Venezuela opposition has concluded a popular consultation to reject the results of the recent parliamentary elections in which president Nicolas Maduro allies immerged victorious. Opposition accuses Maduros of rigging parliamentary polls.

Venezuela opposition holds vote to reject Nicolas Maduro's rule

Venezuela`s opposition, led by Juan Guaido, on Saturday concluded a "popular consultation" to repudiate President Nicolas Maduro`s government after boycotting a congressional vote last Sunday.

The consultation started virtually on Monday and ended with in-person participation. With 87% of responses reviewed, the opposition said just under 6.5 million people participated. Of those, over 3 million voted in person, and 2.4 million online.

Close to 845,000 Venezuelans abroad took part, the opposition reported.

The effort was aimed at helping the opposition demonstrate a broad rejection of Maduro, but it does not offer a clear path toward a change of government.

The legislative elections returned Maduro`s allies to congress despite an economy in ruins, aggressive U.S. sanctions that stifle the OPEC nation`s oil exports and the migration of some 5 million citizens. The Maduro government said 5.2 million Venezuelans voted in the election.

Congress was the last state institution not in the hands of the ruling Socialist Party.

The idea of a popular consultation was proposed in August by Guaido, who is recognized by dozens of countries as Venezuela`s legitimate president following Maduro`s disputed 2018 re-election.

Opposition leaders and most Western nations said the election was stacked in favor of Maduro, who has been widely criticized for his human rights record and for undermining democracy to stay in power.

On Thursday, Maduro said that "no internet consultation has constitutional status... No one could think that an internet consultation has legal value."

Blanca Marmol, a former supreme court magistrate who helped organize the popular consultation, told a news conference, "This is, I want to emphasize, the last resource we have in the constitution."

Organizers on Saturday reported incidents in 11 of Venezuela`s 24 states, with police and ruling party supporters removing some opposition sites for the informal vote.

Marco Blanco, a 54-year-old taxi driver in the western Caracas neighborhood of Catia, said he was unaware of the vote.

"I heard something about a query, I don`t know what it is for," he said. "I have listened, but very vague. Almost nothing." 
&nbsp;

Venezuela`s opposition, led by Juan Guaido, on Saturday concluded a "popular consultation" to repudiate President Nicolas Maduro`s government after boycotting a congressional vote last Sunday.

Venezuela`s opposition, led by Juan Guaido, on Saturday concluded a "popular consultation" to repudiate President Nicolas Maduro`s government after boycotting a congressional vote last Sunday. The consultation started virtually on Monday and ended with in-person participation. With 87% of responses reviewed, the opposition said just under 6.5 million people participated. Of those, over 3 million voted in person, and 2.4 million online. Close to 845,000 Venezuelans abroad took part, the opposition reported. The effort was aimed at helping the opposition demonstrate a broad rejection of Maduro, but it does not offer a clear path toward a change of government. The legislative elections returned Maduro`s allies to congress despite an economy in ruins, aggressive U.S. sanctions that stifle the OPEC nation`s oil exports and the migration of some 5 million citizens. The Maduro government said 5.2 million Venezuelans voted in the election. Congress was the last state institution not in the hands of the ruling Socialist Party. The idea of a popular consultation was proposed in August by Guaido, who is recognized by dozens of countries as Venezuela`s legitimate president following Maduro`s disputed 2018 re-election. Opposition leaders and most Western nations said the election was stacked in favor of Maduro, who has been widely criticized for his human rights record and for undermining democracy to stay in power. On Thursday, Maduro said that "no internet consultation has constitutional status... No one could think that an internet consultation has legal value." Blanca Marmol, a former supreme court magistrate who helped organize the popular consultation, told a news conference, "This is, I want to emphasize, the last resource we have in the constitution." Organizers on Saturday reported incidents in 11 of Venezuela`s 24 states, with police and ruling party supporters removing some opposition sites for the informal vote. Marco Blanco, a 54-year-old taxi driver in the western Caracas neighborhood of Catia, said he was unaware of the vote. "I heard something about a query, I don`t know what it is for," he said. "I have listened, but very vague. Almost nothing."

Venezuela's opposition concludes 'popular consultation' to reject Maduro

Venezuelans vote Sunday in legislative elections set to tighten President Nicolas Maduro's grip on power and further weaken his US-backed opposition rival Juan Guaido, who is leading a boycott of the polls he calls a fraud.

Victory will give Maduro's ruling Socialist Party control of an expanded 227-seat National Assembly, the only institution not yet in its hands.

"The day has come. We have been patient," Maduro said Saturday at his Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas. Sunday's vote comes five years after the opposition won control of the National Assembly by a landslide.

Guaido, 37, called for a boycott on grounds that "free and fair" conditions for holding elections do not exist. He labeled Sunday's poll "a fraud".

"Maduro's objective isn't even to gain legitimacy," Guaido told AFP in an interview this week, adding that the goal was instead to simply wipe out all semblance of democracy.

Guaido and his allies plan a week-long plebiscite from Monday seeking public support to prolong the mandate of the current National Assembly until "free, verifiable and transparent" elections can be held.

However, the results will not be binding, as Maduro exercises control of the country's institutions, including the Supreme Court and the powerful military.

- Weary population -

The vote takes place against a backdrop of deep political and economic crisis, with a weary population facing endless queues for gas, and chronic shortages of basic food and medical supplies.

That will likely translate into voter "apathy and inertia," with Luis Vicente Leon of pollsters Datanalisis predicting a turnout of 34 percent or less.&nbsp;

Maduro, a former bus driver who became president on the death of his mentor Hugo Chavez in 2013, was re-elected in 2018 in fraud-tainted polls, a victory which much of the international community branded illegitimate.

The United States, the European Union and many Latin American countries have long blamed Venezuela's crippling economic crisis on Maduro's repression and mis-rule.&nbsp;

Instead, they backed Guaido when the National Assembly speaker proclaimed himself interim president in January of last year.&nbsp;

Initial enthusiasm has waned, however, with critics seeing Guaido's plebiscite ploy as a desperate gamble.

- Allies watching -

Maduro's expected victory on Sunday will be greeted by his foreign allies Russia and China as lending his regime legitimacy as well as a legal framework to their agreements which help circumvent US and EU sanctions.

The electoral authority, appointed by the Maduro-friendly Supreme Court, said more than 20 million people are eligible to vote in the polls.

Opposition dissidents who criticize Guaido for calling the boycott will take part in the election, despite being accused of lending Maduro legitimacy.

"They are going to represent the new opposition after January 5" when the new legislature takes office, said political scientist Jesus Castillo.

Defeat is likely to leave Guaido increasingly isolated, analysts say.

Guaido, who boldly declared himself president last year, winning the backing of 50 countries, is set to lose the leadership of the National Assembly, on which he based his legitimacy.

That will likely force his international backers to reassess their position.

Guaido is meanwhile calling for increased sanctions from the US and EU, even though a Datanalisis poll showed 71 percent of Venezuelans oppose more crippling sanctions.

Venezuelans vote Sunday in legislative elections set to tighten President Nicolas Maduro's grip on power and further weaken his US-backed opposition rival Juan Guaido, who is leading a boycott of the polls he calls a fraud.

