A/HRC/45/CRP.11 144. Similarly, at the regional level, the 2017 gubernatorial elections were reprogrammed several times,325 finally being set to October 2017 following a decree of the National Constituent Assembly.326 The ruling party eventually won 18 of 23 gubernatorial seats. 327 In December 2018, the elections for the municipal councils were held. Various irregularities were alleged, including lack of compliance with the Law on Regularization of the Constitutional and Legal Periods for State and Municipal Powers, which states that municipal and gubernatorial elections should take place at the same time. 328 145. In December 2016, the executive began issuing “Carnets de la Patria”.329 These identification cards contain QR (quick response) codes containing biometric data and information regarding the user’s socio-economic status. They were purportedly intended to streamline the distribution of humanitarian aid, through the local CLAP. The executive allegedly uses the cards to distribute assistance based on loyalty to the ruling party. 330 Allegations also arose that the cards were used to track party affiliation during the 2017 gubernatorial election, the 2018 municipal elections and the 2018 presidential elections, after party officials scanned them at kiosks established near polling stations. 331 146. The executive has exclusively controlled the national budget since 2016, when the Supreme Court held that it need not be passed by the National Assembly, given the legislature’s continued contempt of the court’s decisions.332 Executive control of the budget since then has resulted in lack of transparency, as noted by Transparency International Venezuela in its analysis of the 2017 and 2018 budgets.333 147. The “Strategic Development Zone Arco Minero de Orinoco” was established in 2016 by Presidential Decree.334 It was created without carrying out social and environmental impact studies as required by the Constitution.335 It comprises an area of nearly 112,000 kilometres squared around the Orinoco River spanning the Amazonas and Bolívar states, over concessions expropriated from international companies. Organized crime and irregular armed groups, who engage in illegal mining and various related criminal activities, including trafficking of contraband, have infiltrated the area.336 Numerous violations falling within the 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 38 See YouTube Video, Luigino Bracci Roa, Tibisay Lucena anuncia cronograma de elecciones de gobernadores 2017, 15 June 2017, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXK72ie8c80. Constitutional Decree published in the Official Gazette No. 6323, 12 August 2017. See National Electoral Tribunal, results of the 2017 regional elections, available at: http://www.cne.gob.ve/resultados_regionales2017/. See also YouTube Video, Luigino Bracci Roa, Discurso de Nicolás Maduro en la plaza Diego Ibarra tras inscribirse como candidato presidencial, 27 February 2019, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhvHswzJhKI. Ley de Regularización de los Períodos Constitucionales y Legales de los Poderes Públicos Estatales y Municipales, published in Official Gazette No. 6.013 of 23 December 2010, art. 2.2, available at: https://politikaucab.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/ley_de_regularizacion_de_los_periodos-y-partidospoliticos.pdf. See official information at: https://descargarplanilla.com/carnet-de-la-patria/; https://twitter.com/carnetdlapatria?lang=en. See Transparency International Venezuela, El Apartheid Revolucionario, available at: https://transparencia.org.ve/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Carnet-de-la-patria-2018-TV.pdf. See Infobae, Promesas y mentiras del Carnet de la Patria, el documento de control social del régimen de Nicolás Maduro, 25 February 2018, available at: https://www.infobae.com/america/venezuela/2018/02/25/promesas-y-mentiras-del-carnet-de-lapatria-el-documento-de-control-social-del-regimen-de-nicolas-maduro/; and El País, “Con el carné de la patria sabemos quiénes están con la revolución”, 11 December 2017, available at: https://elpais.com/internacional/2017/12/11/america/1513002736_651010.html. Judgment No. 814 of 11 October 2016. See analysis of this judgment by Professor Allan R. BrewerCarías, Universidad Central de Venezuela, 21 October 2016, available at: http://allanbrewercarias.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/964.-Brewer.-La-Usurpaci%C3%B3n-dela-func.-presupuestaria-por-la-SCl.-Sentencia-SC-814-19-10-2016.pdf. 2017: https://transparencia.org.ve/project/analisis-del-presupuesto-nacional-2017/; 2018: https://transparencia.org.ve/project/presupuesto-nacional-2018-documentos-oficiales/. Presidential Decree No. 2248 of 24 February 2018, published in the Official Gazette No. 40.855. 1999 Constitution, art. 129. See e.g., International Crisis Group, “Gold and Grief in Venezuela’s Violent South”, available at; https://www.crisisgroup.org/latin-america-caribbean/andes/venezuela/073-gold-and-grief-venezuelas-