[China-Venezuela Joint Fund] China funds USD 70 million Fatherland Cards program (linked to Record ID#58677)

Project narrative

On December 18, 2016, Nicholas Maduro launched the Fatherland Card program (Spanish: carnet de la Patria, Homeland Card) (Chinese:祖国卡). The project was funded with USD 70 million from the China-Venezuela Joint Fund. The project's genesis was in 1999, when Hugo Chavez made getting undocumented Venezuelans government IDs a centerpiece of his presidency. In 2008, the government tried to contract with Cuba for RFID backed cards. In 2016, when the economic crisis in Venezuela became severe, the government created a national database for food distribution with the help of Soltein SA de CV, a Mexican company. In 2016, the government turned the data from this system over to CANTV, which then used ZTE's help to create a card with a unique QR-code for each person who registered. On September 14, 2018, CANTV and ZTE signed a memorandum of understanding for the integration of electronic payment into the Fatherland Card system. This would allow citizens to pay for public transportation, bills, and electronic purchases through the "Mobile Wallet" (Spanish: Billetera móvil) app or website connected to their Fatherland cards. According to the government of Venezuela, as of January, 2021, the program had 21.2 million registered users, or about 75% of the population. The card is required to receive many state benefits, including health care, pensions, subsidized fuel, and CLAP (Comité Local de Abastecimiento y Producción, or Local Committees for Supply and Production, which is both the name of the provider and the colloquial name for the provided basket of food). Each month, bonuses for certain groups are provided through the card. During the 2018 presidential elections, voters who scanned their Fatherland Cards were promised a reward. The fatherland card collects data on family members, spending habits, and party membership, and it is required to vote and receive government benefits. This has made some international observers concerned about its human rights implications. Additionally, by working on this project, ZTE may have violated sanctions against Venezuela. In 2021, the government restricted access to the COVID vaccine to those with cards.