Venezuelans vote Sunday in legislative elections set to tighten President Nicolas Maduro's grip on power and further weaken his US-backed opposition rival Juan Guaido, who is leading a boycott of the polls he calls a fraud. Victory will give Maduro's ruling Socialist Party control of an expanded 227-seat National Assembly, the only institution not yet in its hands. "The day has come. We have been patient," Maduro said Saturday at his Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas. Sunday's vote comes five years after the opposition won control of the National Assembly by a landslide. Guaido, 37, called for a boycott on grounds that "free and fair" conditions for holding elections do not exist. He labeled Sunday's poll "a fraud". "Maduro's objective isn't even to gain legitimacy," Guaido told AFP in an interview this week, adding that the goal was instead to simply wipe out all semblance of democracy. Guaido and his allies plan a week-long plebiscite from Monday seeking public support to prolong the mandate of the current National Assembly until "free, verifiable and transparent" elections can be held. However, the results will not be binding, as Maduro exercises control of the country's institutions, including the Supreme Court and the powerful military. - Weary population - The vote takes place against a backdrop of deep political and economic crisis, with a weary population facing endless queues for gas, and chronic shortages of basic food and medical supplies. That will likely translate into voter "apathy and inertia," with Luis Vicente Leon of pollsters Datanalisis predicting a turnout of 34 percent or less. Maduro, a former bus driver who became president on the death of his mentor Hugo Chavez in 2013, was re-elected in 2018 in fraud-tainted polls, a victory which much of the international community branded illegitimate. The United States, the European Union and many Latin American countries have long blamed Venezuela's crippling economic crisis on Maduro's repression and mis-rule. Instead, they backed Guaido when the National Assembly speaker proclaimed himself interim president in January of last year. Initial enthusiasm has waned, however, with critics seeing Guaido's plebiscite ploy as a desperate gamble. - Allies watching - Maduro's expected victory on Sunday will be greeted by his foreign allies Russia and China as lending his regime legitimacy as well as a legal framework to their agreements which help circumvent US and EU sanctions. The electoral authority, appointed by the Maduro-friendly Supreme Court, said more than 20 million people are eligible to vote in the polls. Opposition dissidents who criticize Guaido for calling the boycott will take part in the election, despite being accused of lending Maduro legitimacy. "They are going to represent the new opposition after January 5" when the new legislature takes office, said political scientist Jesus Castillo. Defeat is likely to leave Guaido increasingly isolated, analysts say. Guaido, who boldly declared himself president last year, winning the backing of 50 countries, is set to lose the leadership of the National Assembly, on which he based his legitimacy. That will likely force his international backers to reassess their position. Guaido is meanwhile calling for increased sanctions from the US and EU, even though a Datanalisis poll showed 71 percent of Venezuelans oppose more crippling sanctions.

Maduro eyes victory in Venezuela poll amid opposition boycott

Venezuelans head to the polls on Sunday (December 6) in parliamentary elections that will see the ruling Socialist Party and its allies run virtually uncontested.

President Nicolas Maduro’s camp is poised to gain control of the National Assembly, the only institution not yet in its hands, while opposition leader Juan Guaido earlier led the boycott of the polls.

"I know that we are going to have a great triumph. I know it!" a confident Maduro told an election rally this week.

"We are going to solve the problems we have with the new National Assembly. The opposition, the extremist right, has no plan for the country," added the Venezuelan president, whose 30-year-old son is running for a seat.

Recognised for more than a year as interim president by dozens of countries -- including his chief backer, the United States -- Guaido has dismissed the December 6 polls as "a fraud" designed to strengthen Maduro's grip on power.

"It would be difficult to call that process an election," the 37-year-old opposition leader said.

The poll boycott leaves the way open for Maduro's United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) to win a majority in the National Assembly, the only institution still in opposition hands.

Guaido and the mainstream opposition parties have instead organised an alternative five-day referendum next week to garner popular support for a plan to prolong the current Assembly.

Guaido is speaker of the Assembly, a position from which he proclaimed himself interim president in January 2019. However, his popularity has dropped dramatically since then.

Without the Assembly, Guaido would lose formal legitimacy, leaving governments that have backed him - not least Biden's incoming administration - in a difficult position.

Meanwhile, Guaido hopes the new US president, Joe Biden, will ratify existing US sanctions and fine-tune a more effective Maduro policy with the European Union and other Latin American countries.

Outgoing US President Donald Trump's sanctions strategy included a veiled threat of military force to topple Maduro, a hope that the most radical Venezuelans clung to, later blaming Guaido when it did not materialise.

Guaido distanced himself from any further talk of military intervention.

(with inputs)

Venezuelans head to the polls on Sunday (December 6) in parliamentary elections that will see the ruling Socialist Party and its allies run virtually uncontested.

Venezuelans head to the polls on Sunday (December 6) in parliamentary elections that will see the ruling Socialist Party and its allies run virtually uncontested. President Nicolas Maduro’s camp is poised to gain control of the National Assembly, the only institution not yet in its hands, while opposition leader Juan Guaido earlier led the boycott of the polls. "I know that we are going to have a great triumph. I know it!" a confident Maduro told an election rally this week. "We are going to solve the problems we have with the new National Assembly. The opposition, the extremist right, has no plan for the country," added the Venezuelan president, whose 30-year-old son is running for a seat. Recognised for more than a year as interim president by dozens of countries -- including his chief backer, the United States -- Guaido has dismissed the December 6 polls as "a fraud" designed to strengthen Maduro's grip on power. "It would be difficult to call that process an election," the 37-year-old opposition leader said. The poll boycott leaves the way open for Maduro's United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) to win a majority in the National Assembly, the only institution still in opposition hands. Guaido and the mainstream opposition parties have instead organised an alternative five-day referendum next week to garner popular support for a plan to prolong the current Assembly. Guaido is speaker of the Assembly, a position from which he proclaimed himself interim president in January 2019. However, his popularity has dropped dramatically since then. Without the Assembly, Guaido would lose formal legitimacy, leaving governments that have backed him - not least Biden's incoming administration - in a difficult position. Meanwhile, Guaido hopes the new US president, Joe Biden, will ratify existing US sanctions and fine-tune a more effective Maduro policy with the European Union and other Latin American countries. Outgoing US President Donald Trump's sanctions strategy included a veiled threat of military force to topple Maduro, a hope that the most radical Venezuelans clung to, later blaming Guaido when it did not materialise. Guaido distanced himself from any further talk of military intervention. (with inputs)

Venezuela goes to polls as Maduro eyes victory

India wants to diversify its oil imports, including the resumption of supplies from Iran and Venezuela, after U.S. President-elect Joe Biden takes office, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Wednesday.

India was the key buyer of Iranian and Venezuelan oil before slashing purchases after President Donald Trump imposed unilateral sanctions on the two OPEC-members since taking office in 2017.

"As a buyer I would like to have more buying places. I should have more destinations to go for purchasing (oil)," Pradhan said in response to a question if he wants the Biden administration to relax sanctions on Iran and Venezuela.

India, which used to be Iran`s biggest client after China, stopped buying oil from Tehran in May 2019 and has drastically reduced its intake of Venezuelan oil in recent months after Trump imposed sanctions in a bid to curb Iran`s nuclear programme and oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Biden, who was vice president under President Barack Obama when the 2015 deal nuclear accord was struck between Iran and six world powers, has said he wants to offer Tehran a path back to diplomacy.

