Venezuelan ruler Nicolás Maduro Thursday announced he had signed a series of bilateral agreements during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The cooperation accords are on mining, oil, telecommunications, weapons and food.
Venezuela this month plans to import over 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of refined products to ease domestic fuel shortages caused by hobbled refineries and need to prioritize exports, according to internal documents, reports Reuters.
The United Nations said on Tuesday it was seeking US$ 738 million in 2019 to help neighboring countries cope with the inflow of millions of Venezuelan refugees and migrants, who have “no prospect for return in the short to medium term”.
After meeting in Caracas with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro took off for Moscow, where he hopes to hold some “serious talks” with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in order to “strengthen and expand diplomatic relations and friendly ties between the brotherly nations.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Monday said in Caracas that his country could cover most of Venezuela's financial needs and the government of President Nicolás Maduro invited him to boost new Turkish investments in areas such as gold mining and tourism. The main item between the two countries is gold marketing.
A court in the United States has sentenced the former head of Venezuela's treasury, Alejandro Andrade, to 10 years in prison for money laundering. Andrade, 54, had pleaded guilty to taking US$ 1bn in bribes in exchange for offering access to preferential foreign currency exchange rates.
Cash-strapped Venezuela settled a US$1.2 billion arbitration claim that will prevent a creditor from stripping away its crown jewel foreign asset, the U.S.-based Citgo Petroleum Corp refining business, according to Canadian court documents.
President-elect Jair Bolsonaro said his government would not send back the tens of thousands of Venezuelans who have sought refuge in Brazil from the economic breakdown in their populist ruled homeland.
The Trump administration is considering imposing sanctions on Cuban military and intelligence officials who it says are helping Venezuela ’s government crackdown on dissent. Such sanctions would be the first time Washington has targeted a bloc of foreign officials allied with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Venezuela’s former national treasurer admitted receiving over one billion dollars in bribes as part of illicit foreign currency operations that involved a local television mogul now indicted in U.S. courts, according to U.S. court documents unsealed on Tuesday.