Embattled president hints that Juan Guaidó and allies are in his sights
Venezuela’s opposition is bracing for a severe political crackdown after Nicolás Maduro lashed out at the “diabolical pro-imperialist puppets” he claimed were trying to remove him from the presidency and vowed to imprison them all.
The struggle between Maduro and his challenger, Juan Guaidó, escalated dramatically last week with the detention of Guaidó’s right-hand man, Roberto Marrero.
Continue reading...Maduro’s interior minister alleged a cache of ‘weapons of war’ had been apprehended with Roberto Marrero as face-off escalates
The face-off between Nicolás Maduro and his US-backed challenger Juan Guaidó has escalated dramatically after Venezuelan intelligence agents seized Guaidó’s chief of staff and accused him of leading a “terrorist cell” plotting a wave of political assassinations.
Related: Juan Guaidó's chief of staff arrested by Venezuelan agents
Continue reading...Economically destroyed, socially unstable and now hungry, Venezuela is undergoing turbulent times. Photographer Ignacio Marín has been covering the crisis since May 2018. He talks about his images and his experience
For a time the “Saudi Arabia” of South America, today Venezuela more closely resembles Syria. Economically destroyed and socially unstable, the country is now fighting an ever more alarming spectre: hunger. In the slum of Petare in the metropolitan area of the capital, Caracas, refrigerators remain empty, supermarket queues grow longer and the necessity of procuring something to eat drives young people to violence.
Continue reading...The sick must provide their own medical supplies as havoc grips Maracaibo, but shelves in the looted shops are bare
The air in the crowded emergency ward was already thick with the rusty smell of dried blood when the door burst open and two men barged in, screaming for help.
Between them, they carried a third man: barefoot, bare-chested – and bleeding freely from a deep wound which had nearly severed his right arm.
Continue reading...Related: Venezuela blackout: what caused it and what happens next?
Power has been restored to much of Venezuela, a week after a devastating blackout struck across the country, crippling water supplies, and cutting off telephone and internet services for millions.
Continue reading...Venezuela’s chief prosecutor has asked the country’s supreme court to open an investigation into opposition leader Juan Guaidó for alleged involvement in the “sabotage” of the country’s power grid.
Related: US pulls all staff from Venezuela as Maduro blames blackout on 'demonic' Trump plot
Continue reading...Luis Carlos Díaz, who went missing at about 5.30pm Monday, was taken by Sebin, fellow journalists confirmed
A prominent Venezuelan journalist who had been reporting on the country’s escalating political crisis and electricity blackout out has been seized by secret police, sparking international condemnation.
Related: US pulls all staff from Venezuela as Maduro blames blackout on 'demonic' Trump plot
Continue reading...Venezuela has had to shut schools and suspend business activities during the worst blackouts in decades. The outages have compounded the country’s economic and political crisis, with the government and opposition accusing each other of responsibility for the infrastructure breakdown
Continue reading...Power outage – that Maduro blames on foreign saboteurs – could have dramatic implications for country’s political future
When night falls on Venezuela’s ghostly capital, an unnerving hush grips the streets of this once-bustling South American metropolis.
“You feel a profound silence all around you,” said Alejandro Guzmán, a 26-year-old lawyer and one of millions of Venezuelans left in the dark after their country was hit by an unprecedented blackout some believe could have dramatic implications for its political future. “It’s like a city of shadows.”
Continue reading...Demonstrations spark fears country’s political crisis could deep following huge blackout
Supporters of Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his US-backed challenger, Juan Guaidó, returned to the streets again on Saturday amid rising fears the political crisis could be entering a turbulent new phase.
After a strained 48 hours for Venezuela in which almost the entire country was affected by a blackout thousands of demonstrators turned out to champion their respective leaders, both of whom claim the presidency.
Continue reading...Venezuela’s defense minister has accused the United States of masterminding a crippling power cut that has left virtually the entire South American country without electricity and stirred fears that its crisis could be entering a volatile new phase.
Related: Venezuela: 'country has stopped' as blackout drags into second day
Continue reading...Delcy Rodríguez said schools were closed and workers should stay home after ‘technological attack’ on Guri hydroelectric plant
Venezuela’s embattled president, Nicolás Maduro, has been forced to close schools and give workers the day off after a severe and potentially destabilizing blackout dragged into a second day.