India, the world`s third biggest oil importer and consumer, wants to diversify its oil imports to buy cheaper oil to cut its import bill and save foreign exchange.

Sanctions on from Iran and Venezuela have blocked up to 3 million barrels per day (bpd), or 3% of world supply.

India`s Nayara Energy, part owned by Russian oil major Rosneft, stopped imports from Venezuela in June this year, while Reliance Industries had obtained permission until October from the U.S. to continue oil imports in exchange for diesel.

Pradhan, however, said there is a strong bond between India and the United States. "Both depend on each other. Our relations are sound, grounded."

He also urged oil producers to work towards a more reasonable and responsible pricing to help Asian buyers. 
"Gone are days of monopoly. Oil Producers have to recognise aspirations of consumers," Pradhan said.&nbsp;

India wants to diversify its oil imports, including the resumption of supplies from Iran and Venezuela, after U.S. President-elect Joe Biden takes office, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Wednesday.

India wants to diversify its oil imports, including the resumption of supplies from Iran and Venezuela, after U.S. President-elect Joe Biden takes office, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Wednesday. India was the key buyer of Iranian and Venezuelan oil before slashing purchases after President Donald Trump imposed unilateral sanctions on the two OPEC-members since taking office in 2017. "As a buyer I would like to have more buying places. I should have more destinations to go for purchasing (oil)," Pradhan said in response to a question if he wants the Biden administration to relax sanctions on Iran and Venezuela. India, which used to be Iran`s biggest client after China, stopped buying oil from Tehran in May 2019 and has drastically reduced its intake of Venezuelan oil in recent months after Trump imposed sanctions in a bid to curb Iran`s nuclear programme and oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Biden, who was vice president under President Barack Obama when the 2015 deal nuclear accord was struck between Iran and six world powers, has said he wants to offer Tehran a path back to diplomacy. India, the world`s third biggest oil importer and consumer, wants to diversify its oil imports to buy cheaper oil to cut its import bill and save foreign exchange. Sanctions on from Iran and Venezuela have blocked up to 3 million barrels per day (bpd), or 3% of world supply. India`s Nayara Energy, part owned by Russian oil major Rosneft, stopped imports from Venezuela in June this year, while Reliance Industries had obtained permission until October from the U.S. to continue oil imports in exchange for diesel. Pradhan, however, said there is a strong bond between India and the United States. "Both depend on each other. Our relations are sound, grounded." He also urged oil producers to work towards a more reasonable and responsible pricing to help Asian buyers. "Gone are days of monopoly. Oil Producers have to recognise aspirations of consumers," Pradhan said.

India looks to resume Iran, Venezuela oil imports under Biden

GÜIRIA, Venezuela — The host of a popular radio show, “The People’s Combat,” had always diligently praised Venezuela’s governing Socialist Party, even as millions sank into penury under its rule. But when acute gasoline shortages paralyzed his remote fishing town this summer, he strayed from the party line.

On his show, the host, lifelong Socialist José Carmelo Bislick, accused local party chiefs of siphoning fuel, leaving most people queuing for days outside empty gasoline stations.

Just weeks later, on Aug. 17, four masked, armed men burst into Bislick’s house and told him he had “run the red light,” before beating him in front of his family and hauling him away into the night. He was found dead with gunshot wounds hours later, dressed in his favorite Che Guevara T-shirt.

Those responsible for Bislick’s death remain at large in the town of 30,000, where everyone knew of him, and of his lifelong dedication to Venezuela’s Socialist revolution. The Socialist mayor never spoke of the crime or visited the family, who said the killing had been politically motivated.

“Is denouncing wrongdoing so wicked that it should cost the life of a man who only wanted social well-being?” asked Bislick’s sister, Rosmery Bislick.

His death appears to be part of a wave of repression against leftist activists alienated by President Nicolás Maduro, who seems intent on consolidating power in parliamentary elections in December. The vote, boycotted by the opposition as a sham, could bring what used to be one of Latin America’s most established democracies to the verge of being a one-party state.

After having crushed the political parties opposed to his version of socialism, Maduro’s critics say he has trained the state’s security apparatus on disillusioned ideological allies, repeating the path taken by leftist autocrats from the Soviet Union to Cuba.

Maduro’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

“Whoever makes any criticism is lumped with the opposition, the right, called a traitor,” said Ares Di Fazio, a former urban guerrilla and leader of the far-left Tupamaros Party, which was dismantled by the government in August after having voiced discontent.

Longtime government supporters who in recent months flooded the streets of provincial towns to denounce the collapse of public services have been suppressed by security forces. Public employees who denounce corruption are charged with sabotage.

Members of the ruling electoral alliance who decided to run as independents are disqualified. Those who persevere are harassed by the police or charged with spurious crimes.

The repression is partly an outcome of Maduro’s decision to abandon the wealth redistribution policies of his late predecessor, Hugo Chávez, in favor of what amounts to crony capitalism to survive U.S. sanctions. The change effectively legalized Venezuela’s sprawling black market economy and condoned the pervasive corruption, creating a new economic order that benefited the military and business elites loyal to Maduro.

The result has been a jarring chasm between the official rhetoric, which blames the national collapse on sanctions, and the extravagant lives flaunted by the government’s cronies in supermarkets stocked with expensive imports and luxury car showrooms.

“For some, there’s blockade; for others — boutiques,” said Oswaldo Rivero, a prominent Venezuelan left-wing activist and national television host, who had for years stoked attacks on the opposition on his program.

Those who question this “are turned into sawdust,” said Rivero, who is now being called a traitor and threatened on social media for speaking out against corruption.

For the past two decades, leftist parties represented by activists like Rivero had helped Chávez, and then Maduro, stay in power.

The parties, some dating to Cold War-era insurrections, campaigned for Maduro’s candidates, attended government rallies and sometimes harassed opposition protesters. Their message of radical change resonated in Venezuelan shanty towns and rural outposts fed up with ingrained inequality.

But these allies grew increasingly disillusioned with Maduro’s authoritarianism and corruption. This year, for the first time, they decided to field their own congressional candidates.

Maduro responded swiftly.

Courts in August installed Maduro’s loyalists at the top of the Tupamaros and three other dissident parties.

The police arrested the head of the Tupamaros party, José Pinto, on unproved murder charges, harassed the leaders the Communist Party and briefly detained a veteran leftist, Rafael Uzcátegui, 73, on accusations he had visited a brothel. All defendants have called the cases political persecution.

Uzcátegui claims that 37 members of his party, Fatherland for All, have been detained for campaigning against the government in the upcoming elections. Four of them merely sprayed on a public wall the words “Dignified Salary Now,” a plea to raise Venezuela’s minimum monthly salary, which is the equivalent of $2 in local currency.

“The government no longer fears the right,” Uzcátegui said. They fear the left, he said, “because they know we’re telling people the truth.”

A Communist Party activist, Isabel Granado, 32, decided to run for congress against the government in December, because she said it no longer represented the poor.

Two years ago, she and two dozen small farmers from her town of El Vigía, in the Andean foothills, decided to take over a plot of land, which she said the authorities had declared idle since 2010. They called their farming group “The Powerful Hand of God” and began cultivating crops to feed their families.

