
The United States said on Tuesday it will provide US$52 million in funding to Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, an escalation of support even as his push to oust socialist President Nicolas Maduro stalls.

Two Venezuelans have been charged in US federal court with allegedly smuggling US$5 million worth of gold bars into the United States in a private airplane. Jean Carlos Sanchez Rojas and Victor Fossi Grieco, who piloted the airplane, were arrested on Sep 20 at Florida's Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport after US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents discovered the undeclared cargo in the airplane's nose.

In a meeting convened by the Organization of American States, 16 of the 19 states party to the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, a 1947 pact known as the Rio Treaty, backed using the pact to collaborate on law-enforcement operations and economic sanctions against Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, and associates, accusing his regime of criminal activity including drug trafficking and money laundering.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, denounced that her figure is misunderstood in Venezuela’s case. The Chilean president, who published a severe report in July denouncing human rights violations in Venezuela, said that many in that country mistakenly see her as the virgin Mary, who can work miracles and solve the humanitarian drama.

The United Nations' High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said Saturday she felt “sorry for Brazil,” after President Jair Bolsonaro publicly expressed his support for former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Venezuela's government said on Monday it was evaluating sending some of its lawmakers back to the opposition-controlled National Assembly, which President Nicolas Maduro has called an illegal institution, as part of new talks with one opposition faction.

Spain's High Court ruled on Monday that the government should refuse a request from the United States to extradite Venezuela's former military intelligence chief.

A group of Venezuelan government officials and opposition activists are quietly holding talks focused on the economy despite the stalling of a formal dialogue mediated by Norway, according to nine sources involved.

President Donald Trump warned that the exit of his hawkish national security adviser won't bring a softening of the US position on Venezuela. Bolton, a prominent hardliner in Washington's attempt to pressure Venezuelan strongman President Nicolas Maduro from power, was sacked last week

Venezuela's state prosecutor's office said on Friday it would open an investigation into Juan Guaido after the interior minister presented photos on state television showing the opposition leader in the company of two suspected members of a Colombian drug-trafficking group.