Tag Archives: venezuela

Paris, France | AFP | Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday dismissed the threat of new sanctions following an early election called for Sunday, which critics have denounced as a sham aimed at tightening his grip on power. “These are unacceptable threats toward any sovereign nation,” Maduro said in an …

Caracas, Venezuela | AFP | Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro announced Monday he was almost doubling the minimum wage in an effort to tackle the crisis-wracked Latin American country’s runaway inflation. Venezuela’s economic collapse ranks as one of the worst in modern history, with hyperinflation likely to see prices soaring 13,000 percent …

Caracas, Venezuela | AFP | Despite unpopularity and a deepening economic crisis, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro seems such a certainty for reelection in April that only an evangelical pastor has found the faith to run against him. “I am the light in the darkness,” said little-known pastor Javier Bertucci, without …

Tabio, COLOMBIA | AFP | Valentine’s Day is a crazy rush for Colombia, one of the biggest flower exporters in the world, resulting in huge demand for labor in greenhouses near Bogota. That’s how Rubiela Mendez and William Perez found themselves shivering in a cold they’d never known, preparing roses …

Buenos Aires, Argentina | AFP | The United States said Sunday it has not ruled out sanctions on Venezuelan oil as it turns the screw on President Nicolas Maduro, but is wary of hurting the country’s people. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is in Argentina as he tours Latin American to …

Caracas, Venezuela | AFP | Venezuela saw almost 70 newspapers, TV and radio stations close in 2017 while attacks on journalists rose, the main union representing the media said Wednesday, accusing the socialist government of trying to “silence” the press. The National Union of Press Workers (SNTP) said 46 radio …

Caracas, Venezuela | AFP | Venezuela on Saturday said two diplomats from Canada and Brazil were no longer welcome, in an escalating showdown over their criticism of President Maduro’s socialist government. The head of the powerful pro-government Constituent Assembly, Delcy Rodriguez, said the body decided on the move against Brazil’s …

New York, United States | AFP | A US judge on Thursday sentenced two nephews of Venezuela’s first lady to 18 years in prison for drug trafficking, damning them as “not the most astute drug traffickers that ever existed.” Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, 31, and Francisco Flores de Freitas, 32, …

Mexico City, Mexico | AFP | Thirty women trafficked for sex — most from Colombia and Venezuela — were rescued in two raids in Mexico, police said Saturday. The biggest operation took place in Toluca, capital of Mexico state, the most populous and one of the most dangerous states in …

Caracas, Venezuela | AFP | Venezuelans headed to the polls Sunday in regional elections seen as a crucial test for President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition alike after months of deadly street protests failed to unseat him. Public opinion surveys predicted that the opposition would win a majority of state …