Venezuela

• Monday, February 17th 2014 - 09:35 UTC

  Maduro blames Washington and expels three US consular officials

  

  Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said Sunday he was expelling three U.S. consular officials, accusing them of conspiring with the opposition forces to foment unrest as violent protests ran into a fifth straight night. The expulsions come after two weeks of sporadic protests against across the country.

• Saturday, February 15th 2014 - 06:08 UTC

  Chilean president-elect Bachelet blasts Venezuelan repression and Maduro

  

  Following the bloody events of last Wednesday, while countries such as Argentina, Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua expressed their full support for the Venezuelan government of President Nicolas Maduro, others were more cautious such as Washington and the Europe Union calling for restraint and dialogue, but Chilean president-elect Michelle Bachelet openly twitted her rejection to repression, to President Maduro and called for a plebiscite.

• Saturday, February 15th 2014 - 05:57 UTC

  Venezuela blocks twitter images, allegedly to avoid of pictures police and goons shooting students

  

  Twitter said on Friday that Venezuela had blocked images on its service following an anti-government protest that turned bloody, and it offered a workaround for users who want to get tweets via text message on their cell-phones.

• Saturday, February 15th 2014 - 05:50 UTC

  Spain's Repsol signs 1.2bn dollars financing deal with Venezuela's PDVSA

  

  Repsol signed a financing deal Friday with Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA that calls for the Spanish energy major to invest 1.2 billion dollars to boost the output of the companies' Petroquiriquire joint venture.

• Friday, February 14th 2014 - 21:36 UTC

  Mercosur summit could take place in March, say Paraguay/Venezuela ministers

  

  The much delayed Mercosur summit, originally scheduled for last December could take place in March, according to Paraguay's foreign minister Eladio Loizaga who this week visited his Venezuelan peer Elías Jaua. Venezuela currently holds the Mercosur rotating chair and will be hosting the event when (and if) it finally takes place.

• Friday, February 14th 2014 - 07:15 UTC

  Argentine government condemns “clear efforts of destabilization” in Venezuela

  

  The Argentine government has condemned what it terms “clear efforts of destabilization” in Venezuela, following Wednesday's clashes which left three dead and dozens injured on the streets of Caracas.

• Thursday, February 13th 2014 - 04:01 UTC

  At least four people killed as thousands march in Caracas for and against Maduro

  

  At least four people have been killed, including a police officer, after thousands of Venezuelans in two different marches, opposing and supporting President Nicolas Maduro took to the streets of Caracas on Wednesday following two weeks of anti-government protests across the country.

• Tuesday, February 11th 2014 - 08:38 UTC

  Paraguay and Venezuela to discuss Mercosur summit delays and oil

  

  Mercosur summit delays and oil are two of the main issues the Paraguayan foreign minister Eladio Loizaga will address with his Venezuelan peer Elias Jaua, when he travels on Thursday to Caracas. Formally the event is a diplomatic reciprocity for Jaua's visit to Paraguay last 9 October, when the two countries re-established full relations.

• Saturday, February 8th 2014 - 06:35 UTC

  Mercosur interested in trade integration with members of the Pacific Alliance, says Brazil

  

  Mercosur pretends to increase its trade integration with members from the Pacific Alliance, said Brazilian foreign minister Luiz Alberto Figuereido. The top official made the statement this week before the Brazilian Senate foreign affairs committee.

• Thursday, February 6th 2014 - 21:58 UTC

  Mercosur committee to meet next week to address tariffs' reduction proposal

  

  A Mercosur technical committee will be meeting next week in Venezuela to elaborate the group's final tariffs reduction proposal to exchange with the European Union as part of the ongoing, but long delayed, negotiations to reach an ambitious free trade agreement, according to Brazil's foreign minister Luiz Alberto Figuereido.