Category Archives: Venezuela

A dollar for sex: Venezuela’s women tricked and trafficked

Posted on by

Women attempting to flee the country’s economic collapse are in desperate straits, stranded at borders and forced into sex work, say NGOs

The family had nothing at home, says mother of six Luisa Hernández, 30, from Zulia state, Venezuela. “To see your children grow up without food, without anything, is unbearable.

“Eating from rubbish bins to survive was no life, so we left. But, now with the pandemic, we are in limbo, we are stuck in Colombia, and hungry again. We have gone from one crisis to another.”

Continue reading...

Tsunami of fake news hurts Latin America’s effort to fight coronavirus

Posted on by

More than 160,000 people have died but from Mexico to Brazil, social networks are awash with quack cures and conspiracies

For months Gustavo Andrade has been battling to convince his parishioners to take Covid-19 seriously.

Related: Desperate Bolivians seek out toxic bleach falsely touted as Covid-19 cure

Continue reading...

Global report: Tokyo hits Covid-19 high as Australia limits arrivals

Posted on by

Japan reels from resurgence of virus while Australia restricts admissions to 4,000 a week

Tokyo hit another record daily high number of new cases, Australia is to halve the number of citizens it allows to return each week and Hong Kong’s schools have closed early for the summer as countries around the world struggled to contain fresh coronavirus outbreaks.

Amid growing signs of a resurgence of the virus in Japan, the capital reported 243 new infections on Friday, more than the previous day’s 224 and the first time that more than 200 cases have been confirmed for two consecutive days.

Continue reading...

Global report: Bolivia’s president and Venezuela’s Socialist party leader test positive for Covid-19

Posted on by

Announcements come after Brazil’s president tested positive; South Africa records highest one-day case increase; Australia to limit incoming travellers

Two more leading Latin American politicians – from Bolivia and Venezuela – have said they have tested positive for Covid-19 in the same week Brazil’s president announced he had contracted coronavirus.

Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela’s number two official and the leader of the Socialist party, announced his diagnosis on social media on Thursday evening and said he was in self-isolation. “We will prevail!!” tweeted the influential Chavista.

Continue reading...

‘It’s a tsunami’: pandemic leaves vulnerable Latin America reeling

Posted on by

Years of social progress could be reversed by the virus, amid accusations that politicians have been fatally inept

As coronavirus galloped through Latin America in late April, the mayor of Manaus was in despair. “The outlook is dismal,” Arthur Virgílio admitted as gravediggers in the Amazon’s largest city piled coffins into muddy trenches, Brazil’s death toll hit 5,500, and its president, Jair Bolsonaro, responded with a shrug. “It’s obvious this won’t end well.”

Two months later, Virgílio’s nightmare has come true. Brazil’s death toll has risen to more than 60,000 – the second highest in the world after the United States – with some now predicting it could overtake the US, where 130,000 have died, by the end of July.

Continue reading...

‘Get me back to Caracas’: desperate Venezuelans leave lockdown Bogotá

Posted on by

Their ambitions for a new life in Colombia shattered, migrants are lining up for the bus journey back to an uncertain future

Rosa Vera, a 40-year-old from a small town in crisis-ridden Venezuela, thought moving to Colombia would give her the chance to find work. Five months ago, she left her family and began the arduous journey to Bogotá, the Colombian capital, to look for a job.

Instead, as coronavirus shut down economic life in the city, Vera and more than 400 Venezuelans had no choice but to camp out for a month, waiting for help to get them home.

Continue reading...

Maduro refused control of $1bn in UK vaults by British high court

Posted on by

UK has ‘unequivocally recognised’ rival Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s president, ruling says

A British court has refused to give Nicolás Maduro control of $1bn (£799m) of gold bullion held by Venezuela in the vaults of the Bank of England, ruling the UK government has “unequivocally recognised” his rival Juan Guaidó as president.

The Venezuelan central bank (BCV) – whose board is appointed by Maduro, the successor to Hugo Chávez – took the legal action after its request to release the gold to pass the proceeds to the UN to help combat coronavirus in the country was rejected by the Bank of England on the basis the UK had recognised Guaidó.

Continue reading...

Bank of England blocking release of Venezuelan gold, court hears

Posted on by

$1bn gold hoard subject of dispute between Nicolás Maduro and rival Juan Guaidó

Claims that the Bank of England is unlawfully blocking the release of 31 tonnes of gold valued at nearly $1bn(£805m) and intended to combat the coronavirus in Venezuela have been heard in the high court this week.

The bars are among the 400,000 bars of gold held in the Bank’s vaults, but there is a political dispute about their rightful owner.

Continue reading...

Outrage after Venezuelan racehorse stolen and butchered

Posted on by

Horse owners say theft is becoming an increasingly common crime in nation where many are going hungry

In his prime, the coffee-hued Venezuelan racehorse known as Ocean Bay thundered down tracks and snatched up the nation’s most prestigious titles.

His end this week has outraged many: the stallion was stolen and butchered in what horse owners say it becoming an increasingly common crime in a nation where many are going hungry amid a severe economic contraction.

Continue reading...

Venezuela’s supreme court rules against opposition in vote setback

Posted on by

Top court complains opposition-held congress did not name electoral body authorities in time

Venezuela’s government-friendly supreme court has said the opposition-held congress did not name rectors to the South American country’s electoral authority in time, a move denounced by the opposition as an attempt to derail election plans. 

The court declared the national assembly’s decisions null and void shortly after the opposition won control of the body in late 2015. With new legislative elections due by the end of 2020, the decision marked a setback to efforts between the two sides to agree on conditions for the vote. 

Continue reading...

