Venezuela

• Thursday, April 25th 2013 - 06:00 UTC

  Maduro declares electricity ‘emergency’ and calls the Army in support

  

  President Nicolas Maduro's government declared a 90-day “emergency” in Venezuela's electricity sector this week to speed up infrastructure work and equipment imports needed to prevent politically-contentious power cuts.

• Wednesday, April 24th 2013 - 06:47 UTC

  Venezuela’s Maduro talks to Cartes and calls for re-establishment of relations

  

  In a surprise move Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro talked on Tuesday to Paraguay’s president-elect Horacio Cartes to congratulate him on Sunday’s election and express interest in retaking the “rhythm of bilateral relations”, which were interrupted when the removal of Fernando Lugo.

• Wednesday, April 24th 2013 - 06:18 UTC

  Maduro calls on Washington for dialogue, but based on ‘respect’ and ‘no threats’

  

  Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro named a new acting head of its US diplomatic mission in Washington and sent an offer of dialogue after attacking the United States for “interference” in a row over his election.

• Tuesday, April 23rd 2013 - 02:04 UTC

  Brazil conditions Paraguay’s return to Mercosur to approval of Venezuela’s membership

  

  Brazil conditions the immediate return of Paraguay to Mercosur to the approval, by the new congress, of Venezuela’s full incorporation to the trade block, according to the influential Folha de Sao Paulo quoting foreign ministry reliable sources.

• Tuesday, April 23rd 2013 - 01:55 UTC

  Venezuela warns it will react to any US sanctions or meddling in internal affairs

  

  Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said on Monday that Venezuela will resort to “trade, energy, economic and political” measures if the United States applies sanctions or keeps meddling in the internal affairs of the country.

• Monday, April 22nd 2013 - 07:43 UTC

  Mathematician will be responsible for putting Venezuelan inflation back on its feet

  

  President Nicolas Maduro replaced Venezuelan Finance Minister Jorge Giordani, appointing central bank chief Nelson Merentes in his place two days after being sworn in as Hugo Chavez's successor.

• Saturday, April 20th 2013 - 08:19 UTC

  Maduro takes office as first ‘Chavista’ president; in massive parade military swear allegiance

  

  When the last tanks rumbled past and the massive civil-military parade with display of state of the art missile launchers had come to an end in early Friday night of Caracas, Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro could sigh in relief because his last twenty four hours had been really hectic.

• Friday, April 19th 2013 - 13:17 UTC

  With the support of Unasur and a vote-audit promise, Maduro takes the oath of office

  

  President-elect Nicolas Maduro was set to be inaugurated in Venezuela Friday as election officials moved to defuse a political crisis by yielding to demands for an audit of the electronic votes of the results in Sunday's bitterly contested elections.

• Friday, April 19th 2013 - 06:37 UTC

  Electoral council extends auditing to all Sunday votes; Capriles accepts

  

  Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, CNE said on Thursday it would audit votes cast in weekend presidential elections after an opposition challenge to the victory accorded to President-elect Nicolas Maduro.

• Thursday, April 18th 2013 - 21:39 UTC

  “Democracy in Paraguay is here to stay: Mercosur and Unasur have become irrelevant”

  

  “We’re optimistic about Sunday’s election and the future of Paraguay if we can agree on long term state policies, but something is for certain: democracy in Paraguay is here to stay” said Ricardo Caballero Aquino, Chargé d’affaires of the Paraguayan embassy in Montevideo who was also positive about future relations with Unasur and Mercosur.