The government had long endorsed such takeovers to win rural support and attempt to reduce inequality.

Suddenly, on Sept. 24, Granado said a black-clad special operations police squad burst into her home, threw her 9-year-old daughter to the floor and threatened to beat the activist in front of the child if she didn’t come with them. She was taken to a police station and accused of illegal land occupation and livestock rustling, a charge that Granado denied.

She was released the next day for lack of evidence but was detained again two days later, this time by military commandos. Granado said in her time in custody she was handcuffed, threatened with phony drug charges and told she would be executed.

It was not an idle threat in a country where U.N. investigators have implicated Maduro’s special operations police, known as FAES, in thousands of extrajudicial executions in poor neighborhoods in recent years.

“I was truly terrified, because apart from being a social activist, I’m also a mother,” Granado said. “The only thing I could think of were my children.”

Granado said that the timing, the brutality and the arbitrary nature of her detentions pointed to a desire by local authorities to deter her from running for congress. She said she lives in constant fear, frequently changing safe houses.

But she said she would carry on her campaign.

“The people’s support for us is what hurts them the most,” she said, referring to the government.

After a tense calm brought by the pandemic, the popular discontent with Maduro’s government erupted in more than 1,000 flash protests in September.

Unlike the previous waves of unrest, the latest were concentrated in the poor rural states, which have long formed the ruling party’s base. The protesters, many of them longtime government supporters, demanded food, fuel and electricity rather than political change, according to interviews in four affected towns.

Maduro responded to discontent in the socialist heartland with the same repression applied to opponents. More than 200 protesters were detained in the September protests, and one person was shot dead by police, according to the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict, a nonprofit group tracking the disturbances.

“What they are doing smells to us a lot like dictatorship,” said Edito Hidalgo, a veteran Tupamaro activist who led a protest in the western town of Urachiche in September. “They have the power and they won’t let it go.”

Urachiche, a close-knit farming community, had overwhelmingly voted for Socialist candidates since Chávez was first sworn in, in 1999, promising to govern for the people.

“This is a revolutionary town,” said Hidalgo, who proudly recounted Che Guevara’s visit to Urachiche in 1962.

After enduring Venezuela’s worsening economic conditions for seven years, the town finally raised its voice in September. Thousands of residents peacefully marched to the town hall singing the national anthem to give the mayor a proposal for improving food and fuel supplies.

A band appeared from the multitude with traditional instruments — miniature guitars and maracas — capping the rally with an impromptu concert, Hidalgo said.

“Then everyone went to their homes without throwing a single rock,” he said.

A few days later, the FAES police pulled up outside Hidalgo’s house, looking for him. Alerted by his wife, he fled and spent two weeks in hiding, while security forces harassed his neighborhood.

“They had decided they must get rid of Edito Hidalgo because he’s preaching the Revolution to the people,” he said.

Polls show the Socialist Party is now supported by just 1 in 10 Venezuelans.

Back in Güiria, the family of Bislick, the dead radio host, are still waiting for justice.

After the armed men abducted Bislick, his family ran to the police station — their car, like most in town, was out of gas.

Instead of immediately undertaking a search, the officers spent two hours taking down their details, said his family. In despair, the family then ran to the ruling party’s office, where Bislick had worked for two decades, to seek spare fuel to help the search. They were denied.

A neighbor eventually discovered Bislick’s body in the bushes.

Bislick’s denunciations of corruption had grown so popular that residents blasted his program in the streets from their car speakers during blackouts, said his radio colleague, José Alberto Frontén.

“We were giving it hard on the program and we knew our punches were landing where they should,” Frontén said. “But we never saw that hit coming to us.”

GÜIRIA, Venezuela — The host of a popular radio show, “The People’s Combat,” had always diligently praised Venezuela’s governing Socialist Party, even as millions sank into penury under its rule.

