VENEZUELA

The United States government is moving to ease a few economic sanctions on Venezuela in a gesture meant to encourage resumed negotiations between the U.S.-backed opposition and the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

The buy is part of a $10 million purchase by Pence's group, Advancing American Freedom.

Iran’s president says the country is exporting twice as much oil as when he took office in August, despite heavy sanctions on oil exports imposed by the U.S. Ebrahim Raisi made the claim in a live interview on state-run TV on Monday night without elaborating, including on the amount of oil being exported

The Biden administration is unlikely to invite the leaders of Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba to the upcoming Summit of the Americas, a senior State Department official said Wednesday while sidestepping questions about an eventual role for Venezuela's opposition leader at the gathering of hemispheric leaders. The summit, to take place in Los Angeles in early June, will focus on defending democracy and human rights in the Western Hemisphere as well as addressing irregular migration, climate change and efforts to ensure equitable growth as the region emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, Assistant Secretary of State Brian Nichols told reporters.

Olga Mata de Gil, 72, shared a TikTok video naming arepas after Venezuelan politicians. She's been charged with "inciting hatred," which human rights experts say underscores the country's dwindling free speech.

Venezuelan Embassy has advice for the 186,000 Venezuelans waiting for a response to their application for Temporary Protected Status from the U.S. government.

Gusty today, but southerly winds will help to push temperatures into the middle to upper 70s.

A return to the 2015 deal would see the return of Iranian oil to the market at a time when crude prices have hit their highest levels in more than a decade.

The southern Mexico city of Tapachula has been roiled for weeksby near daily protests by migrants frustrated over the lengthy wait for documents from Mexican authorities that would allow them to continue traveling north

The White House is touting the release of two American's they say were wrongfully detained in Venezuela.

Three checkered oil regimes that President Joe Biden and past U.S. leaders have spectacularly snubbed — Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Iran — are the targets of U.S. outreach as global fuel prices hit dizzying highs during the Ukraine crisis.

As the planet warms, the Western U.S. is seeing shorter and drier winters, presenting even more challenges aimed at eliminating dead trees and scrub that build up in the forests and can lead to massive deadly wildfire infernos. (mARCH 9)

A high-level delegation traveled to the South American country last weekend to in part discuss the health of detained U.S. citizens.

As the United States look for fuel sources, the possible search for oil in Venezuela is drawing criticism from a Florida senator.

While there are alternatives to Russian oil, they would be insufficient or difficult logistically if the U.S. and its allies were to ban Russian energy imports, analysts said Tuesday.

Both officially and in terms of public perception, Colombians in recent years have welcomed Venezuelan migrants with open arms. But with Colombia's upcoming elections this year, many experts warn that trend could change.

A story of a train project illustrates the rot that inevitably develops behind a charismatic leader’s cult of personality.

Senior U.S. officials secretly traveled to Venezuela over the weekend in a risky bid to unfreeze hostile relations with Vladimir Putin’s top ally in Latin America, a top oil exporter whose re-entry into U.S. energy markets could mitigate the fallout at the pump from a possible oil embargo on Russia.

The 47-member nation U.N. Human Rights Council has overwhelmingly approved a resolution aiming to set up a three-person panel of experts to monitor human rights in Ukraine

Emily Mayora’s family once supported the opposition to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, especially when a fresh young leader injected life into that movement three years ago

Russia’s aggression against Ukraine comes at a time when tensions between Colombia and Venezuela have been escalating.

A federal judge unsealed records on Wednesday in Miami revealing that a Colombian businessman who Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had described as his envoy was a confidential source for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Venezuelan opposition parties have staged one of their largest rallies since the coronavirus pandemic erupted, hearing calls for unity to end more than two decades of socialist governments

Amnesty International believes the findings of a report filed this week could be proof of crimes against humanity in Venezuela.

Venezuelan authorities touted this week that a powerful criminal organization that had ruled marginalized squatter settlements on the hills of southwestern Caracas had taken a hit.

For Colombians and other nationalities that don't need a visa, flying to Mexico can be a ticket to seeking asylum in the United States. Once arriving at a Mexican border city, they can walk across the border in broad daylight and surrender to U.S. agents. In doing so, they avoid the dangers of traversing Mexico and other countries over land and circumvent sweeping U.S. asylum restrictions.

Gladys Rosales, a retired nurse in Caracas, said she has trouble making ends meet. She has to rely on the bolivar despite the ongoing dollarization in Venezuela.

