Venezuela opposition parties fear election ban as Socialists dig in

Venezuela’s government is pushing forward with measures that could exclude some opposition political parties from future elections, potentially paving the way for the ruling Socialists to remain in power despite widespread anger over the country’s collapsing economy. The Supreme Court, loyal to socialist president Nicolas Maduro, has ordered the main opposition parties to “renew” themselves through petition drives whose conditions are so strict that party leaders and even an election official described them as impossible to meet.

Venezuela bans Hugo Chavez TV series

Venezuela has banned TV networks from broadcasting a new series on late president Hugo Chavez, calling the US-Colombian production an attack on the legacy of the charismatic socialist firebrand. “El Comandante,” a 60-episode series on Chavez’s life, premiered Monday night in Colombia.

Hugo Chavez returns to life in TV show criticized by allies

In this Jan. 25, 2017 photo, Colombia’s actor Andres Parra plays the role of Venezuela’s former President Hugo Chavez during the filming of “El Comandante” in Bogota, Colombia. The life of Chavez, who mesmerized Venezuela’s impoverished masses before dying of cancer in 2013, is being dramatized in a Spanish-language TV series that is generating a backlash even before it airs.