GÜIRIA, Venezuela — The host of a popular radio show, “The People’s Combat,” had always diligently praised Venezuela’s governing Socialist Party, even as millions sank into penury under its rule. But when acute gasoline shortages paralyzed his remote fishing town this summer, he strayed from the party line. On his show, the host, lifelong Socialist José Carmelo Bislick, accused local party chiefs of siphoning fuel, leaving most people queuing for days outside empty gasoline stations. Just weeks later, on Aug. 17, four masked, armed men burst into Bislick’s house and told him he had “run the red light,” before beating him in front of his family and hauling him away into the night. He was found dead with gunshot wounds hours later, dressed in his favorite Che Guevara T-shirt. Those responsible for Bislick’s death remain at large in the town of 30,000, where everyone knew of him, and of his lifelong dedication to Venezuela’s Socialist revolution. The Socialist mayor never spoke of the crime or visited the family, who said the killing had been politically motivated. “Is denouncing wrongdoing so wicked that it should cost the life of a man who only wanted social well-being?” asked Bislick’s sister, Rosmery Bislick. His death appears to be part of a wave of repression against leftist activists alienated by President Nicolás Maduro, who seems intent on consolidating power in parliamentary elections in December. The vote, boycotted by the opposition as a sham, could bring what used to be one of Latin America’s most established democracies to the verge of being a one-party state. After having crushed the political parties opposed to his version of socialism, Maduro’s critics say he has trained the state’s security apparatus on disillusioned ideological allies, repeating the path taken by leftist autocrats from the Soviet Union to Cuba. Maduro’s office did not respond to a request for comment. “Whoever makes any criticism is lumped with the opposition, the right, called a traitor,” said Ares Di Fazio, a former urban guerrilla and leader of the far-left Tupamaros Party, which was dismantled by the government in August after having voiced discontent. Longtime government supporters who in recent months flooded the streets of provincial towns to denounce the collapse of public services have been suppressed by security forces. Public employees who denounce corruption are charged with sabotage. Members of the ruling electoral alliance who decided to run as independents are disqualified. Those who persevere are harassed by the police or charged with spurious crimes. The repression is partly an outcome of Maduro’s decision to abandon the wealth redistribution policies of his late predecessor, Hugo Chávez, in favor of what amounts to crony capitalism to survive U.S. sanctions. The change effectively legalized Venezuela’s sprawling black market economy and condoned the pervasive corruption, creating a new economic order that benefited the military and business elites loyal to Maduro. The result has been a jarring chasm between the official rhetoric, which blames the national collapse on sanctions, and the extravagant lives flaunted by the government’s cronies in supermarkets stocked with expensive imports and luxury car showrooms. “For some, there’s blockade; for others — boutiques,” said Oswaldo Rivero, a prominent Venezuelan left-wing activist and national television host, who had for years stoked attacks on the opposition on his program. Those who question this “are turned into sawdust,” said Rivero, who is now being called a traitor and threatened on social media for speaking out against corruption. For the past two decades, leftist parties represented by activists like Rivero had helped Chávez, and then Maduro, stay in power. The parties, some dating to Cold War-era insurrections, campaigned for Maduro’s candidates, attended government rallies and sometimes harassed opposition protesters. Their message of radical change resonated in Venezuelan shanty towns and rural outposts fed up with ingrained inequality. But these allies grew increasingly disillusioned with Maduro’s authoritarianism and corruption. This year, for the first time, they decided to field their own congressional candidates. Maduro responded swiftly. Courts in August installed Maduro’s loyalists at the top of the Tupamaros and three other dissident parties. The police arrested the head of the Tupamaros party, José Pinto, on unproved murder charges, harassed the leaders the Communist Party and briefly detained a veteran leftist, Rafael Uzcátegui, 73, on accusations he had visited a brothel. All defendants have called the cases political persecution. Uzcátegui claims that 37 members of his party, Fatherland for All, have been detained for campaigning against the government in the upcoming elections. Four of them merely sprayed on a public wall the words “Dignified Salary Now,” a plea to raise Venezuela’s minimum monthly salary, which is the equivalent of $2 in local currency. “The government no longer fears the right,” Uzcátegui said. They fear the left, he said, “because they know we’re telling people the truth.” A Communist Party activist, Isabel Granado, 32, decided to run for congress against the government in December, because she said it no longer represented the poor. Two years ago, she and two dozen small farmers from her town of El Vigía, in the Andean foothills, decided to take over a plot of land, which she said the authorities had declared idle since 2010. They called their farming group “The Powerful Hand of God” and began cultivating crops to feed their families. The government had long endorsed such takeovers to win rural support and attempt to reduce inequality. Suddenly, on Sept. 24, Granado said a black-clad special operations police squad burst into her home, threw her 9-year-old daughter to the floor and threatened to beat the activist in front of the child if she didn’t come with them. She was taken to a police station and accused of illegal land occupation and livestock rustling, a charge that Granado denied. She was released the next day for lack of evidence but was detained again two days later, this time by military commandos. Granado said in her time in custody she was handcuffed, threatened with phony drug charges and told she would be executed. It was not an idle threat in a country where U.N. investigators have implicated Maduro’s special operations police, known as FAES, in thousands of extrajudicial executions in poor neighborhoods in recent years. “I was truly terrified, because apart from being a social activist, I’m also a mother,” Granado said. “The only thing I could think of were my children.” Granado said that the timing, the brutality and the arbitrary nature of her detentions pointed to a desire by local authorities to deter her from running for congress. She said she lives in constant fear, frequently changing safe houses. But she said she would carry on her campaign. “The people’s support for us is what hurts them the most,” she said, referring to the government. After a tense calm brought by the pandemic, the popular discontent with Maduro’s government erupted in more than 1,000 flash protests in September. Unlike the previous waves of unrest, the latest were concentrated in the poor rural states, which have long formed the ruling party’s base. The protesters, many of them longtime government supporters, demanded food, fuel and electricity rather than political change, according to interviews in four affected towns. Maduro responded to discontent in the socialist heartland with the same repression applied to opponents. More than 200 protesters were detained in the September protests, and one person was shot dead by police, according to the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict, a nonprofit group tracking the disturbances. “What they are doing smells to us a lot like dictatorship,” said Edito Hidalgo, a veteran Tupamaro activist who led a protest in the western town of Urachiche in September. “They have the power and they won’t let it go.” Urachiche, a close-knit farming community, had overwhelmingly voted for Socialist candidates since Chávez was first sworn in, in 1999, promising to govern for the people. “This is a revolutionary town,” said Hidalgo, who proudly recounted Che Guevara’s visit to Urachiche in 1962. After enduring Venezuela’s worsening economic conditions for seven years, the town finally raised its voice in September. Thousands of residents peacefully marched to the town hall singing the national anthem to give the mayor a proposal for improving food and fuel supplies. A band appeared from the multitude with traditional instruments — miniature guitars and maracas — capping the rally with an impromptu concert, Hidalgo said. “Then everyone went to their homes without throwing a single rock,” he said. A few days later, the FAES police pulled up outside Hidalgo’s house, looking for him. Alerted by his wife, he fled and spent two weeks in hiding, while security forces harassed his neighborhood. “They had decided they must get rid of Edito Hidalgo because he’s preaching the Revolution to the people,” he said. Polls show the Socialist Party is now supported by just 1 in 10 Venezuelans. Back in Güiria, the family of Bislick, the dead radio host, are still waiting for justice. After the armed men abducted Bislick, his family ran to the police station — their car, like most in town, was out of gas. Instead of immediately undertaking a search, the officers spent two hours taking down their details, said his family. In despair, the family then ran to the ruling party’s office, where Bislick had worked for two decades, to seek spare fuel to help the search. They were denied. A neighbor eventually discovered Bislick’s body in the bushes. Bislick’s denunciations of corruption had grown so popular that residents blasted his program in the streets from their car speakers during blackouts, said his radio colleague, José Alberto Frontén. “We were giving it hard on the program and we knew our punches were landing where they should,” Frontén said. “But we never saw that hit coming to us.”

They championed Venezuela's revolution. They are now its latest victims.

Thousands of residents in Venezuela are taking stock of damage to their homes on Monday (November 9) after an overflowing river and floodwaters wreaked havoc in a residential area of Tachira state.

Weary residents clean up flood damaged homes in Venezuela

Venezuelan forensic experts on Monday (October 26) exhumed the remains of Jose Gregorio Hernandez, whose beatification decree was signed in June by Pope Francis, as part of Roman Catholic protocols to verify the condition of the body and guarantee its preservation.

Venezuela exhumes remains of doctor beatified by Vatican

Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López fled the country Saturday after spending the past six years in jail, house arrest and diplomatic asylum, his political party said.

López, 49, is heading to an undisclosed international destination after leaving the Spanish Embassy in Caracas, according to his political party and Spain’s Foreign Ministry. He had sought refuge at the Spanish ambassador’s residence after leading a failed military uprising against the government in April 2019.

A charismatic, U.S.-educated former mayor with a piercing glare, López has for years been one of the most radical opponents of Venezuela’s authoritarian president, Nicolas Maduro, whom he sought to overthrow through street protests and increasingly desperate palace plots. His maximalist tactics, however, have backfired, leaving the opposition dismantled and increasingly irrelevant to the struggles facing Venezuelans amid one the deepest economic recessions in modern history.

López came nearest his goal in early 2019, when his protégé, Juan Guaidó, a young lawmaker, declared himself the country’s interim president, citing Maduro’s fraudulent reelection. The United States and most European and Latin American countries swiftly backed him, cutting the government off from the global economy.

Maduro, however, has weathered the challenge and used his control over security forces to gradually suppress the opposition and terrorize its supporters. As Venezuela’s political crisis escalated, sanctions by the Trump administration to aid Guaidó’s bid for power plunged an already rapidly shrinking Venezuelan economy and its people into a full-scale humanitarian crisis.

López now becomes the latest opposition leader to leave for exile, leaving Guaidó increasingly isolated. Guaidó’s term as the speaker of parliament, on which he has based his claim to the country’s leadership, expires in January, threatening to leave the opposition without its last base of support.

López’s party, Popular Will, said its departed leader has pledged his unconditional support for Guaidó and will continue fighting against Maduro, who has resorted to torture, extrajudicial killings and legal persecution to maintain his grip on power.

“Like other Venezuelans, Leopoldo López is not fully free as long as there’s a dictatorship that violates human rights of the people,” his party said in a statement Saturday.

Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López fled the country Saturday after spending the past six years in jail, house arrest and diplomatic asylum, his political party said.

Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López fled the country Saturday after spending the past six years in jail, house arrest and diplomatic asylum, his political party said. López, 49, is heading to an undisclosed international destination after leaving the Spanish Embassy in Caracas, according to his political party and Spain’s Foreign Ministry. He had sought refuge at the Spanish ambassador’s residence after leading a failed military uprising against the government in April 2019. A charismatic, U.S.-educated former mayor with a piercing glare, López has for years been one of the most radical opponents of Venezuela’s authoritarian president, Nicolas Maduro, whom he sought to overthrow through street protests and increasingly desperate palace plots. His maximalist tactics, however, have backfired, leaving the opposition dismantled and increasingly irrelevant to the struggles facing Venezuelans amid one the deepest economic recessions in modern history. López came nearest his goal in early 2019, when his protégé, Juan Guaidó, a young lawmaker, declared himself the country’s interim president, citing Maduro’s fraudulent reelection. The United States and most European and Latin American countries swiftly backed him, cutting the government off from the global economy. Maduro, however, has weathered the challenge and used his control over security forces to gradually suppress the opposition and terrorize its supporters. As Venezuela’s political crisis escalated, sanctions by the Trump administration to aid Guaidó’s bid for power plunged an already rapidly shrinking Venezuelan economy and its people into a full-scale humanitarian crisis. López now becomes the latest opposition leader to leave for exile, leaving Guaidó increasingly isolated. Guaidó’s term as the speaker of parliament, on which he has based his claim to the country’s leadership, expires in January, threatening to leave the opposition without its last base of support. López’s party, Popular Will, said its departed leader has pledged his unconditional support for Guaidó and will continue fighting against Maduro, who has resorted to torture, extrajudicial killings and legal persecution to maintain his grip on power. “Like other Venezuelans, Leopoldo López is not fully free as long as there’s a dictatorship that violates human rights of the people,” his party said in a statement Saturday.

Venezuela opposition figure, long confined, flees country

Venezuela sits on some of the world's largest crude reserves but, at the same time, is dealing with regular gasoline shortages.

Corruption, US sanctions impact the oil industry in Venezuela

Venezuelan professionals from biologists to lawyers have turned to making food and face masks or selling cleaning products as the coronavirus quarantine further weakens an economy already struggling under a six-year recession.

Venezuelan professionals turn to cooking and toy making to survive quarantine

A tug-of-war over $1 billion (£770.4 million) worth of Venezuelan gold stored at the Bank of England took a new turn on Monday as the English Court of Appeal overturned an earlier High Court ruling on who the UK recognised as Venezuela's president.

UK court overturns Venezuela judgment in $1 billion gold tug-of-war

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Sunday his son will join trials of Sputnik V, the coronavirus vaccine which was met with caution when Russia announced it was the world's first to be approved.

An initial batch of the vaccine arrived in Venezuela on Friday, the government announced, and 2,000 residents will participate in the trials.

"In this clinical trial phase, my son, Nicolas Ernesto Maduro Guerra, told me of his decision to be vaccinated with the Russian vaccine, to join the trial. I think it is very good," the socialist leader said in a speech on state television network VTV.

Maduro's sister is also a volunteer for the clinical trials.

Maduro Guerra, 30, is also a politician and a member of his father's governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).

Named "Sputnik V" after the historic Soviet-era satellite, the vaccine was met with skepticism from the global medical community.

Russia in August declared itself the first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine, although it is still undergoing large-scale clinical trials after promising results.

The drug is currently in Phase 3, the human testing state, and according to Moscow, more than 40,000 volunteers have been inoculated during the process.

"When the entire scientific, clinical and testing phase is closed, voluntary vaccination will come... As soon as we start mass vaccination, I am going to be the first one to get it," Maduro said.

Russia has been one of Maduro's main backers in the face of international pressure led by Washington, which seeks to displace him from power because it considers his reelection to have been fraudulent.

The US, as well as some 50 other countries, recognize Maduro's opponent, National Assembly speaker Juan Guaido, as Venezuela's interim president.

Guaido slammed the decision to participate in the Russian trials, saying, "They use our people as guinea pigs."

According to official figures, as of Saturday, Venezuela has registered 77,646 cases of Covid-19 out of the entire 30 million population, and 649 deaths. These numbers are disputed by the country's opposition and international organizations such as Human Rights Watch.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Sunday his son will join trials of Sputnik V, the coronavirus vaccine which was met with caution when Russia announced it was the world's first to be approved.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Sunday his son will join trials of Sputnik V, the coronavirus vaccine which was met with caution when Russia announced it was the world's first to be approved. An initial batch of the vaccine arrived in Venezuela on Friday, the government announced, and 2,000 residents will participate in the trials. "In this clinical trial phase, my son, Nicolas Ernesto Maduro Guerra, told me of his decision to be vaccinated with the Russian vaccine, to join the trial. I think it is very good," the socialist leader said in a speech on state television network VTV. Maduro's sister is also a volunteer for the clinical trials. Maduro Guerra, 30, is also a politician and a member of his father's governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). Named "Sputnik V" after the historic Soviet-era satellite, the vaccine was met with skepticism from the global medical community. Russia in August declared itself the first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine, although it is still undergoing large-scale clinical trials after promising results. The drug is currently in Phase 3, the human testing state, and according to Moscow, more than 40,000 volunteers have been inoculated during the process. "When the entire scientific, clinical and testing phase is closed, voluntary vaccination will come... As soon as we start mass vaccination, I am going to be the first one to get it," Maduro said. Russia has been one of Maduro's main backers in the face of international pressure led by Washington, which seeks to displace him from power because it considers his reelection to have been fraudulent. The US, as well as some 50 other countries, recognize Maduro's opponent, National Assembly speaker Juan Guaido, as Venezuela's interim president. Guaido slammed the decision to participate in the Russian trials, saying, "They use our people as guinea pigs." According to official figures, as of Saturday, Venezuela has registered 77,646 cases of Covid-19 out of the entire 30 million population, and 649 deaths. These numbers are disputed by the country's opposition and international organizations such as Human Rights Watch.

Venezuela's Maduro says son to join virus vaccine trial

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday thanked Colombian President Ivan Duque for his stance against Venezuela`s President Nicolas Maduro and pledged continued assistance to help fight drug trafficking.

In the fourth stop on his tour of South America, Pompeo said the partnership between Colombia and the United States was a force for good in the region.

"Your support for interim (Venezuelan) president Juan Guaido and the democratic transition for a sovereign Venezuela free of malign influence ... is incredibly valued," Pompeo told Duque in a joint press conference in Bogota.

Pompeo has used the tour to increase pressure on Maduro, who has overseen a six-year economic collapse and has been indicted in the United States on narcoterrorism charges, to resign.

A report this week by United Nations investigators found Maduro`s government has committed systematic human rights violations including killings and torture amounting to crimes against humanity.

"The international community has to act to bring this situation to an end," said Duque, who calls Maduro a dictator and often accuses him of sheltering and supporting members of Colombian rebel groups.

The Colombian government is among more than 50 countries which consider Venezuela`s opposition leader Guaido to be the country`s interim president.

Pompeo said the United States will continue to provide expertise and resources to help Colombia fight drug trafficking.

Colombia faces constant pressure from the United States, a major destination for cocaine, to reduce the size of crops of coca, the drug`s chief ingredient.

