News from Venezuela:
Grenada government urged to begin maritime talks with Venezuela
June 20, 2013
ST GEORGE’S, Grenada -- A former Grenada minister, who was part of negotiations that resulted in the signing of a maritime agreement between Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago in 2010, wants his country also to engage Venezuela in maritime talks. According to former foreign minister Peter David, it is...
Fears over Venezuelan PetroCaribe aid spark surge in interest in Caribbean oil, gas and power industries
June 20, 2013
LONDON, England -- Recent developments in the Venezuelan political landscape have encouraged the Caribbean region to question its position within the oil, gas and power industry. Lee Hunt, consultant and former president of the International Association of Drilling Contractors...
Commentary: The constituent power of the Chavista base in Venezuela after the presidential elections
June 19, 2013
After Hugo Chávez protégé, Nicolas Maduro, narrowly defeated opposition candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski in the April 14 Venezuelan presidential election, Capriles refused to acknowledge Maduro’s win. This should come as no surprise, as there were credible reports that a plan to contest the...
Formal launch set for Grenada-Venezuela association
June 12, 2013
ST GEORGE’S, Grenada -- Another step in Grenada/Venezuela relations will be taken this weekend in St George’s, Grenada. Newly appointed Venezuelan ambassador to Grenada, Jorge Guerrero, and former Grenada foreign minister Peter David are among scores of people...
OAS member countries discuss drug policies and other matters
June 8, 2013
ANTIGUA, Guatemala -- The representatives of the member states of the Organization of American States (OAS) on Thursday finished expressing their points of view on the topic “For a Comprehensive Policy against the World Drug Problem in the Americas” during the third plenary session...
Guyana PM hails PetroCaribe membership
May 28, 2013
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (GINA) -- Guyana has been benefitting significantly as a member state of PetroCaribe, an oil alliance of many Caribbean states with Venezuela to purchase oil on conditions of preferential payment, said Prime Minister Samuel Hinds.
Letter: Chavez forum is a propaganda event
May 18, 2013
With reference to your report of May 15, “Forum on the legacy of Hugo Chavez to be held in Canada”: “HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) -- The legacy of the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez will be the focus of a conference to be held on May 23 at the Faculty of Social Sciences...
Cuba to host ALBA ministerial meeting on social issues
May 16, 2013
HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) -- Cuba will host the fourth meeting of the ministerial council on social issues of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of our America (ALBA) on Friday. The forum will focus particularly on education, health, culture and sports. The meeting of the regional integration bloc...
Forum on the legacy of Hugo Chavez to be held in Canada
May 15, 2013
HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) -- The legacy of the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez will be the focus of a conference to be held on May 23 at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Ottawa, Canada, with professor emeritus and economist Michel Chossudovsky and journalist Arnold August.
Venezuelan government official charged in massive international bribery scheme
May 9, 2013
NEW YORK, USA -- Two employees of a US broker-dealer and a senior official in Venezuela’s state economic development bank have been charged in New York’s federal court for their alleged roles in a massive international bribery scheme.
Venezuela president alleges plot as opposition goes to court
May 4, 2013
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Recently elected Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Friday that former president of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, was plotting to kill him. "Uribe is behind a plot to kill me," Maduro said on national television.
Brawl in Venezuela parliament reflects post-election tension
May 2, 2013
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Fighting broke out in Venezuela’s parliament on Tuesday, leaving one lawmaker bloodied and bruised. The incident reflects the country's ongoing dispute over last month's presidential election results.
Venezuela pledges continued close alliance with Cuba
April 29, 2013
HAVANA, Cuba -- Cuba and Venezuela signed new cooperation accords on Saturday for 51 projects, as newly elected Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, on his first trip to the island since his election on April 14, pledged to maintain the...
Vote audit in Venezuela raises false hope, says election authority
April 29, 2013
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) said on Saturday that any audit of the votes cast in the April 14 presidential election created only false hope on the part of opposition candidate Henrique Capriles and his supporters.
Letter: Lies about Venezuela
April 29, 2013
I was totally disgusted with Larry Birns’ commentary entitled “Post Election Conflict in Venezuela and the Hemispheric Response”. He states that the election was witnessed by 170 international observers. One of these observers...
Commentary: Post-election conflict in Venezuela and the hemispheric response
April 27, 2013
President-elect Nicolás Maduro of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) won the April 14 presidential election by a narrow 1.6 percent margin. The story of the election, however, is not over. The opposition candidate, Henrique Capriles...
CELAC weighs in on Venezuela elections
April 22, 2013
HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) -- The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) has issued a communiqué on the recent presidential elections in Venezuela. First, CELAC congratulated President Nicolas Maduro on the results...
Partial audit of Venezuela vote to be conducted
April 20, 2013
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuelan officials agreed on Thursday to audit a significant portion of the votes cast in Sunday's contested presidential election. Opposition candidate Henrique Capriles lost the election to Nicolas Maduro by fewer than 300,000 votes.
Haiti names airport after Hugo Chavez
April 20, 2013
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- The government of Haiti announced on Thursday that the international airport in Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second-largest city, will be named after the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Overall support for Maduro's victory in Venezuela election
April 19, 2013
CARACAS, Venezuela -- A few days after Sunday’s presidential elections in Venezuela, Latin American and Caribbean foreign ministers have expressed their support for the successful candidate, Nicolas Maduro. At a meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS)...
