Panel Rules Venezuela Won’t Have to Pay $1.4B to ExxonMobil

A World Bank arbitration panel has determined that Venezuela will not have to pay $1.4 billion to ExxonMobil for confiscating company assets during a wave of nationalizations. ExxonMobil asked the bank’s investment dispute panel for $12 billion for the seizure of its Cerro Negro facilities in the Orinoco Basin under then-President Hugo Chavez.

Venezuela’s VP shrugs off drug sanctions as US weighs policy

To continue reading up to 10 premium articles, you must register , or sign up and take advantage of this exclusive offer: In this Feb. 1, 2017 photo, Venezuela’s Vice President Tareck El Aissami, right, is saluted by Boilivarian Army officer upon his arrival for a military parade at Fort Tiuna in Caracas, Venezuela. The administration of President Donald Trump is slapping sanctions on El Aissami and accusing him of playing a major role in international drug trafficking.

US names Venezuelan VP a major drug trafficker

The United States labelled Venezuela’s Vice President Tareck El Aissami a major drug trafficker Monday, adding the veteran politician to its narcotics “kingpin” sanctions list. The US Treasury accused El Aissami, seen as likely heir to President Nicolas Maduro, of facilitating, of protecting and overseeing large shipments of drugs from Venezuela to Mexico and the United States while serving as the country’s interior minister and governor of Aragua state.

Venezuela’s Opposition Revives Push to End Maduro’s Rule

Opposition supporters hold packages of corn flour in front of riot police during a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government in San Cristobal, Jan. 23, 2017. Offering prized bags of flour to police and hurling empty medicine boxes on the floor, Venezuelan opposition protesters launched a new push on Monday to force President Nicolas Maduro from power and end 18 years of socialist rule.

Venezuela frees jailed activists, ex-presidential candidate

Venezuela’s government has freed a former presidential candidate and several student activists who were jailed during anti-government protests in 2014. Former opposition candidate Manuel Rosales was imprisoned in October 2015 on charges of illicit enrichment upon returning to Venezuela after six years of exile in Peru.

Reversing Cuba policy seen as a punch in the gut to Latin America

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, left, Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa, right, and Bolivia’s President Evo Morales acknowledge supporters during a welcome ceremony for presidents attending an extraordinary meeting in Cochabamba, Bolivia, Thursday , July 4, 2013. Bolivia’s President Evo Morales, left, Ecuador’s Rafael Correa, center, and Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez gesture during the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas Presidential summit with Authorities of Indigenous and African-descent in Otavalo, Ecuador, Friday, June 25, 2010.