UK court must decide which leader to recognise in Venezuela gold case

Posted on by

UK recognises Juan Guaidó as country’s interim president, arguing president Nicolas Maduro rigged 2018 election

A court in London has said that it will need to decide which of Venezuela’s duelling political factions to recognise before ruling on president Nicolas Maduro’s request for the Bank of England to hand over gold the country has in its vaults.

For decades, Venezuela has stored gold that makes up part of its central bank reserves in the vaults of foreign financial institutions including the Bank of England, which provides gold custodian services to developing countries. But since 2018, the bank has refused to transfer the funds to Maduro’s government, which Britain does not recognise.

Continue reading...

First Iranian fuel tanker reaches Venezuelan waters without US interference

Posted on by

Iran’s president had earlier warned the US not to try to stop the flotilla of five tankers sent to ease Venezuela’s fuel shortage

The first of five tankers loaded with gasoline sent from Iran has reached Venezuelan waters, expected to temporarily ease the South American nation’s fuel crunch while defying Trump administration sanctions targeting the two US foes.

The oil tanker Fortune encountered no signs of US interference as it eased through Caribbean waters toward the Venezuelan coast late on Saturday. Venezuelan officials celebrated the arrival.

Continue reading...

Venezuela seizes empty Colombian combat boats days after failed invasion plot

Posted on by

Caracas has accused Colombia and US of plotting to overthrow president Maduro; says military found abandoned vessels in Orinoco river

Venezuela’s military says it has seized three abandoned Colombian light combat vessels that soldiers found while patrolling the Orinoco river on Saturday, several days after the government accused its neighbour of aiding a failed invasion plot.

In a statement, the defence ministry said the boats were equipped with machine guns and ammunition, but had no crew, adding they were discovered as part of a nationwide operation to guarantee Venezuela’s “freedom and sovereignty”.

Continue reading...

‘His head wasn’t in the world of reality’: how the plot to invade Venezuela fell apart

Posted on by

Deeply flawed from the start, the audacious plan to overthrow Nicolás Maduro unravelled spectacularly

As get-rich-quick schemes go it was unusually complicated. Invade a foreign country you know little about. Abduct its president to the US. Collect a $15m bounty from the US government – and maybe an even bigger payoff from the people who then seize power.

The plan to overthrow Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and bundle him off to Florida to face drug trafficking charges seemed foolproof to a former US army staff sergeant, Jordan Goudreau, as he mapped it out in a luxury Miami apartment in late 2019. The 43-year-old Canadian-American was certain his years as a green beret in Iraq and Afghanistan had prepared him for the task.

Continue reading...

US mercenary says group plotted to seize Venezuela’s presidential palace

Posted on by

Airan Berry, captured by security forces, says group aimed to haul Maduro away ‘however necessary’

An American soldier of fortune captured during a botched attempt to seize Venezuela’s leader has claimed his group had plotted to raid Nicolás Maduro’s presidential palace before spiriting him away “however necessary”.

Airan Berry, 41, was one of two US mercenaries captured by Venezuelan security forces this week after what appears to have been a catastrophically executed attempt to topple Maduro by sneaking into the South American country in a pair of weather-beaten fishing boats.

Continue reading...

Venezuela leader calls for extradition of US security contractor after failed raid – video

Posted on by

President Nicolás Maduro has called for the extradition of a US security contractor after an alleged incursion into the country to abduct him failed.

Luke Denman, one of two US citizens captured during the incident, said he was contracted to a private security firm run by Jordan Goudreau, in an an interview televised in Venezuela. While the US government has denied any role in the alleged raid, Maduro has called for Goudreau to be extradited to Venezuela 

Continue reading...

Venezuela: captured US mercenary describes failed plot to abduct Maduro – video

Posted on by

Luke Denman is shown on Venezuelan TV after being arrested. Denman was one of two American mercenaries apprehended after a failed attempt to topple Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.

Denman claimed he was on a mission to seize control of Venezuela’s main airport in order to abduct its authoritarian leader – and he alleged that he was acting under the command of Donald Trump.

Continue reading...

Venezuela: captured US mercenary claims he planned to abduct Maduro

Posted on by

Luke Denman was one of two US citizens seized this week after what appears to have been a bungled bid to overthrow Maduro

An American mercenary captured after a bungled attempt to topple Nicolás Maduro has claimed he was on a mission to seize control of Venezuela’s main airport in order to abduct its leader – and he alleged that was acting under the command of Donald Trump.

Luke Denman was one of two US citizens seized by Venezuelan security forces this week after what appears to have been a catastrophically conceived bid to overthrow Maduro by sneaking into the South American country in a fleet of battered fishing boats.

Continue reading...

Footage shows Venezuelan arrest of ‘mercenary’ in alleged US incursion – video

Posted on by

Thirteen men were arrested in Venezuela, of which two are believed to be US citizens after what the country's president, Nicolás Maduro, described a failed armed incursion plot coordinated with Washington to enter the country via the Caribbean coast and oust him.

Eight people were killed during the incursion attempt on Sunday, Venezuelan authorities said. Donald Trump has denied any involvement by the US government 

Continue reading...

Donald Trump denies link to Venezuela armed raid by US citizens

Posted on by
  • Trump: ‘It has nothing to do with our government’
  • Two US ‘mercenaries’ held after Caribbean coast attack foiled

Donald Trump has denied any involvement by the US government in what Venezuelan officials have called a failed armed incursion in the South American country that led to the capture of two American “mercenaries”.

The president made the comment to reporters at the White House after Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, announced that authorities there had detained two US citizens working with a US military veteran who has claimed responsibility for the foiled operation.

Continue reading...