MercoPress https://en.mercopress.com/ South Atlantic News Agency en Copyright 2026, MercoPress. https://en.mercopress.com/web/img/en/mercopress-logo.gif MercoPress http://en.mercopress.com/ <![CDATA[Delcy Rodríguez defends Essequibo claim at The Hague under temporary EU sanctions waiver]]> For Venezuela, the Essequibo appears on its official maps as a “zone of reclamation.” For Guyana, the Venezuelan claim represents an existential threat to its territorial integrity Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez arrived in the Netherlands on Sunday to defend her country's claim to the Essequibo, the border region disputed with Guyana, before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The trip, authorized under a specific waiver to the European Union sanctions imposed on her, marks her first major international journey outside the Caribbean since the capture of President Nicolás Maduro by US forces in January, which paved the way for her to assume office as interim leader.

]]> Mon, 11 May 2026 14:42:00 GMT <![CDATA[Nahuel Gallo describes torture and a sardonic "you're off to Disney" during Venezuela detention]]> Gallo remained virtually incommunicado for more than a year. He was freed on 1 March 2026, three weeks after Maduro's capture Argentine gendarme Nahuel Gallo, who spent 448 days detained in Venezuela under the regime of Nicolás Maduro, described in a televised interview the torture inflicted on him at the El Rodeo I prison and revealed the phrase his captors used to announce his confinement: "You're off to Disney."

]]> Sat, 09 May 2026 22:32:00 GMT <![CDATA[US removes 13.5 kilos of highly enriched uranium from Venezuela's RV-1 reactor]]> The material, enriched above the 20 percent threshold separating low-enriched from highly enriched uranium, had been considered surplus since the reactor ceased operations in 1991 The U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has completed the removal of 13.5 kilograms of highly enriched uranium from the former RV-1 research reactor at the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC), in Miranda state, in an operation coordinated with the United Kingdom, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Venezuela's transitional government.

]]> Sat, 09 May 2026 14:59:00 GMT <![CDATA[Venezuela confirms death of political prisoner Víctor Hugo Quero, ten months after he died]]> His mother, 82-year-old Carmen Teresa Navas, had submitted multiple petitions to the prosecutor's office and the Ombudsman's Office. Venezuela's Ministry for Prison Services confirmed on Thursday the death of political prisoner Víctor Hugo Quero Navas, a 51-year-old merchant, nearly ten months after he died in state custody and following more than a year of forced disappearance complaints filed by his family.

]]> Fri, 08 May 2026 15:37:00 GMT <![CDATA[Venezuelans rally in more than 120 cities worldwide demanding release of political prisoners]]> According to the latest report from Foro Penal as of April 27 there were 454 people detained for political reasons in the country Dozens of cities in Venezuela and more than 120 gathering points around the world joined on Sunday a global day of mobilization called by Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace laureate María Corina Machado to demand the release of political prisoners and to bring international visibility to the country's human rights situation. The rallies took place simultaneously at noon Caracas time and included events across the Americas, Europe, and other regions with significant Venezuelan diaspora communities.

]]> Mon, 04 May 2026 01:08:00 GMT <![CDATA[Caracas and Washington launch direct flights after seven years and sign two oil deals]]> The first American Airlines flight took off from Maiquetía airport bound for Miami, completing the journey in just over three hours The United States and Venezuela inaugurated on Thursday the first direct air connection between the two countries since 2019 and signed two new energy agreements, in a day the White House described as a substantive advance in the “economic revitalization” phase of the three-stage plan designed by President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to reorganize the bilateral relationship following the capture of former president Nicolás Maduro by US troops on January 3.

]]> Fri, 01 May 2026 11:13:00 GMT <![CDATA[European Parliament urges sanctions on Venezuela to remain until verifiable democratic progress]]> The immediate trigger for the resolution was Delcy Rodríguez's decision, announced on April 23, to end the Law of Amnesty The European Parliament approved on Thursday, by a wide majority, a resolution urging the Council of the European Union not to lift sanctions imposed on those responsible for human rights violations in Venezuela until the country adopts "significant measures toward a peaceful transition to democracy." The text, promoted by the European People's Party, gained 507 votes in favor, 31 against, and 35 abstentions, and was backed even by the Socialists and Democrats group despite internal divergences over the strategy toward the government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez.

]]> Thu, 30 Apr 2026 13:18:00 GMT <![CDATA[US intervention forces end to decade of statistical opacity at Venezuela's Central Bank]]> The year-on-year inflation stood at 649.5% at the end of the first quarter The Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) has begun systematically publishing economic indicators that had been held under wraps for at least a decade, in an institutional shift driven by the US military intervention that culminated on January 3 with the capture of former president Nicolás Maduro and by the subsequent reconfiguration of Venezuela's financial system under Washington's oversight. The updating of historical series on the central bank's website now makes it possible to learn for the first time in years that monthly inflation reached 32% in January, 14.6% in February and 13.1% in March, while the year-on-year figure stood at 649.5% at the end of the first quarter.

]]> Thu, 30 Apr 2026 13:09:00 GMT <![CDATA[Petro travels to Caracas to meet Delcy Rodríguez following failed Cúcuta summit]]> Colombian President Gustavo Petro will meet at midday on Friday in Caracas with Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez, in what marks the first official meeting between a head of state and the Venezuelan leader since she took office on January 5, following the capture of former president Nicolás Maduro in a US military operation on January 3 of this year.

]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 11:31:00 GMT <![CDATA[Irregular Venezuelans in Chile want to leave but can't: no papers, no consulate, no return mechanism]]> Of the more than 336,000 migrants in irregular status in Chile, 75% are Venezuelan As President José Antonio Kast's government ramps up its campaign against irregular immigration with deportation flights and promises of mass expulsions, thousands of undocumented Venezuelans in Chile face a paradox: they want to leave but cannot do so legally. Without valid passports, without Venezuelan consular services in the country and without a formal voluntary return mechanism, they are trapped between a government that does not want them and a homeland they cannot reach.

]]> Mon, 20 Apr 2026 18:02:00 GMT