Venezuela

• Friday, June 19th 2015 - 23:36 UTC

  Venezuelan pickets stone and threaten visiting Brazilian senators

  

  Brazilian senators seeking on Thursday to visit jailed opposition leaders in Venezuela said their minibus was stoned and blocked, forcing them to return to the airport. The group of opposition senators had planned to drive from the coastal airport of Maiquetía to the capital Caracas and then on to a military jail where hard-line opposition leader Leopoldo López has been for more than a year.

• Friday, June 12th 2015 - 06:14 UTC

  Guyana turning to United Nations to address Venezuela's territorial ambition

  

  Guyana is turning to the United Nations to reach a legal settlement in its border dispute with Venezuela, describing Caracas’ claim of a portion of maritime space where oil was recently discovered as “a baseless and shameless attempt” at usurping Guyana’s territory.

• Wednesday, June 10th 2015 - 21:16 UTC

  Mercosur and Unasur member Venezuela bullying neighboring Guyana

  

  Mercosur and Unasur member Venezuela is again bullying neighboring Guyana by issuing a presidential decree claiming more than two-thirds of the former British colony territory including the maritime area where ExxonMobil recently found a significant oil deposit.

• Tuesday, June 9th 2015 - 06:55 UTC

  IATA calls on Venezuela to make effective 3.7bn dollars retained in airline funds

  

  The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called on the Venezuelan government to address the problem of the 3.7 billion dollars in airline funds the government is withholding from the airlines.

• Monday, June 8th 2015 - 08:05 UTC

  Maduro cancels trip to Rome and meeting with the Pope because of a 'flu spell'

  

  Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced he had canceled a planned trip to Rome and Vatican during which he was due to meet Pope Francis, because he is sick with flu. Analysts believe the 'diplomatic' flu spell could be linked to protests in Rome and the Vatican bringing up the issue of political prisoners, following on several letters sent to the Holy See.

• Monday, June 8th 2015 - 08:00 UTC

  Felipe Gonzalez in Venezuela to help lawyers defending political prisoners

  

  Former Spanish prime minister Felipe González has arrived in Venezuela, where he intends to help lawyers defending imprisoned opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez and Caracas mayor Antonio Ledezma, who is under house arrest.

• Monday, June 1st 2015 - 07:32 UTC

  Cabello denies cocaine trafficking and will file complaints against media reports in Spain and US

  

  Venezuelan parliament chief Diosdado Cabello said in an interview on Sunday that he plans to file lawsuits in Spain and the United States following media reports that link him and other top officials to cocaine trafficking and money laundering.

• Monday, May 25th 2015 - 07:25 UTC

  Jailed Venezuelan opposition leaders declare themselves on hunger strike

  

  Jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez has declared himself on hunger strike and called for a protest march next weekend against Venezuela's populist government. Lopez, the best-known opposition activist in custody, was jailed more than a year ago for his role in instigating street protests against President Nicolas Maduro that led to violence killing 43 people and injuring hundreds more.

• Thursday, May 21st 2015 - 06:45 UTC

  Venezuelan government targets opposition leader Capriles for making “false allegations”

  

  Barely one week after Venezuela’s President of the National Assembly of Venezuela Diosdado Cabello filed a defamation suit against 22 media executives and editors for publishing reports linking him to an international drug-trafficking, another high-level minister announced they would be filing suit against opposition leader Henrique Capriles for making “false allegations.”

• Wednesday, May 20th 2015 - 04:42 UTC

  US targets Venezuela's second strongest man for alleged cocaine trafficking

  

  Despite persistent denials of any wrongdoing from Caracas, US authorities are currently investigating Venezuela’s powerful parliamentary chief, Diosdado Cabello, and other senior officials over alleged cocaine-trafficking and money-laundering, the Wall Street Journal reported.