The early election came as the nation of around 10 million people tries to boost its tourism-dependent economy

Nicolás Maduro’s supporters determined the Venezuelan opposition had 12 hours to collect the 4.2 million signatures needed to request a revocation referendum against the president.

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council says an opposition petition drive seeking to force a recall referendum against President Nicolás Maduro fell far short of the signatures needed.

Mayerlin Mayor left her native Maracaibo with her 7-year-old daughter Victoria this month

Without a solution that restores the flow of money into and throughout the country, the number of Afghans at risk of hunger is doomed to soar, aid groups say.

Voters in the Venezuelan state of Barinas — where Chavismo was born — elected an opposition candidate as governor during a special election on Sunday. It was the first time in more than two decades that a member of the Chávez family wasn’t on the ballot.

A small plane crashed on railroad tracks just outside a suburban Los Angeles airfield on Sunday. Officers pulled out the pilot just before a commuter train hit the plane. The pilot was hospitalized. (Jan 10)

Twice in less than two months, Venezuela’s opposition has prevailed in the gubernatorial race in the home state of the late President Hugo Chávez, with the results giving hope to that faction while shocking the ruling party

Voters in the home state of Venezuela’s late President Hugo Chávez have picked an opposition candidate for governor in a closely watched special election called after the contender representing that faction in November’s regular contest was retroactively disqualified as he was ahead in the vote count.

Voters in the home state of Venezuela’s late President Hugo Chávez on Sunday picked an opposition candidate for governor in a closely watched special election called after the contender representing that faction in November’s regular contest was retroactively disqualified as he was ahead in the vote count. Sergio Garrido, candidate for the U.S.-backed opposition, defeated former foreign minister Jorge Arreaza, whose campaign drew ruling party heavy hitters in an all-out effort to keep the bastion of Chavismo under their control. The candidates campaigned for roughly five weeks after the country’s highest court disqualified opposition candidate Freddy Superlano and the special contest was scheduled.

ExxonMobil said Wednesday that it made two additional oil discoveries off the coast of Guyana as the South American country prepares to become the world’s newest major oil producer. The company said a vessel that arrived in Guyana late last year is expected to start production in upcoming months with a target of up to 220,000 barrels of oil a day. Guyana issued its first oil and gas license to ExxonMobil in 2017 after the company said it made “significant” oil discoveries off the country’s Atlantic coast.

The Catholic church has been the dominant religious force in Spain for centuries

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Richard Rogers, the lauded British architect who was one of the forces behind the Pompidou Center in Paris and later designed London’s Millennium Dome has died.

Farmer Julio Álvarez hasn’t sold milk in about a year and a half even though the cows at his farm in northwestern Venezuela are milked every day

Farmer Julio Álvarez hasn’t sold milk in about a year and a half even though the cows at his farm in northwestern Venezuela are milked every day.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has named a former foreign minister as his party’s candidate for a special gubernatorial election in the home state of his predecessor and mentor, Hugo Chávez

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has officially joined the centrist Liberal Party — a key political deal in his quest for reelection in 2022

The developer of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine says it will work on adapting it to the new omicron COVID-19 variant.

Nearly 6 million Venezuelans have left their homeland since 2015, and many are on the move again.

Venezuela's elections have come to a close, with Maduro's party taking 20 of the 23 governorships in the country.

A divided Venezuelan opposition has found itself on familiar territory, having lost an overwhelming majority of races disputed in a regional election over the weekend.

Venezuelans head to the polls this weekend to participate in what has been described as "mega-elections."

The decision to send observers to upcoming local and regional votes undermines the opposition to the regime of Nicolas Maduro.

An international prosecutor has announced an investigation against the Maduro regime for "crimes against humanity," after spending three days in visiting Venezuela.

Five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Thursday evening.

The small beachside town street vendors that used to cater to Colombian city tourists have adapted their inventory to their new customers: A new wave of desperate migrants heading to the U.S.

At the Colombian coastal town of Necoclí, there is a store selling only boat tickets to cross the Gulf of Urabá — which acts as the bridge between South and Central America.

Necoclí is no longer the secluded beachside town tourists from neighboring cities used to visit. The stop in a smugglers’ route is old. Local officials say the desperation is unprecedented.

How one family in Venezuela is making a cryptocurrency income from playing video games.

Millions from Latin America to the Middle East are waiting for promised doses of the Russian-made Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine due to manufacturing problems and other issues.