Duque has set a target to destroy 130,000 hectares (321,237 acres) of coca this year, up from 100,000 hectares last year, and has signaled aerial spraying of the herbicide glyphosate could restart. 
&nbsp;

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday thanked Colombian President Ivan Duque for his stance against Venezuela`s President Nicolas Maduro and pledged continued assistance to help fight drug trafficking.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday thanked Colombian President Ivan Duque for his stance against Venezuela`s President Nicolas Maduro and pledged continued assistance to help fight drug trafficking. In the fourth stop on his tour of South America, Pompeo said the partnership between Colombia and the United States was a force for good in the region. "Your support for interim (Venezuelan) president Juan Guaido and the democratic transition for a sovereign Venezuela free of malign influence ... is incredibly valued," Pompeo told Duque in a joint press conference in Bogota. Pompeo has used the tour to increase pressure on Maduro, who has overseen a six-year economic collapse and has been indicted in the United States on narcoterrorism charges, to resign. A report this week by United Nations investigators found Maduro`s government has committed systematic human rights violations including killings and torture amounting to crimes against humanity. "The international community has to act to bring this situation to an end," said Duque, who calls Maduro a dictator and often accuses him of sheltering and supporting members of Colombian rebel groups. The Colombian government is among more than 50 countries which consider Venezuela`s opposition leader Guaido to be the country`s interim president. Pompeo said the United States will continue to provide expertise and resources to help Colombia fight drug trafficking. Colombia faces constant pressure from the United States, a major destination for cocaine, to reduce the size of crops of coca, the drug`s chief ingredient. Duque has set a target to destroy 130,000 hectares (321,237 acres) of coca this year, up from 100,000 hectares last year, and has signaled aerial spraying of the herbicide glyphosate could restart.

Pompeo hails Colombia's stance on Maduro, pledges more help in drugs fight

Venezuela government has said that the US spy, who was captured while spying on the largest refining complex in the country, will be charged with "terrorism.”

Venezuela is going through a severe fuel shortage crisis.

Earlier on September 12, President Maduro had said a man was arrested in the north-west state of Falcon where he was spying on the Amuay and Cardon oil refineries.

Maduro said the man was a US marine who had previously served "at CIA bases in Iraq."

Venezuela's Attorney General Tarek William Saab announced on Monday that "All the Venezuelan citizens are going to be charged with the crimes of treason, terrorism, illicit traffic of weapons and association (to commit crimes), while the US citizen is going to be charged with terrorism, illicit traffic of weapons and association,".

Last month two former US soldiers, Luke Alexander Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41, were sentenced to 20 years in prison in Venezuela on charges including terrorism, after a failed bid to invade the Caribbean country last May.

Just hours before Friday's announcement, the Venezuelan government said it was establishing an "emergency plan" intended to regulate "fuel distribution" in light of severe gasoline shortages in the country, where people wait in lines stretching miles to fuel up their vehicles.

(With inputs from AFP)

Venezuela government has said that the US spy, who was captured while spying on the largest refining complex in the country, will be charged with "terrorism.” Venezuela is going through a severe fuel shortage crisis.

Venezuela government has said that the US spy, who was captured while spying on the largest refining complex in the country, will be charged with "terrorism.” Venezuela is going through a severe fuel shortage crisis. Earlier on September 12, President Maduro had said a man was arrested in the north-west state of Falcon where he was spying on the Amuay and Cardon oil refineries. Maduro said the man was a US marine who had previously served "at CIA bases in Iraq." Venezuela's Attorney General Tarek William Saab announced on Monday that "All the Venezuelan citizens are going to be charged with the crimes of treason, terrorism, illicit traffic of weapons and association (to commit crimes), while the US citizen is going to be charged with terrorism, illicit traffic of weapons and association,". Last month two former US soldiers, Luke Alexander Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41, were sentenced to 20 years in prison in Venezuela on charges including terrorism, after a failed bid to invade the Caribbean country last May. Just hours before Friday's announcement, the Venezuelan government said it was establishing an "emergency plan" intended to regulate "fuel distribution" in light of severe gasoline shortages in the country, where people wait in lines stretching miles to fuel up their vehicles. (With inputs from AFP)

US 'spy' captured near an oil refinery, to be charged with terrorism: Venezuela

The&nbsp;Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has announced capturing of an American spy in the country, late on Friday, near the Colombian border.

Maduro announced that the spy was caught&nbsp;in the state of Falcón, which lies on the northwestern coast near the Colombian border.

"Yesterday we captured... an American spy who was spying in Falcon state on the Amuay and Cardon refineries," Maduro said in a televised address.

"Two days ago, Tarek El Aissami, together with a group of expert engineers and technological scientists, discovered and dismantled a plan to cause an explosion at the El Palito refinery," he explained.

The unnamed spy is&nbsp;a former US Marine who has been serving&nbsp;at CIA bases in Iraq. "He was captured with heavy weapons, specialized weaponry, he was captured with a large amount of dollars in cash, a large amount of dollars," Maduro said.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/venezuela-court-sentences-two-former-us-soldiers-to-20-years-in-prison-for-beach-attack-319132">Also read:&nbsp;Venezuela court sentences two former US soldiers to 20 years in prison for beach attack</a>

It is being reported that he was captured near two Venezuelan refineries, after authorities foiled a plot to "cause an explosion" at another oil complex.

Further details are to be released soon&nbsp;by the&nbsp;Venezuelan government.

The capture has been made few months after the 'Operation Gedeon', in which a private mercenary firm Silvercorp USA and the opposition political parties, reportedly, signed a deal to capture, detain or remove the President.

The attempted coup was spotted and stopped in the starting of May this year.

The Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has announced capturing of an American spy in the country, late on Friday, near the Colombian border. Maduro announced that the spy was caught in the state of Falcón, which lies on the northwestern coast near the Colombian border.

The Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has announced capturing of an American spy in the country, late on Friday, near the Colombian border. Maduro announced that the spy was caught in the state of Falcón, which lies on the northwestern coast near the Colombian border. "Yesterday we captured... an American spy who was spying in Falcon state on the Amuay and Cardon refineries," Maduro said in a televised address. "Two days ago, Tarek El Aissami, together with a group of expert engineers and technological scientists, discovered and dismantled a plan to cause an explosion at the El Palito refinery," he explained. The unnamed spy is a former US Marine who has been serving at CIA bases in Iraq. "He was captured with heavy weapons, specialized weaponry, he was captured with a large amount of dollars in cash, a large amount of dollars," Maduro said. Also read: Venezuela court sentences two former US soldiers to 20 years in prison for beach attack It is being reported that he was captured near two Venezuelan refineries, after authorities foiled a plot to "cause an explosion" at another oil complex. Further details are to be released soon by the Venezuelan government. The capture has been made few months after the 'Operation Gedeon', in which a private mercenary firm Silvercorp USA and the opposition political parties, reportedly, signed a deal to capture, detain or remove the President. The attempted coup was spotted and stopped in the starting of May this year.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announces capture of 'American spy'

Venezuela's oil exports recovered slightly in August after two months at historic lows, boosted by increased sales to India, according to internal documents from state-run oil firm PDVSA and Refinitiv Eikon data.

Venezuela's oil exports rise in August on sales to India

For many, adapting to change is not an easy task, facing the current pandemic and relating to others can be more difficult when hearing or visual limitations are an obstacle. Venezuelan Jose Muñoz, a visually impaired radio host, courageously faces this particularly challenging time.

