CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) – Venezuelan civil servants who signed a petition for a referendum on removing President Nicolas Maduro from power must be sacked within 48 hours, a top aide to the president said. Five ministries have been given lists of employees in managerial posts who signed the petition in favor of a recall vote against Maduro, said Jorge Rodriguez, the embattled leftist leader’s designated aide to monitor the opposition’s referendum drive. “They have 48 […]
Tag: Maduro
Citibank to close key Venezuela payment account: Maduro
CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) by Alexander MARTINEZ Citibank plans to close the account Venezuela uses to make international payments, President Nicolas Maduro said Monday, accusing the US-based bank of mounting a “financial blockade.” “Citibank, with no warning or communication, says that it is going to close the Central Bank and Bank Of Venezuela account. That is what you call a financial blockade,” the embattled president said in televised remarks. He said the move amounted to an […]
Venezuela opposition courts international pressure on Maduro
CARACAS Venezuela (AFP) – by Maria Isabel Sanchez and Marc Burleigh Venezuela’s opposition leader met with foreign mediators in Caracas on Thursday in a bid to up the pressure for a recall referendum against embattled President Nicolas Maduro. The closed-door meeting between Henrique Capriles and former leaders of Spain and Panama came after Maduro threatened to strengthen a state of emergency imposed this week following anti-government protests. The demonstrations that took place in two dozen […]
Venezuela enters critical stage in political crisis
CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) – by Alexander Martinez Venezuela braced Monday for more upheaval as President Nicolas Maduro prepared to unveil the scope of a new emergency decree and the opposition readied protests against what it calls a bid to cling to power. The leftist leader has so far given few details on the state of emergency he declared Friday, beyond vowing to seize factories he claims have been paralyzed by the “bourgeoisie” in order to exacerbate […]
Venezuela’s Chavez remembered with pomp and protests
(Reuters) – Followers of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez flooded the streets of Venezuela on Wednesday for the anniversary of his death, an emotional but welcome distraction for his successor from violent protests raging for the last month. A year after Chavez succumbed to cancer, his self-proclaimed “son,” President Nicolas Maduro, faces the biggest challenge to his rule from an explosion of anti-government demonstrations that have led to 18 deaths since February. Though the protests […]
Beauty queen the latest victim in Venezuela unrest
(Reuters) – A local beauty queen died of a gunshot wound on Wednesday, the fifth fatality from Venezuela’s political unrest, as imprisoned protest leader Leopoldo Lopez urged supporters to keep fighting for the departure of the socialist government. Tensions have risen in Venezuela since Lopez, a 42-year-old Harvard-educated economist, turned himself in to troops on Tuesday after spearheading three weeks of often rowdy protests against President Nicolas Maduro’s government. The latest victims of the unrest […]