A Vermont man pleaded guilty today to hiring a woman in Venezuela to kidnap an adult male and make a video of the man being beaten, tortured, and suffocated to death, and to conspiracy to produce child pornography and possession of child pornography. Fiore’s digital media, seized and searched by law enforcement, revealed that he paid a woman in Venezuela $4,000 to kidnap, torture, and murder a “slave” in Venezuela. Fiore requested a video of the torture and murder, which the woman sent to him over the internet. Fiore pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire, conspiracy to kidnap or murder a person in a foreign country, conspiracy to produce child pornography, and possession of child pornography. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factorsThe woman who sent Fiore the videos, co-defendant Moraima Escarlet Vasquez Flores, is charged with conspiracy to murder and kidnap a person in a foreign country, conspiracy to produce child pornography, production of child pornography, and aiding and abetting the receipt of child pornography.

The government's move to end quarantine for arrivals from 47 countries is hailed as a "genuine reopening".

More people are now coming from Ecuador, Brazil, Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

The former coup leader's army connections have spooked some in the nation of 2 million.

For the third time in 13 years, Venezuela has slashed zeroes off its inflation-battered currency, the bolivar. This time, it will shed six zeroes, for a total of 14 since 2008. With that, a million bolivars have overnight become one -- still the equivalent of about 25 US dollar cents. Venezuela's central bank announced the move last month to simplify transactions, with consumers scrambling to make payment for even the most basic goods or services. According to private sector estimates around two thirds of transactions in the country now happen in US dollars. Old banknotes now worth almost nothing have become children’s toys or lie discarded in streets around the country. The once-rich oil producer is battling its eighth year of recession and hyperinflation that reached nearly 3,000 percent in 2020 and more than 9,500 percent the year before, according to central bank figures.

The fight for a path to permanent citizenship for thousands of Venezuelans in the United States is an “uphill battle” that needs the support our political leaders, advocates say.

Government and Venezuelan opposition representatives are continuing a dialogue aimed at finding a common path out of their country’s political standoff

Venezuelan opposition parties say they will participate in the regional and municipal elections scheduled for November, a reversal from their boycotts of recent balloting

At least 13 people were injured following an explosion at a police station near Colombia’s border with Venezuela, officials in the city of Cucuta said.

The Venezuelan government and the opposition came together for the fourth dialogue since 2012, in Mexico earlier this month. Norway mediated the discussions between the two countries, yet expectations among most Venezuelans remain low.

The governments of Panama and Colombia have agreed to impose a daily limit on the number of migrants passing through the thickly jungled and roadless Darien Gap on the two countries’ border

Ante esta situación de superávit de vacunas en Estados Unidos y la negativa a esta población a usarlas, ciertos lugares ya ofrecen vacunación para turistas. Muchos latinoamericanos lo han considerado como una opción mejor que esperar por el turno correspondiente en sus países. Fue gratis y ya me dieron fecha para la segunda dosis; tengo que acercarme ahí y me la colocan”, dijo Rodríguez. En abril, el excandidato presidencial peruano Hernando de Soto tuvo que aclarar que se vacunó en Estados Unidos. Porcentualmente hablando, pocas personas pueden pagar los costos de un viaje a los Estados Unidos y los trámites para obtener la visa de turistas.

It's a freedom rally event not only for Cuba, but Venezuela and Nicaragua as well.

City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and Commissioner Joe Carollo held a news conference Friday to announce new details regarding the Call for Freedom of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua event.

A Miami commissioner and local activists met Wednesday at Miami City Hall to announce an upcoming public rally to send a message to the White House.

When protests erupted last week, it was a dream come true. Cubans will no longer seek freedom on foreign shores. Cubans want freedom at home.

Three days of conflicts between Nicolas Maduro’s regime and gangs have led to 26 deaths in Venezuela, sparking crackdowns in the country.

The U.S. government has begun to ease the crippling sanctions imposed by the Trump administration against Venezuela by allowing companies to export propane to the troubled South American country, a step that could mitigate a shortage that has pushed people to cook on charcoal or wood grills

Three members of Fuerza y Fé, a Venezuelan nonprofit organization, said they are hiking with undocumented migrants to help give others perspective about the ongoing diaspora.

