The acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, ordered this Sunday, by decree, the closure and liquidation of seven public entities, four of which were created during the administration of Nicolás Maduro, who is now detained in the United States. Decree 5248 seeks to reorganize the functioning of the Ministry of the Presidency's Office, arguing the need to adapt the structure of the Executive Branch to "new directives and social policies," according to the government's justification. Among the bodies to be eliminated is the Strategic Center for the Security and Protection of the Homeland (Cesppa), created in 2013 to centralize the coordination of information on security, defense, intelligence, internal order, and foreign relations, and to "unify the flow of information on sensitive strategic aspects" of the State. The Propatria 2000 Foundation is also being eliminated, which was in charge of executing infrastructure works, rehabilitating public spaces, and special projects. This entity received the most corruption complaints in recent years. For example, between 2013 and 2015, the "Vertical Gyms" project, within Propatria, was accused of awarding multi-million dollar contracts to inexperienced companies with irregular ties, some investigated for money laundering in Colombia and Panama. The same fate will now befall the "Robert Serra" Homeland Youth Mission Foundation, dedicated to promoting training, production, and entrepreneurship projects aimed at the youth population. The Presidential Office for Special Plans and Projects (OPPPE), created in 2011 to coordinate and execute urban, architectural, and landscape development actions, which has several complaints filed against it, is also being closed. In recent years, direct contracts without public bidding were reported there in emblematic projects, such as the Bolívar mausoleum, and other unfinished or overvalued works. The same fate of closure will be applied by the Venezuelan Executive to the José Félix Ribas Foundation (Fundaribas), which had been functioning since 1986 for the prevention and treatment of drug use.
The decree orders the immediate start of the liquidation process of these entities and the formation of a board that will supervise the administrative closure, the review of assets, and the institutional adaptation.
