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CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — A 19-year-old Venezuelan was shot dead Wednesday when hundreds of people looted trucks carrying flour and chicken in the western city of Guanare, as the oil-rich but impoverished country faces desperate food shortages. According to police and military reports obtained by AFP, the unrest began when about 1,000 people looting the trucks started fighting among themselves. Jose Materan, 19, received two gunshot wounds and died in hospital, where three others were […]
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AFP) — Venezuela’s government and opposition concluded a new round of talks Friday in an effort to bridge deep and entrenched differences to find a way to end the dire political and economic crisis tearing apart their country. After eight hours of discussions at the foreign ministry in Santo Domingo, the two sides agreed to resume negotiations on January 11, Dominican President Danilo Medina announced. It will be followed by a meeting of […]
CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro announced Sunday that leading opposition parties will be barred from taking part in next year’s presidential vote after they boycotted mayoral polls, in a move set to further consolidate his grip on power. That includes the groups of key figures who have led street protests against his rule such as Henrique Capriles, Leopoldo Lopez and others, Maduro told reporters after casting his vote in the municipal polls. “That’s what […]
by Alexander Martinez Agence France-Presse CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuela’s military on Thursday arrested the country’s former oil minister and the ex-chief of state oil company PDVSA after both men were sacked as part of an anti-corruption crackdown. Attorney General Tarek William Saab told journalists that the former minister Eulogio del Pino and ex-PDVSA boss Nelson Martinez were picked up in a dawn operation by the country’s Military Counterintelligence Unit. Both former officials were arrested at their […]
BOGOTA, Colombia (AFP) — Fugitive Caracas mayor Antonio Ledezma, a key opponent of President Nicolas Maduro, traveled to Madrid on Friday after escaping house arrest in the Venezuelan capital. Ledezma, 62, had hours earlier crossed the border into neighboring Colombia, saying he intended to fly to Europe to organize resistance against Maduro’s rule, which has left millions of Venezuelans facing food and medicine shortages. The opposition leader boarded an Avianca flight from Bogota to Madrid, where he […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Crisis-plagued Venezuela suffered another blow Thursday as a committee of creditors ruled that state oil company PDVSA has defaulted on its debt, a decision that triggers payment of default insurance to investors. The setback for the oil-rich but cash-poor nation came as no surprise, as the government of President Nicolas Maduro has missed payments on sovereign bonds as well as PDVSA debt, even as the population continues to suffer from […]
by Andrea Palasciano with Maria Isabel Sanchez in Caracas Agence France-Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) – Venezuela signed a debt restructuring deal with major creditor Russia on Wednesday, as ratings agencies declared Caracas in partial default. The country is seeking to restructure its foreign debts, estimated at around $150 billion, after it was hit hard by tumbling oil prices and American sanctions. A Venezuelan delegation led by Finance Minister Simon Zerpa signed the deal restructuring $3.15 billion of […]
CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro insisted on Sunday that his cash-strapped country would “never” default, as he prepared to meet with creditors in Caracas to discuss rescheduling part of the country’s massive $150 billion debt. “Never, default will never reach Venezuela,” he declared on his weekly television show. “Our strategy is to renegotiate and refinance all the debt.” Maduro pointed to ongoing negotiations with his allies China and Russia, to which Venezuela […]
CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Four newly-elected opposition governors reluctantly pledged allegiance Monday to Venezuela’s Constituent Assembly, which until now they had dismissed as illegitimate. The assembly was elected July 30 in polls called by unpopular leftist President Nicolas Maduro that were boycotted by the opposition. The Constituent Assembly, packed with government supporters, replaced the opposition-dominated national assembly. Its stated job is to overhaul the constitution of the oil-rich country, but it has been handed sweeping powers to override […]
CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — President Nicolas Maduro’s government won a landslide victory in closely watched regional elections in Venezuela on Sunday, according to official results that the opposition said were “suspicious.” Maduro’s socialist party won governorships of 17 of the 23 states with the opposition Democratic Union Roundtable (MUD) coalition taking only five, according to the results announced by the National Elections Council. The official turnout was 61.14 percent. Maduro said his government had scored an […]
CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro called on his army Tuesday to ready their weapons to defend the country in an escalating war of words with US President Donald Trump. President Nicolas Maduro joined his army top brass at a military exercise near the northern city of Maracay, where he reminded them of their obligation to defend the country. “We have been shamelessly threatened by the most criminal empire that ever existed and […]
CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuela accused the United States on Monday of “psychological terrorism” designed to bring down the government after it was included in a list of eight countries targeted by a travel ban. In a speech at the United Nations General Assembly, Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza described US President Donald Trump as acting like “the world’s emperor.” Amid an escalating war of words, Arreaza said Venezuela would seek dialogue with Washington to “stop […]
