More than 4,000 older adults suspended from Social Security

More than 4,000 older adults They were suspended from the Venezuelan Institute of Social Security (IVSS) in August. This was reported by Edgar Silva, national coordinator of the Human Rights Committee for the Defense of Pensioners, Retirees, Older Adults and People with Disabilities.

The situation, which he described as “a recurring problem,” It affects thousands of pensioners in the country every year, especially in this time.

Silva assured in an interview with Radio Fe y Alegría that many of those affected They were wrongly recorded as deceased.

This measure has caused the loss of one or two months of payments and bonuseswhich aggravates the already precarious economic situation of older adults.

The coordinator of the Committee emphasized that the authorities They attribute these suspensions to “system errors,” but the problem repeats itself every year, without solutions.

«We are demanding a right that our older adults paid for, a right to a decent pension, which at this moment is useless. But we are going to rescue that right once we rescue the country,” he said.

No response to their demands

Since March 2022, the Committee has delivered a list of requests to various authorities to achieve improvements in the living conditions of pensioners, he recalled. Despite these efforts, The demands have not received a response.

Silva stressed that they have exhausted all national bodies without achieving significant progress.

In commemoration of the International Day of Older Adults, last October 1, representatives of the Committee They went again to the United Nations headquarters in Caracas to report violation of rights of older adults.

The economic conditions of the country are in “extremely low” pensions and many lack adequate access to food and medicine, which violates the principles of protection of this population.

Silva also reported cases of people who They have died from starvation and dehydration, as a direct consequence of the economic crisis.

In addition, he described Nicolás Maduro’s policies as “brutal” and “harmful” and insisted that this situation requires urgent attention to prevent further suffering of one of the most vulnerable populations in the country.