
The exodus of Venezuelans is on track to reach 5 million people, as pressure grows on neighboring countries to provide them with long-term support, United Nations and European Union officials said on Wednesday.

Brazil has collected more 600 tons of oil from its northeastern beaches since Sept. 12, the government said, more than double an estimate of oil and sand collected by state-run oil company Petrobras.

Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido has asked China and Russia to help end a political crisis crippling the Latin American country during exploratory talks, his diplomatic representative in Brazil said on Monday.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro questioned whether a far-reaching oil spill on the nation’s northeastern shore may have been a criminal act designed to harm a major oil auction scheduled for November.

Venezuela on Thursday won a seat on the controversial U.N. Human Rights Council -- a move that the U.S. quickly branded “an embarrassment” and further proof that its decision last year to leave the body last was the right one.

A huge oil spill off Brazil's northeastern coast may have involved a “ghost ship” carrying Venezuelan oil in breach of US sanctions, a Petrobras expert close to the probe into the disaster said on Tuesday.

Elisa Trotta is the new Venezuelan ambassador in Argentina, following the acceptance of her Credentials by Argentine foreign minister Jorge Faurie. According to an Argentine foreign ministry release, Ms Trotta will make her official presentation to president Mauricio Macri sometime this week.

Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA on Thursday denied accusations by Brazil that it was responsible for a massive oil spill that has polluted beaches on its northeastern Atlantic coast.

Large blots of oil that have turned up on more than 130 Brazilian beaches are “very probably” of Venezuelan origin, Brazil's environment minister said on Wednesday. The oil began appearing in early September and has been seen along a 2,000-kilometre stretch of the northeastern Atlantic coast - with around 130 tons of oil residue collected by Monday.

Russia will find ways to help Cuba get oil and petroleum products, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview broadcast on Saturday. Medvedev pledged to help develop Cuba’s energy sector during a visit to the island this week but did not announce any short-term measures to provide relief from crippling fuel shortages in the wake of tougher U.S. sanctions.