CLAP) meet the demand. Those surveyed said that the benefit only lasts about 15 days and they receive it once a month, although sometimes the delivery times can be longer and they can go up to three months without receiving this food.
Older adults also face limitations in accessing health care. 92% of those surveyed said they did not have a health insurance policy due to its high costs. Most of them go to low- or moderate-cost private clinics or dispensaries and to public hospitals to treat their health condition.
51% of those interviewed buy the medicines they need with much difficulty26% can only obtain some of the prescribed medicines and 10% can easily obtain them. Similarly, 61% admitted that they do not attend regular medical check-ups to monitor their health condition.
Are government measures sufficient to benefit older adults?
The government launched in 2011 the Great Mission in Greater Love Venezuela (GMAMV), whose purpose is to provide old-age and disability pensions to all those older adults who were unable to contribute to the IVSS, especially those who live in households with incomes below the minimum wage.
In the 2023 edition of its report Human Rights Situation in Venezuelathe NGO Provea points out that the GMAMV is a hotbed of opacity, as it does not publish the registry of beneficiaries, the eligibility criteria or the geographical distribution, among other aspects. For the period under study, 211,742 older adults were incorporated as pensioners of this mission: 24,092 fewer pensioners than the previous year (235,834).
The mission does not address the real problem, but rather promotes welfare under the guise of social security coverage. As the Provea report points out, vouchers as a social protection mechanism are an ineffective formula because this money does not cover basic necessities. On the contrary, it stimulates the inflationary process generated by the printing of inorganic money, controls and supply chains, among other aspects.
In addition, the implementation of the Homeland Card within the framework of the GMAMV has led to irregularities in the social security system:
«There have been irregularities committed by IVSS officials, who would be requesting the Carnet de la Patria from those people who try to process the ‘old age pension’ procedure having met the legal requirements (years of age and weeks of contributions). Not only has the document been requested to process the corresponding pensions, but it has also been reported that some public banking institutions, where many of the pensioners collect the benefit, would be requesting the Carnet de la Patria to deliver the corresponding money,» indicates a report from Transparency Venezuela published in 2018.
The Executive has made other promises to benefit senior citizens, but they have come to nothing: in 2014, from the Miraflore Palace, the president promised to deliver a health and tourism card for senior citizens; in 2017 he assured that he would reestablish payment to pensioners abroad, and in 2022 he offered a Single Compensatory Bonus to retirees worth 10,000 bolivars.
In May of this year, the government approved the new Law on the Protection of Social Security Pensions against the Imperialist Blockadewhich requires private companies to pay a 9% tax to a pension fund that is managed by the National Integrated Service of Customs and Tax Administration (Seniat), instead of the Venezuelan Social Security Institute (IVSS).
The contributions paid to the IVSS are collected by the Social Security Treasury, an independent body of the national treasury, whose responsibility is to manage the resources obtained from employer and employee contributions for three very specific purposes: payment of pensions, medical-health care for workers and compensation for accidents, disability, pregnancy or loss of work.
Instead, the resources collected by Seniat end up in the national treasury and from there the authorities can use them to cover other expenses: education, public health, public infrastructure works, payment of civil servants or commitments related to internal and external public debt.
The Unitary Central of Workers of Venezuela (CUTV) He denounced that more than four months after the new law was implemented, the money has not reached the pockets of those who should benefit from this measure.
In the absence of guarantees, older adults have resorted to extreme measures to demand their rights. Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict The report stated that the 105 hunger strikes documented during 2023 were carried out mainly by retirees, pensioners and the elderly. “This figure shows us the desperation and radicalization of Venezuelan protesters, who, not seeing their rights guaranteed, find themselves in the need to take extreme measures to raise awareness, put pressure on and demand solutions,” the report states.
Result
It is not true that the Venezuelan government guarantees the “good life” and the full exercise of the rights of older adults. The elderly in Venezuela are vulnerable due to the lack of effective social protection policies, incomes that are not enough to cover the basic basket, food insecurity and limited access to medical care, among other problems that have been widely documented by the media and civil society organizations.