Venezuela – News Stories About Venezuela - Page 1

US Oil Execs Lured to Venezuela Found Guilty

6 Americans sentenced to prison

(Newser) - Six American oil executives held for three years in Venezuela were found guilty of corruption charges by a judge Thursday and immediately sentenced to prison, defense lawyers said, dashing hopes of a quick release that would send them home to their families in the United States. Some relatives had been...

Experts: 'Crimes Against Humanity' Committed in Venezuela

Scathing Report Details Atrocities in Venezuela

Experts allege crimes against humanity have been committed there since 2014

(Newser) - Independent experts commissioned by the UN’s top human-rights body have alleged the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has committed crimes against humanity since 2014. The experts issued a scathing, in-depth report on Wednesday that said the people responsible for crimes that include extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions,...

Ex-Green Berets Get 20 Years in Prison

Luke Denman and Airan Berry allegedly tried to help overthrow a president

(Newser) - 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 aimed at overthrowing President Nicolás Maduro, the AP reports. Lawyers for the former Green Berets, Luke Denman and Airan Berry, said they were barred from...

Another World Leader Has the Virus

Bolivia’s interim president tests positive for COVID-19

(Newser) - Bolivia’s interim president, Jeanine Áñez, has tested positive for COVID-19. "I feel good, I feel strong, I will continue to work virtually from my isolation," she says in a video posted to her Twitter account, per NPR . Three cabinet ministers in her administration have also...

Iran Bucks US Pressure, Sends Oil to Venezuela

5 Iranian Oil Tankers Head for Venezuela

A Trump official had warned Iran against the move

(Newser) - Five Iranian tankers likely carrying at least $45.5 million worth of gasoline and similar products are now sailing to Venezuela amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington, the AP reports. The tankers' voyage come after Venezuela's socialist leader Nicolás Maduro turned to Iran for help in flying...

Ex-Green Beret: I Launched Failed Amphibious Raid

Jordan Goudreau’s comments cap a bizarre Sunday

(Newser) - A former Green Beret has taken responsibility for what he claimed was a failed attack Sunday aimed at overthrowing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and that the socialist government said ended with eight dead, the AP reports. Jordan Goudreau’s comments in an interview with an exiled Venezuelan journalist capped...

Venezuela Says It Fought Off Terrorist Invasion by Boat

'Mercenary terrorists' were killed or arrested, officials say

(Newser) - Venezuelan officials said they foiled an early-morning attempt by a group of armed men to invade the country by boat on Sunday, killing eight attackers and arresting two more. Socialist party chief Diosdado Cabello said on state television that two of the attackers were being interrogated by authorities, the AP...

Dozens Dead, Warden Injured in Prison Riot

The upheaval at the Llanos Penitentiary Center in Venezuela included a grenade blast

(Newser) - A riot erupted at a prison in central Venezuela on Friday, killing at least 40 people and injuring 50 more, including a National Guard officer who was wounded by an explosion and the warden, who suffered a knife wound, authorities said. The upheaval at the Llanos Penitentiary Center started with...

New Naval Operation Is Afoot, Sources Say

Trump: New Naval Operation Is Afoot

The White House announces that Navy ships are moving toward Venezuela

(Newser) - President Trump announced Wednesday that Navy ships are being moved toward Venezuela as his administration beefs up counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean following a US drug indictment against Nicolás Maduro, the AP reports. The president's announcement was a break from the daily White House press briefing to discuss...

US Just Indicted a Foreign President

Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro accused of flooding US with cocaine

(Newser) - US prosecutors have indicted Venezuela's president and other senior government officials on charges of drug trafficking, claiming a "narco-terrorism conspiracy." The unusual move against Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan government, intelligence officials, and members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia stems from a federal investigation in Washington,...

Maduro Makes 'Bizarre' Ask of Venezuela's Women

Venezuelan president wants female citizens to have lots of babies 'for the good of the country'

(Newser) - The Venezuelan president hasn't said much about his supposed new health-care plan for women—some aren't even sure if there even is an actual plan, notes the Guardian —but the instructions Nicolas Maduro offered on Tuesday to female citizens generated instant backlash. "Give birth!" Maduro...

After White House Meeting, Oil Execs Put in Caracas Prison

Top US envoy to Venezuela calls timing of move 'suspicious'

(Newser) - The situation has apparently worsened for six executives from Houston-based and Venezuela-owned Citgo who have been detained without trial in Venezuela since November 2017. The Wall Street Journal reports Elliott Abrams, the top US envoy to the country, on Thursday said the men had been abruptly taken once more to...

Venezuelan Leader Gets Into Shoving Match

Juan Guaidó is stopped from entering congress, tries to climb the fence

(Newser) - Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó was violently blocked Sunday from presiding over a special session of congress where rivals tried to install a substitute in what was condemned as a hijacking of the country's last democratic institution, the AP reports. As a scuffle broke out with security forces in...

Report: Giuliani Involved in 'Back-Channel' Venezuela Talks

Sources say White House officials were surprised

(Newser) - Ukraine wasn't the only country where Rudy Giuliani was involved in a shadow foreign policy, according to the Washington Post . Sources tell the newspaper that President Trump's attorney was involved in back-channel negotiations to negotiate an exit for Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro as the country's crisis...

Dirty-Money Expert Might Spend His Life in Prison

But University of Miami professor Bruce Bagley insists he's done nothing wrong

(Newser) - A money-laundering expert in Florida is facing charges of, you guessed it, money laundering. Bruce Bagley, 73, was arrested Monday for allegedly laundering at least $3 million in illegal Venezuelan money, the Miami Herald reports. But the University of Miami professor—who has served as an expert witness and testified...

US Bars All Flights Into Cuba, With One Exception

Planes from United States can only go into Havana in new travel ban

(Newser) - If you'd planned to travel to Cuba, you still can—but only one of the country's 10 main airports will be open starting next month. Per CBS News , at the direction of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the US has banned all flights to the island nation, save...

2 Nations Warn Citizens About Traveling to the US

Uruguay, Venezuela cite violence, hate crimes

(Newser) - Two countries are urging citizens to use extreme caution when visiting the US, citing a rise in hate crimes. Travelers to the US should "take precautions against growing indiscriminate violence, mostly for hate crimes, including racism and discrimination, which cost the lives of more than 250 people in the...

A 'Dramatic Escalation' in US-Venezuela Tension

Trump administration freezes Venezuelan government assets

(Newser) - The Trump administration froze all Venezuelan government assets Monday in a dramatic escalation of tensions with Nicolás Maduro that places his socialist administration alongside a short list of adversaries from Cuba, North Korea, Syria, and Iran that have been targeted by aggressive US actions. The ban blocking American companies...

Venezuela Blames 'Electromagnetic Attack' for Massive Blackout

Maduro's opponents say corruption is the real culprit

(Newser) - The lights went out across much of Venezuela on Monday, reviving fears of the blackouts that plunged the country into chaos a few months ago as the government once again accused opponents of sabotaging the nation's hydroelectric power system. The power in the capital went out after 4pm and...

Pentagon: Venezuela Jet 'Aggressively Shadowed' US Aircraft

Caracas claims it was in its airspace

(Newser) - While much of Venezuela is in a state of near-collapse, its air force is still flying—and behaving aggressively, according to the US military. US Southern Command shared video Sunday of what it said was a Venezuelan SU-30 Flanker fighter jet that "aggressively shadowed" an American reconnaissance aircraft in...