The “Lima Group” of Latin American nations plus Canada on Tuesday criticized the Venezuelan government’s decision to hold a presidential election on April 22 without reaching an agreement with an opposition coalition.
Brazilian President Michel Temer criticized the government of neighboring Venezuela for leading that country into a crisis that is causing an exodus of refugees into northern Brazil. Brasilia has called for democratic reforms by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who has consolidated power as his country’s economic crisis deepens with shortages of food and medicine.
The British Ambassador to Venezuela, Andrew Soper, presented his Letter of Credentials to President Nicolás Maduro during a ceremony at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas.
Colombia and Brazil tightened border controls with Venezuela on Thursday as both nations grapple with a mounting influx of hundreds of thousands of desperate migrants fleeing a worsening economic crisis In a visit to the border region, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said he would impose stricter migratory controls, suspend new daily entry cards for Venezuelans and deploy 3,000 new security personnel along the frontier, including 2,120 more soldiers.
Venezuela's questioned electoral council has set April 22 as the date for a controversial presidential election, which was supposed to occur late 2018. The opposition accuses President Nicolas Maduro of using to plan a second term for himself.
China’s support for Venezuela has benefited ordinary people and been broadly welcomed, the foreign ministry said after the U.S. Treasury accused China of aiding Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government with murky oil-for-loan investments.
At least 8,000 Venezuelans cross the border between Colombia and Venezuela daily to the department of Arauca, southeast of Colombia. Although the migratory flow at this point does not compare with the thirty or forty thousand Venezuelans who cross the Simón Bolívar bridge between Santander and Táchira every day, in Arauca the majority of migrants arrive in conditions of extreme vulnerability.
Venezuela’s central bank announced a devaluation of more than 99% of its official exchange rate with the launch of a new foreign exchange platform, a move critics quickly said would not create a functioning currency market.
In audio filtered to Univisión (1), the radio transmission among the Venezuelan police forces that participated on the morning of January 15 in the capture operation against a revolt pilot Óscar Pérez and six of his companions carried out outside of Caracas is revealed. In the revealed material, the commander of the operation, Major of the National Guard Rafael Bastardo confirms his surrender.
Venezuela has rejected the decision made by the United Nations to refer the border controversy with Guyana to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). “The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, faithful to its historical tradition and in accordance with the Bolivarian Diplomacy of Peace, reiterates its firm disposition to defend the territorial integrity of our Homeland and maintain political negotiation based on the 1966 Geneva Accord, as the only way to reach a peaceful solution, practical and satisfactory for both parties and in favor of our Peoples,” the Venezuelan government said in a statement on Wednesday.