Some Venezuelans have gotten a shot in the arm thanks to a gift of Cuban-developed COVID-19 vaccines, bringing relief to some residents while simultaneously deepening the mystery around the country’s donation-dependent vaccination campaign

As the coronavirus pandemic is raging in Venezuela, Alida De Guidi, 76, said she woke up at dawn and waited in line in Caracas for a vaccine against COVID-19.

Tiene demasiadas conexiones con Venezuela y con Cuba para mantenerse en el poder, y él mismo quiere mantenerse en el poder. No me sorprendería que propongan a Rosario como presidente y Daniel como vicepresidente, o alguna otra combinación en la que Rosario sea la cabeza. A final de cuentas, Ortega está yendo en la dirección de ser reconocido como un paria en la región”, dijo Breda. Además, la familia Ortega, así como la familia Chamorro, son conocidas por acaparar el poder en la historia reciente del país. (Editado por Melanie Slone y Gabriela Alejandra Olmos)The post Autoridades nicaragüenses encarcelan líderes de oposición, facilitan reelección de Daniel Ortega appeared first on Zenger News.

People familiar with the matter believe diplomatic efforts may have made a difference.

The Colombian military announced on Wednesday intelligence agents are searching for members of a leftist guerrilla after a car bomb injured 36 on Tuesday near the border with Venezuela.

Concern is mounting over two ships from the Iranian Navy thought to be carrying a cargo of missiles and speeding across the Atlantic Ocean toward Venezuela. The ships were mid-ocean on Saturday, after reportedly departing from the port of Bandar Abbas in early May. It marks the first time that the Iranian military has sent vessels to round the Cape of Good Hope and enter the Atlantic. Satellite images show the larger of the two ships, the Makran, a forward supply vessel, carrying small, fast att

There appears to be no violation of international law in possible weapons transfer from Iran to Venezuela

It's unclear what the ships are carrying, but the US military has publicly said that a transfer of weapons "would be a provocative act and a threat."

Venezuelan and Haitian leaders stood together at a press conference to call for permanent protections for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders in light of a Supreme Court decision, Monday, which excluded some TPS holders from permanent residency.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed two bills Monday morning aimed at combating foreign influence in the U.S. from seven specific countries including China, Cuba, Russia, Iran, Syria, Venezuela and North Korea.

A convicted crime ringleader has been dishing the dirt on members of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party through a series of tell-all videos

Some Venezuelan politicians who oppose Nicolas Maduro and his socialist party are already campaigning to run in gubernatorial and municipal elections set for Nov. 21st.

The World Health Organization has issued an emergency use listing for the COVID-19 vaccine made by Sinovac in adults 18 and over.

The duty of journalists is to keep those who are in power in check. This continues to be difficult in Venezuela where Nicolas Maduro and his supporters harass the Venezuelan editors, writers, reporters, and photojournalists who are doing their job.

Impoverished indigenous teenagers who left their families behind to get a college education in Bogotá have joined the tax reform protests. Some of them decided to march against police brutality. Others are demanding health reform and an increase of the $285 monthly minimum wage.

Familias en Colombia y Venezuela piden ayuda financiera a través de GoFundMe, para pagar gastos relacionados con tratamientos médicos de COVID-19.

Leopoldo López, un activista prominente de la oposición venezolana, dijo el miércoles que la reciente oferta de negociación hecha por su movimiento al gobierno del presidente Nicolás Maduro fue motivada por la crisis humanitaria en el país y el prolongado estancamiento político.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue officials and authorities from the Miami-Dade Police Department are participating in a remembrance ceremony Tuesday to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the ValuJet Flight 592 crash.

Cuban Americans organized a meeting with Venezuelan Americans and Colombian Americans on Friday at the Brigade 2506 Bay of Pigs Museum in Miami.

Six American oil executives jailed in Venezuela more than three years ago on corruption charges have been granted house arrest in a gesture of goodwill toward the Biden administration as it reviews its policy toward the politically turbulent South American country.

Estados Unidos dijo el viernes que está trabajando con sus aliados de Latinoamérica y Europa para expandir la ayuda humanitaria y promover elecciones en Venezuela, pero advirtió que podría retomar la política de sanciones si no ve acciones concretas de cambios por parte del gobierno de Nicolás Maduro.

A U.S. government watchdog report is questioning the methods used in a USAID effort to get aid to Venezuela in 2019.

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic is hurting the most vulnerable in Venezuela and Colombia where the vaccination campaigns are progressing at a painfully slow pace and officials are implementing lockdown measures.