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President orders convoy to border in politically charged gesturePatients in Amazon city of Manaus reportedly ran out of oxygenVenezuela’s strongman president, Nicolás Maduro, has sent an emergency shipment of oxygen to his country’s border with Brazil in a politically charged gesture he said was to help alleviate “Jair Bolsonaro’s public health disaster”.In recent days the Brazilian state of Amazonas, which borders southern Venezuela, has...

Opposition figure had sheltered in Spanish ambassador’s residence since a failed uprising against Nicolás Maduro in 2019The prominent opposition activist Leopoldo López has abandoned the Spanish ambassador’s residence in Caracas and left Venezuela after years of frustrated efforts to oust the nation’s socialist president, his party has said.The 49-year-old former Caracas area mayor had been holed up at the ambassador’s residence since a failed...

Human Rights Watch says it has found a ‘very, very disturbing’ pattern of intimidation and persecution of government criticsVenezuelan security forces are using the coronavirus pandemic as cover to wage a disturbing “full force” campaign against dissenters, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch.The New York-based human rights group said that dozens of journalists, health professionals, human rights lawyers and government opponents...

Venezuela’s official Covid-19 death toll stands just over 300, but hospital employees suggest the true situation may be far worseAs they are hauled into Maracaibo’s University hospital, pale, wheezing and panicked, a recurring cry emerges from the mouths of coronavirus patients in this bedraggled Venezuelan metropolis.“Save me!” they plead as they enter A&E, according to hospital staff too scared to give their names. “Please...

$1bn gold hoard subject of dispute between Nicolás Maduro and rival Juan GuaidóClaims that the Bank of England is unlawfully blocking the release of 31 tonnes of gold valued at nearly $1bn(£805m) and intended to combat the coronavirus in Venezuela have been heard in the high court this week.The bars are among the 400,000 bars of gold held in the Bank’s vaults, but there...

Caracas has accused Colombia and US of plotting to overthrow president Maduro; says military found abandoned vessels in Orinoco riverVenezuela’s military says it has seized three abandoned Colombian light combat vessels that soldiers found while patrolling the Orinoco river on Saturday, several days after the government accused its neighbour of aiding a failed invasion plot.In a statement, the defence ministry said the boats were...

Deeply flawed from the start, the audacious plan to overthrow Nicolás Maduro unravelled spectacularlyAs get-rich-quick schemes go it was unusually complicated. Invade a foreign country you know little about. Abduct its president to the US. Collect a $15m bounty from the US government – and maybe an even bigger payoff from the people who then seize power.The plan to overthrow Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro,...

Luke Denman is shown on Venezuelan TV after being arrested. Denman was one of two American mercenaries apprehended after a failed attempt to topple Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.Denman claimed he was on a mission to seize control of Venezuela’s main airport in order to abduct its authoritarian leader – and he alleged that he was acting under the command of Donald Trump.Donald Trump denies link...

Luke Denman was one of two US citizens seized this week after what appears to have been a bungled bid to overthrow MaduroAn American mercenary captured after a bungled attempt to topple Nicolás Maduro has claimed he was on a mission to seize control of Venezuela’s main airport in order to abduct its leader – and he alleged that was acting under the command...

Jordan Goudreau, who was linked to plot to topple Maduro, said his troops are still in action as government said it foiled ‘invasion’A former US special forces soldier linked to a murky and apparently bungled attempt to topple Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, has insisted his troops are still in action after launching “a daring amphibious raid” into the country.In a video released late on...

Exploratory talks emerged from concerns over Covid-19 spread, hyperinflation and growing fuel shortagesCoronavirus – live US updatesLive global updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageAllies of the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and his bitter foe, the opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, have secretly begun exploratory talks as concerns grow about the possible impact of the spread of the coronavirus, according to sources on both sides.The discussions emerged...

Plan includes five-member council and sanctions reliefSceptics see little incentive for government leadersThe US has proposed a political transition plan for Venezuela, offering to lift sanctions if the president, Nicolás Maduro, and his opponent, Juan Guaidó, step aside and pass power to an interim government made up of their supporters. Related: Coronavirus live news: rise in Italy, US and France deaths takes global confirmed...

$15m reward for information leading to president’s captureWilliam Barr alleges plot involving Farc guerrilla factionThe US has charged the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and 14 members of his inner circle with drug trafficking, “narco-terrorism”, corruption and money laundering, and offered a $15m reward for information leading to Maduro’s capture and prosecution.Unveiling the indictment, the attorney general, William Barr, said the Venezuelan leadership collaborated with...

Nicolás Maduro’s comment sparked outrage amid a deepening economic crisis that’s led to rising rates of child malnutritionMillions of Venezuelans may have fled their country to escape a grinding socio-economic crisis, but the country’s embattled president has a novel solution: have more children.“Give birth!” Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan president, said at a televised event promoting a women’s healthcare plan on Tuesday evening. “Every woman...

Lawmakers hold session on outskirts of capital after people dressed in civilian clothes target their vehiclesGovernment security forces and armed motorcycle groups loyal to Nicolás Maduro have forcefully blocked opposition lawmakers from entering Venezuela’s national assembly building, prompting them to hold their session on the outskirts of the nation’s crisis-torn capital.It was the second time this month that lawmakers have been barred from the...

Juan Guaidó sworn in for second term as caretaker leaderMaduro attempted to seize control of parliament on SundayVenezuela’s increasingly byzantine political meltdown took its latest turn on Tuesday as opponents of authoritarian president Nicolás Maduro stormed the country’s parliament to reinstall Juan Guaidó as their leader.Troops loyal to Maduro had surrounded the palm-dotted national assembly compound in Caracas in a bid to keep Guaidó...

Troops blocked presidential rival from entering the parliament building in Venezuela’s capital, CaracasVenezuela’s opposition has accused president Nicolás Maduro of masterminding an illegal parliamentary “coup” after an apparent bid to decapitate the challenge from his presidential rival Juan Guaidó by replacing him as head of the country’s opposition-controlled parliament.Guaidó shot to international prominence last January after he was elected president of Venezuela’s national assembly...

Claims that Nicolás Maduro’s number two official is working with the US are an attempt to ‘stoke paranoia’, experts sayHe is one of the most influential and infamous figures in Venezuelan politics – a hardcore Chavista who uses his weekly talkshow to preach permanent revolution and excoriate the evil empire up north.But two reports in the American media now suggest Diosdado Cabello, Nicolás Maduro’s...