Venezuela sank deeper into a messy political crisis Tuesday as the opposition-controlled National Assembly suspended its session after the Supreme Court declared it null and void. Speaking before a nearly empty chamber, speaker Henry Ramos Allup, a fierce opponent of President Nicolas Maduro, declared the National Assembly lacked a quorum and would reconvene Wednesday morning.
Venezuela headed into ever more complicated political waters on Monday as the Supreme Court declared the newly opposition-controlled legislature null and void and the opposition vowed to continue defying the judges.
President Nicolas Maduro is doubling down on his existing economic policies with the appointment of a young leftist hardliner to head the country's dilapidated economy, setting the stage for confrontation between the ruling socialist party and the newly powerful opposition.
Venezuela's government upped the ante Thursday against the new opposition-led Congress with a protest against the removal of images of venerated late populist leader Hugo Chavez and a legal appeal against the swearing-in of three legislators.
Venezuela's opposition broke on Tuesday the government's 17-year grip on the legislature and vowed to force out President Nicolas Maduro despite failing for the time being to clinch its hoped-for “supermajority.” The National Assembly swore in deputies to 163 of the 167 seats, with four lawmakers -- three opposition and one pro-government -- suspended pending a lawsuit over alleged electoral fraud.
At a summit marked by strong differences between Argentina and Venezuela, Mercosur signed a statement in defense of the unrestricted support of human rights. Earlier in the day there was a serious exchange between Argentine president Mauricio Macri who demanded all political prisoners in Venezuela be set free, and president Nicolas Maduro foreign minister who replied that Macri was 'meddling' in Venezuela's affairs and was applying a 'double standard' on the issue.
International ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service has moved Cuba’s economic from stable to positive, citing its lessening dependence on Venezuela and the possibility of more improved relations with the United States.
The presidents of Mercosur member-countries have confirmed attendance to the group's summit scheduled for next 21 December and hosted by Paraguay, the country that currently holds the rotating chair, according to diplomatic sources in Asuncion.
Venezuela's outgoing National Assembly on Thursday tapped a judge who is hated by the opposition for jailing politician Leopoldo Lopez as the next human rights ombudsman in the increasingly hostile aftermath of legislative elections.
If the newly elected Venezuelan National Assembly votes to cancel that country's program of subsidized oil sales to Caribbean and Central American nations, the United States will not be able to substitute U.S. oil for Venezuelan oil, a senior U.S. official warned this week.