Venezuela

• Monday, December 4th 2023 - 10:08 UTC

  Venezuelans vote to annex Essequiba Guiana amid poor turnout

  

  Despite a poor turnout, Venezuelan authorities Sunday confirmed 95.93% of 10,554,320 voting Venezuelans replied “aye” in a non-binding referendum to the question of whether or not to annex the Essequiba Guiana, a 160,000 square-kilometer region the country claims as its own but which has been under Guyanan control for over a century.

• Saturday, December 2nd 2023 - 20:14 UTC

  Venezuela ignores UN ICJ ruling and will go ahead with a referendum on Guyana's Esequibo

  

  Venezuela will press on with a weekend referendum over the fate of a vast disputed area in the Esequibo region it claims, disputing neighboring Guyana's jurisdiction, despite the UN International Court of Justice, ICJ, Friday ruling urging restraint in the dispute.

• Friday, December 1st 2023 - 10:17 UTC

  Will Maduro attempt to take over Guyana's Esequibo? Brazil sends troops to the area

  

  Brazil announced “intensified defensive actions” along its northern border fearing a possible invasion of Guyana by the dictatorial regime of President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. This Friday the UN International Court is expected to halt a referendum, on a disputed area between the two neighbors, which is seen as “an exercise in forced annexation” by Venezuela.

• Saturday, November 25th 2023 - 10:58 UTC

  NGO warns Essequibo question might end up in war between Venezuela and Guyana

  

  Control Ciudadano (Social Watch - CC) Chairwoman Rocío San Miguel said Guyanese President Irfaan Alí's recent statements regarding the military support of several countries to defend the Essequibo amounted to a “very strong warning for Venezuela,” which will hold a referendum on the matter on Dec. 3.

• Thursday, November 16th 2023 - 10:09 UTC

  Paraguay and Venezuela resume diplomatic ties

  

  Paraguay and Venezuela agreed on Wednesday to resume diplomatic ties cut under former Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez in January 2019. At that time, the then-president of Venezuela's National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, proclaimed himself president of a government that ended up in exile despite the backing of the international community and eventually vanished like a soap bubble.

• Wednesday, November 8th 2023 - 18:43 UTC

  Guyana asks The Hague court to stop Venezuelan referendum on the annexation of half of its territory

  

  Guyana has asked the UN's highest court to stop a Venezuelan referendum on the annexation of the Esequibo, half of its territory and its oil-rich offshore, a claim going back to colonial times.

• Tuesday, November 7th 2023 - 09:12 UTC

  Chile: 14 killed in migrant settlement fire in Biobio

  

  At least 14 migrants were killed in a fire in the town of Coronel, some 530 kilometers south of Santiago, in the region of Biobio, it was reported Monday.

• Tuesday, October 31st 2023 - 10:32 UTC

  Venezuelan Supreme Court annuls Machado's win in primaries

  

  The Electoral branch of Venezuela's Supreme Court (TSJ) has annulled the opposition's Oct. 22 primaries whereby María Corina Machado had been chosen to take on President Nicolás Maduro in the 2024 elections. The Court argued that Machado had been disenfranchised for 15 years in addition to fraud allegations affecting the process, it was reported in Caracas.

• Tuesday, October 24th 2023 - 09:14 UTC

  Machado wins Venezuelan primaries by a landslide

  

  Opposition leader María Corina Machado obtained 93.13 % of the vote in Venezuela's primary elections held Sunday. According to local authorities in Caracas, the results were not released until Monday due to technology issues. Although Machado was widely expected to win, it remains to be seen whether she is allowed to run against President Nicolás Maduro, who has been in office since 2012.

• Sunday, October 22nd 2023 - 23:17 UTC

  In the hope of political change in 2024, thousands vote in Venezuela's opposition primaries

  

  Thousands of Venezuelans voted this Sunday in the opposition primaries in the hope of a change of president in 2024, a long race that citizens opposed to chavismo took on with enthusiasm, with the purpose of voting. Liberal María Corina Machado, a pariah of the Venezuelan opposition for the past decade, is now emerging as a strong favorite.