Venezuela

• Saturday, March 2nd 2013 - 08:36 UTC

  Mujica says Mercosur is a stalled pachyderm and needs trade accords with third parties

  

  Mercosur more than a common market is a “poor customs union” said Uruguayan president Jose Mujica adding that new discussions on the future of the group’s future should be considered but which imply the possibility of establishing new free trade agreements with third parties.

• Saturday, March 2nd 2013 - 08:18 UTC

  Opposition accuses Venezuelan government of lying about President Chavez condition

  

  Opposition leader Henrique Capriles accused Venezuela’s government on Friday of repeatedly lying about President Hugo Chavez’s condition, and said the truth will be known within days.

• Tuesday, February 19th 2013 - 05:30 UTC

  Chavez back from Cuba to spend what is left of his life in Venezuela, says independent medical assessment

  

  Rafael Marquina the Venezuelan doctor who is famous for giving precise information in his Twitter on the health condition of President Hugo Chavez, on Monday published additional data revealing probably what seems the most rational reason for the leader’s return to his home country.

• Monday, February 18th 2013 - 15:44 UTC

  Chavez in Caracas military hospital; presidential oath ceremony expected

  

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is resting in Caracas military hospital after his Monday early dawn return from Cuba where he spent ten weeks recuperating from cancer surgery. However contrary to other occasions no video or pictures were shown and officials confirmed he has a tracheal tube which limits speech.

• Friday, February 15th 2013 - 22:56 UTC

  Venezuelan government releases pictures of Chavez next to his daughters

  

  Venezuelans got the first glimpse in more than two months of their ailing president Friday in a series of photos the government released in a televised announcement. In the photos, Hugo Chavez is lying on a blue pillow, flanked by his two daughters, while he reads the Cuban official newspaper Granma. He is smiling, and his face looks a little swollen.

• Thursday, February 14th 2013 - 23:35 UTC

  Fitch Ratings downgrades Argentina and Venezuela prospects for 2013

  

  Fitch ratings has lowered Argentina, Venezuela and El Salvador credit and growth prospects to negative, while for the rest of Latinamerica the situation remains stable, according to a seminar in Frankfort, on “Latinamerica opportunities and challenges”.

• Thursday, February 14th 2013 - 23:29 UTC

  IMF praises Venezuelan devaluation, but LechugaVerde/Bolivar gap close to 300%

  

  The International Monetary Fund, IMF, praised Venezuela for the recent devaluation of its currency saying it is a positive attempt to reduce macroeconomic misbalances but also called on the government of President Hugo Chavez to continue eliminating the exchange rate distortions.

• Saturday, February 9th 2013 - 09:32 UTC

  Venezuela devalues currency 32% to help cut 11% of GDP fiscal gap

  

  Venezuela devalued its currency for the fifth time in nine years as ailing President Hugo Chavez seeks to narrow a widening fiscal gap and reduce a shortage of dollars in the economy. The new exchange rate falls by 32% to 6.3 Bolivar per dollar starting Feb. 13, Finance Minister Jorge Giordani told reporters in Caracas.

• Tuesday, January 29th 2013 - 05:58 UTC

  Letter from Chavez calls for regional unit, supports Cuba and condemns UK on the Falklands

  

  Vice-president Nicolas Maduro, read an eleven page letter he said was written by ailing President Hugo Chavez in which the Venezuelan leader calls for Latinamerican unit, praises Cuba’s chairmanship of CELAC group and takes time to support Argentina’s claims over the Falkland/Malvinas Islands.

• Saturday, January 26th 2013 - 20:44 UTC

  Mercosur/Paraguay controversy reaches EU/CELAC summit in Chile

  

  Chile confirmed that Paraguay finally decided not to attend the EU/CELAC summit in Chile putting an end to a controversy when it emerged that several Mercosur and Unasur members insisted that the landlocked country should not be invited.