Venezuela

• Wednesday, January 29th 2014 - 22:38 UTC

  Brazil can't be hostage of Argentina or Venezuela in Mercosur/EU trade negotiations

  

  The Brazilian government is determined to advance with negotiations for a trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union even if it means leaving Argentina for a second phase of the process, according to sources from Itamaraty, the country's foreign ministry, reported in the Rio do Janeiro media.

• Sunday, January 26th 2014 - 12:06 UTC

  Maduro sets limits on company profits and prison terms for hoarding or over charging

  

  Venezuela decreed a new price control law that sets limits on company profits and establishes prison terms for those charged with hoarding or over-charging, part of populist President Nicolas Maduro's efforts to tame inflation.

• Friday, January 24th 2014 - 03:33 UTC

  Ecuador airline suspends flights to Venezuela because of tickets' debts

  

  Ecuadorean airline Tame has suspended flights to Venezuela, demanding 43m dollars in overdue payments for tickets. Some 80 passengers were left stranded on Thursday at the airport in the Ecuadorean capital, Quito. Tame says the Venezuelan Central Bank has not transferred any money to its account in Ecuador since April 2013.

• Friday, January 24th 2014 - 03:31 UTC

  Discos are common in Venezuelan penitentiaries, admits minister

  

  Discotheques have long operated inside Venezuelan penitentiaries, the head of the country's prison service said Thursday in response to a public uproar over the death of a young man after partying at a disco behind bars.

• Wednesday, January 15th 2014 - 19:24 UTC

  Uruguay among the world's ten countries with highest inflation

  

  Uruguay is ranked among the world's ten countries with the highest inflation, having climbed from position 15 to 10 last year, only surpassed in Latin America by Venezuela and Argentina. Last year Uruguay ended with an inflation of 8.52%, well above the 4% to 6% target, and according to Central bank officials “it remains the main challenge for the country's economic policy”.

• Monday, January 13th 2014 - 06:10 UTC

  Maduro names new cabinet but main ministries remain unchanged

  

  Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro appointed seven new ministers. His announcement was made during an event with the Movement for Peace and Life. Venezuela has been shocked by the extent of crime and killings, which means according to private organizations stats that only two out of ten cases ever are caught and face trial.

• Saturday, January 11th 2014 - 06:30 UTC

  Airlines operating in Venezuela have 3.3bn dollars trapped by currency controls

  

  International airlines operating in Venezuela have 3.3 billion trapped because of currency controls, the International Air Transport Association, IATA, revealed. Airlines have to wait around 12 months for the government to convert their Bolivar earnings into dollars, with the time lag growing, according to the Venezuela Airline Association.

• Saturday, January 11th 2014 - 06:27 UTC

  Silent protest: thousands at funeral of ex-Miss Venezuela slain in an armed robbery

  

  Thousands of people attended the funeral of actress and former Miss Venezuela Monica Spear and her ex husband this Friday, in solidarity with the family of the couple that was slain this week in an armed robbery.

• Wednesday, January 8th 2014 - 05:48 UTC

  Venezuela's violent crime unstoppable: former beauty queen and husband shot dead

  

  Gunmen shot dead a former Miss Venezuela and her ex-husband in the South American nation, authorities said today. Monica Spear, 29, a soap opera actress, and Henry Berry, 39, died in an attempted robbery on the highway between Puerto Cabello and Valencia in central Venezuela.

• Friday, December 20th 2013 - 06:09 UTC

  Venezuela considering increase in gasoline prices, world's cheapest: 2 cents a liter

  

  President Nicolas Maduro said he was contemplating a three-year period to raise domestic fuel prices; a sensitive issue for Venezuela where a similar move helped spark deadly 1989 riots.