A visually impaired radio host faces pandemic from Venezuela

The United States said on Friday it had confiscated four Iranian fuel shipments that had been bound for Venezuela, disrupting a key supply line for both Tehran and Caracas as they defied U.S. sanctions.

U.S. says seized four Iranian oil tankers en route to Venezuela

Venezuelans tame economic crisis with creative solutions

A Venezuelan court has sentenced two former US special forces soldiers to 20 years in prison for their part in a blunder-filled beach attack.

The attack, it's said, was aimed at overthrowing President Nicolas Maduro.

Maduro's chief prosecutor announced the surprise decision late Friday night. "THEY ADMITTED THEIR RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE FACTS," Tarek William Saab announced on Twitter, adding that proceedings will continue against dozens of other defendants accused of assisting in the May 3 raid.

Lawyers for the former Green Berets, Luke Denman and Airan Berry, said they were barred from the secretive jailhouse proceedings -- a violation of their constitutional rights to a defense.

Denman and Berry, both decorated former US Service members, were found guilty of conspiracy, trafficking in illegal arms and terrorism, Saab said. But lawyers said the hearing was marred by irregularities.

"Operation Gideon" was launched from makeshift training camps in neighbouring Colombia and left at least eight rebel soldiers dead while more than 60 more were jailed.

Ex-Green Beret Jordan Goudreau, who operated a Florida-based security firm called Silvercorp USA, claimed responsibility for the failed attack and had hired his two former army buddies to prepare a small cadre of deserting Venezuelan soldiers living at the makeshift camps.

Goudreau is believed to be in the US, where he also is under investigation for possibly violating arms trafficking laws in connection to the botched incursion. Venezuelan prosecutors have ordered his arrest.

The two Americans arrested in a coastal fishing community have ever since been paraded by officials on Venezuelan state TV as proof of their long-held claims that the United States is set on violently overthrowing Maduro's socialist government.

US has denied any role in the attack. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington would use all possible means to win the freedom of Denman and Berry. 
&nbsp;

A Venezuelan court has sentenced two former US special forces soldiers to 20 years in prison for their part in a blunder-filled beach attack. The attack, it's said, was aimed at overthrowing President Nicolas Maduro.

A Venezuelan court has sentenced two former US special forces soldiers to 20 years in prison for their part in a blunder-filled beach attack. The attack, it's said, was aimed at overthrowing President Nicolas Maduro. Maduro's chief prosecutor announced the surprise decision late Friday night. "THEY ADMITTED THEIR RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE FACTS," Tarek William Saab announced on Twitter, adding that proceedings will continue against dozens of other defendants accused of assisting in the May 3 raid. Lawyers for the former Green Berets, Luke Denman and Airan Berry, said they were barred from the secretive jailhouse proceedings -- a violation of their constitutional rights to a defense. Denman and Berry, both decorated former US Service members, were found guilty of conspiracy, trafficking in illegal arms and terrorism, Saab said. But lawyers said the hearing was marred by irregularities. "Operation Gideon" was launched from makeshift training camps in neighbouring Colombia and left at least eight rebel soldiers dead while more than 60 more were jailed. Ex-Green Beret Jordan Goudreau, who operated a Florida-based security firm called Silvercorp USA, claimed responsibility for the failed attack and had hired his two former army buddies to prepare a small cadre of deserting Venezuelan soldiers living at the makeshift camps. Goudreau is believed to be in the US, where he also is under investigation for possibly violating arms trafficking laws in connection to the botched incursion. Venezuelan prosecutors have ordered his arrest. The two Americans arrested in a coastal fishing community have ever since been paraded by officials on Venezuelan state TV as proof of their long-held claims that the United States is set on violently overthrowing Maduro's socialist government. US has denied any role in the attack. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington would use all possible means to win the freedom of Denman and Berry.

Venezuela court sentences two former US soldiers to 20 years in prison for beach attack

Two former US soldiers have been sentenced to 20 years in prison in Venezuela on charges including terrorism, after a failed bid to invade the Caribbean country last May, Attorney General Tarek William Saab said.

Luke Alexander Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41, "admitted" to "conspiracy, association (to commit crimes), illicit trafficking of war weapons and terrorism" over the attempted invasion, allegedly aimed at toppling President Nicolas Maduro, Saab said on Twitter around midnight Friday. They were sentenced during a court hearing, he said.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/venezuela-state-tv-airs-confession-video-of-alleged-american-mercenary-297133/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

They were sentenced during a court hearing, he said, and posted photographs of vehicles, weapons and identity documents.

Denman and Berry are among the 91 people Venezuela says it captured in thwarting the botched incursion from the sea on May 3, which saw armed men land in Macuto, less than an hour from Caracas.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-citizens-confess-failed-coup-in-venezuela-after-trump-denies-involvement-297126">US citizens confess 'failed coup' in Venezuela after Trump denies involvement</a>

Maduro claimed it was a plot to assassinate him, and Caracas has accused US President Donald Trump of being directly responsible for the raid, in which eight attackers were allegedly killed. The US has denied any involvement.

Maduro has also accused Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido,&nbsp;who in January 2019 declared himself acting president in a direct challenge to Maduro's authority, of planning the invasion, a charge Guaido denies.

Trump has long opposed Maduro, a leftist who presides over a crumbling economy and whose re-election was widely seen as marred by irregularities.

Two former US soldiers have been sentenced to 20 years in prison in Venezuela on charges including terrorism, after a failed bid to invade the Caribbean country last May, Attorney General Tarek William Saab said.

Two former US soldiers have been sentenced to 20 years in prison in Venezuela on charges including terrorism, after a failed bid to invade the Caribbean country last May, Attorney General Tarek William Saab said. Luke Alexander Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41, "admitted" to "conspiracy, association (to commit crimes), illicit trafficking of war weapons and terrorism" over the attempted invasion, allegedly aimed at toppling President Nicolas Maduro, Saab said on Twitter around midnight Friday. They were sentenced during a court hearing, he said. They were sentenced during a court hearing, he said, and posted photographs of vehicles, weapons and identity documents. Denman and Berry are among the 91 people Venezuela says it captured in thwarting the botched incursion from the sea on May 3, which saw armed men land in Macuto, less than an hour from Caracas. Also read: US citizens confess 'failed coup' in Venezuela after Trump denies involvement Maduro claimed it was a plot to assassinate him, and Caracas has accused US President Donald Trump of being directly responsible for the raid, in which eight attackers were allegedly killed. The US has denied any involvement. Maduro has also accused Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido, who in January 2019 declared himself acting president in a direct challenge to Maduro's authority, of planning the invasion, a charge Guaido denies. Trump has long opposed Maduro, a leftist who presides over a crumbling economy and whose re-election was widely seen as marred by irregularities.

Venezuela jails two Americans over failed 'invasion'

The Venezuela security forces are punishing citizens violating anti-coronavirus measures with extraordinary measures. Violaters are being made to exercise, sit in the sun, and are even being beaten physically. Watch report.

Citizens punished for violating norms in Venezuela | COVID-19 pandemic

The opening is the latest example of strong ties between the Islamic Republic and the South American country in the face of US sanctions.

Hostile politics of US brings together Iran and Venezuela

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