Manual recount of votes not possible, says Venezuela's chief justice
April 18, 2013
CARACAS, Venezuela -- A manual recount of votes in Sunday’s presidential election in Venezuela is not possible, the country's chief justice said on Wednesday. "In Venezuela the electoral system is completely automated. Therefore, a manual count...
Cuban doctors to keep working in Venezuela
April 18, 2013
HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) -- The Cuban doctors currently working in Venezuela will continue to assist the citizens of that country, said Cuban deputy health minister Roberto Gonzalez. The Cuban doctors are meeting their duty by assisting each citizen...
OAS secretary general expresses concern over violence in Venezuela
April 17, 2013
WASHINGTON, USA -- The secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, has expressed his “deep concern over the deplorable acts of violence” that have taken place in recent hours in Venezuela.
Maduro wins close election in Venezuela, recount demanded
April 16, 2013
CARACAS, Venezuela -- In a surprisingly close result, acting president Nicolas Maduro won Sunday’s presidential elections in Venezuela with 50.66 percent of the votes, according to the National Electoral Council (CNE). Opposition candidate Henrique Capriles has...
Venezuela votes in post-Chavez presidential election
April 15, 2013
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Millions of Venezuelans went to the polls in 23 states and the District Capital on Sunday to elect who will lead the nation as president until 2019. At 6:00 am (local time), most of the more than 39,000 tables installed in 13,683 polling...
Commentary: Revisiting Iran's relations with Venezuela and Argentina
April 13, 2013
These economic relationships have had the effect of undermining the sanctions, which the United States and other nations placed against Tehran in 1979. In 2007 political scientists David Lektzian and Mark Souva, commenting in The Journal of...
Commentary: Venezuelan elections: Rehabilitated neoliberalism versus 21st century socialism
March 30, 2013
In those Latin American countries that have decided to abandon neoliberalism in pursuit of social justice, there has been a change in the parameters of political debate in presidential electoral politics. Right wing electoral campaigns can no longer...
Commentary: We will remember Hugo Chavez
March 21, 2013
I saw Hugo Chávez in action when I visited Venezuela in April 2010 for the ninth ALBA summit and to participate in that country’s celebration of two hundred years of independence. Two hundred years before my arrival in Caracas, a gentleman called Simón Bolívar...
Jamaica received US$2.4 billion under PetroCaribe
March 20, 2013
KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) -- Jamaica has received US$2.4 billion in funding support from Venezuela under the PetroCaribe agreement, since the facility’s establishment in 2005. Chief executive officer of the PetroCaribe Development Fund...
Venezuela presidential candidate vows to halt oil aid to Cuba
March 19, 2013
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuelan presidential candidate Henrique Capriles on Monday said he would end the country’s shipments of subsidized oil to Cuba, while referring to acting President Nicolas Maduro as a puppet of Havana.
Commentary: Hugo Chavez and the unraveling of the Washington Consensus
March 18, 2013
The spirit of Hugo Chávez, in death as in life, has inspired a region-wide movement to overcome five centuries of rampant inequality and eliminate crippling poverty. At the same time, much of Latin America has witnessed an upturn of experiments in...
Letter: Was Hugo Chavez royalty?
March 15, 2013
Now this is not a story made up by me. It is written and adapted from 'Hugo Chavez and Moctezuma’ By 'Tirso Suarez'. President Hugo Chavez was convinced the name “Montezuma” would soon be associated directly with Hugo Chavez Frias.
PetroCaribe's impact on Guyana remembered
March 13, 2013
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (GINA) -- The revolutionary PetroCaribe initiative that allowed signatory nations to benefit from subsidised Venezuelan fuel and the role its architect Hugo Chavez, the late president of Venezuela played as a patron in...
We lost our best friend, Fidel Castro says of Chavez
March 12, 2013
HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) -- “We lost our best friend” is the title of an article written by former Cuban president Fidel Castro on the death of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, which was published by Cuban media on Monday.
Maduro sworn-in as president in charge of Venezuela; election set for April 14
March 11, 2013
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Executive vice president Nicolás Maduro was sworn in as president in charge of Venezuela in the National Assembly in the evening hours of Friday. The government announced on Saturday afternoon that its presidential...
Commentary: The passing of Hugo Chavez and its repercussions in the region
March 9, 2013
Hugo Chavez was either loved by many or hated by a lot at the same time. He died at 58, after a two-year fight with cancer, on March 6 at 4.25pm. The news went viral all over the planet immediately. I will remember where I was years later, talking with my father at the dinner...
Commentary: Remembering Chavez...
March 8, 2013
Nobody should have been shocked on Tuesday when Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez finally died after a well-publicized, two-year battle against cancer. Nor, shamefully enough, should anybody have been shocked when so many in the United States joined a virtual...
Commentary: The Caribbean after Chavez
March 8, 2013
Seventeen countries of the Caribbean face a heightened period of economic uncertainty now that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died. Twelve of the 17 Caribbean countries are members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
Caribbean mourns the passing of Chavez
March 7, 2013
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad -- The sun has gone down on the life of one of the region’s most colourful leaders, with the death on Tuesday of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez at the young age of 58. His passing has sparked both grief and...
Commentary: Venezuela's foreign policy without Chavez: Is this the end of ALBA?
March 7, 2013
Hugo Chávez Frias, President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, passed away on March 5, 2013, due to severe health complications. For at least the past year and half, the Venezuelan head of state had been battling cancer that continued...