On Friday morning, more than 19 hours after power failed across most of the country, Venezuela’s vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez, announced that schools would not open and private- and public-sector workers should stay at home.
Continue reading...At least 18 of 23 states reportedly affected by blackout authorities blamed on anti-government saboteurs
Venezuela has been hit by a vast power cut, with at least 18 of its 23 states reportedly affected by a blackout authorities blamed on anti-government saboteurs.
Commuters in the country’s crumbling capital, Caracas, were forced to walk home from work after the metro service was paralyzed by the outage, while the international airport was reportedly plunged into darkness.
Continue reading...Nicolás Maduro’s administration accuses Daniel Kriener of ‘crass’ and ‘unlawful’ meddling in Venezuelan affairs
Nicolás Maduro’s embattled government has declared the German ambassador persona non grata and ordered him to leave the country within 48 hours as Venezuela’s political crisis intensified on Wednesday.
The decision to expel Daniel Kriener – who has been based in Caracas since last year – was announced on Twitter by Venezuela’s foreign minister, Jorge Arreaza.
Continue reading...Washington warned on eve of arrival Maduro faces ‘strong and significant response’ if Guaidó is detained or threatened
The opposition figurehead battling to dislodge Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro has made an audacious and dramatic homecoming, flying into the country’s main airport as he sought to re-energize his campaign for political change.
Juan Guaidó – who secretly left Venezuela last month to conduct a support-seeking tour of South America – landed at the Simón Bolívar international airport on Monday on a commercial flight from Panama.
Continue reading...Venezuelan authorities have blockaded a second bridge to Colombia amid fresh skirmishes between protesters and security forces loyal to embattled leader Nicolás Maduro.
Related: Venezuela: US increasingly isolated as allies warn against use of military force
Continue reading...UN security council officials clash over ‘politicised’ aid to troubled country as peace-building chief warns of ‘grim realities’
Infant mortality in Venezuela has soared by roughly 50% during the prolonged political crisis in the country.
Briefing the UN security council, the UN’s political and peace building chief, Rosemary DiCarlo, depicted a devastating collapse in Venezuela’s health system. She warned that 40% of medical staff had left the country and said hospital stocks of medicine had dwindled to 20% of the required level.
Continue reading...Anchor, who has reportedly been released, asked question embattled leader did not approve of, according to Univision executive
The Univision anchor Jorge Ramos has been detained in the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, the network announced on Monday evening.
The Mexican-born journalist was interviewing Venezuela’s embattled president Nicolás Maduro when he and his crew were detained after asking a question the combative Maduro did not approve of, according to a tweet by the network’s US president, Daniel Coronell. The team’s equipment had also been confiscated, Coronell said.
Continue reading...Mike Pence says ‘all options are on the table’ in effort to oust Maduro while key allies warn they would oppose sending troops
US vice-president Mike Pence has repeated a veiled threat of military intervention in Venezuela, but Washington appeared increasingly isolated in its willingness to contemplate using force to oust President Nicolás Maduro.
Both European powers and some of Donald Trump’s key Latin American allies – all of whom have recognised opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate leader – warned that they would oppose sending troops into the country.
Continue reading...Alva Johnson files lawsuit alleging Trump kissed her in August 2016 outside rally in Tampa, and says ‘I immediately felt violated’
Donald Trump has complained about a “racist hit” he said Spike Lee carried out on him at the Oscars.
The film-maker, 61, won his first competitive Academy Award, best adapted screenplay, for his film BlacKkKlansman, which was also nominated for best picture. Lee received an honorary Oscar in 2015.
A former staff member of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has filed a federal lawsuit against the president, claiming he kissed her without consent.
Alva Johnson, who served as Trump’s campaign’s director of outreach and coalitions in Alabama in 2016, told the Washington Post that Trump “grabbed her hand and leaned in to kiss her on the lips”, as the then-candidate exited an RV at a rally in Tampa on August 24 2016.
Johnson said she turned her head and the unwanted kiss landed on the side of her mouth, which she called “super-creepy and inappropriate.”
“I immediately felt violated because I wasn’t expecting it or wanting it,” she said. “I can still see his lips coming straight for my face.”
Continue reading...