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Tareck El Aissami latest in purge of politicians, human rights advocates and critics by government of Nicolás MaduroVenezuela’s former oil minister Tareck El Aissami – once one of President Nicolás Maduro’s closest allies – has been arrested for allegedly participating in an international scheme that syphoned off hundreds of millions of dollars from the country’s state oil company.The charges against El Aissami are part...

Former PM’s meeting with President Maduro, in capacity as hedge fund consultant, is under further scrutinyLabour is demanding answers over what the party said was “potentially serious impropriety” by Boris Johnson after it emerged that the former prime minister met the Venezuelan president in his role as a consultant for a hedge fund.Nick Thomas-Symonds, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, said in a letter to...

South American neighbours respond to blocking of Corina Yoris, who was favoured to beat strongman Nicolás Maduro in electionsA chorus of Latin American nations, including Brazil and Colombia, have voiced concern over the deteriorating political situation in Venezuela after the opposition politician best-positioned to challenge its strongman leader, Nicolás Maduro, in July’s presidential election was prevented from registering for the vote.Corina Yoris, an 80-year-old...

Corina Yoris will now take on Nicolás Maduro in presidential election in July after Maria Corina Machado stepped asideVenezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has named her replacement to take on President Nicolás Maduro in the country’s presidential election in July, after the arrest of two of Machado’s close aides.The naming of Corina Yoris, 80, as the opposition’s candidate comes after Venezuela’s attorney general...

Aerial evidence follows months of President Nicolás Maduro ramping up claim to Essequibo regionVenezuela is expanding military bases near its border with Guyana and deploying forces to the jungle frontier as President Nicolás Maduro ramps up his threats to annex the country’s oil-rich neighbour, satellite images have revealed.Maduro pledged at mediation talks in December not to take military action against his neighbour but images...

Nicolás Maduro orders ‘defensive’ manoeuvres as British Navy deploys vessel in territorial disputeVenezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro has ordered more than 5,600 military personnel to participate in “defensive” exercises, after the UK deployed a warship to waters off the coast of Guyana in a show of support for the former British colony.Maduro said he was launching an action “of a defensive nature in response to...