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☆ Fact Check-Photo of Venezuelan bank notes on the ground is not new
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A photo of Venezuelan bank notes scattered on the street has been shared by online users alongside claims it is a depiction of current monetary values in the country. Examples of users sharing the photo on Facebook saying it shows current bank notes in Venezuela, can be seen (here) and (here). This scene is missing context, however, as it shows now-worthless notes tossed on the street following a bank robbery in the town of Merida the year after the Bolivar Fuerte was replaced. The photos show the aftermath of a Venezuelan bank robbery in 2019. Thieves discarded worthless currency on the streets as the stolen money was of a retired currency.

☆ Venezuela president names PDVSA head Tellechea as new oil minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Deisy Buitrago | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/File PhotoCARACAS, March 21 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday named the head of state oil company PDVSA, Pedro Rafael Tellechea, as the new oil minister, a day after his predecessor resigned amid an extensive corruption investigation focused on the company. Former minister Tareck El Aissami resigned on Monday after the arrest of several government officials and judges in connection with graft investigations. Sources with knowledge of the issue said more than 20 lower-level PDVSA officials have also been detained over recent days. Tellechea has been head of PDVSA since January and ordered an audit into heavy losses suffered last year as tankers left the country without proper payments being made for cargo. It is not the first time the government has promised a crackdown on alleged PDVSA corruption.

☆ Venezuela Oil Minister Resigns Amid Widening Corruption Probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Kejal Vyas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Tareck El Aissami said that he resigned to facilitate a government anticorruption probe. Venezuela’s oil minister resigned Monday amid a widening campaign by President Nicolás Maduro to root out corruption in the government and the national oil company, which in recent days has led to the arrests of several government officials on graft charges. Tareck El Aissami , who had held high posts in government and long been among Mr. Maduro’s closest confidants, said on Twitter that he was stepping down from his post to facilitate the government’s anticorruption probe into state-run Petróleos de Venezuela, or PdVSA. He couldn’t be reached to comment.

☆ Venezuela’s Oil Industry, Reopening to Investors, Is Major Polluter
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Kejal Vyas | Patricia Garip | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Venezuela’s oil industry suffers from maintenance and management problems, a likely challenge for Western companies looking to resume work there. Across Venezuela’s once-thriving oil industry, environmentalists say rusty pipelines and storage tanks routinely leak contaminants into the ground. Frequent spills stain the mangroves of national parks with oil. Refinery explosions in recent years have sent black smoke billowing into the sky. And Venezuela’s national oil company, unable to process the natural gas that is a byproduct of oil production, burns enough each day to supply the state of Georgia.

☆ Maduro negotiator says Venezuela government, opposition making progress on $3.2 billion humanitarian fund
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Vivian Sequera | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro delivers a speech in front of the Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice magistrates during the opening of the new court term, in Caracas, Venezuela January 31, 2023. The opposition hopes the negotiations will help guarantee that elections tentatively scheduled for 2024 are held in fair conditions. Rodriguez did not offer details on what progress had been made toward creation of the humanitarian fund. The opposition's head negotiator, Gerardo Blyde, has said money from the frozen assets is spread across different jurisdictions, each with their own legal requirements. The opposition has said the money could be moved in small tranches to protect it from creditors.

☆ Caribbean Seeks Venezuela’s Oil and Gas as U.S. Relaxes Sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Patricia Garip | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Production has plummeted at Venezuelan state oil company PdVSA, which operates these facilities on Lake Maracaibo. Caribbean countries battered by high energy costs are turning to Venezuela for oil and gas as the U.S. eases sanctions that have kept its supplies off limits for years. Trinidad and Tobago received a U.S. Treasury Department license in January to develop a Venezuelan gas field. A prospective refinery operator in Curaçao is seeking to buy Venezuelan crude oil. And officials on other islands have said they hope to restore Venezuelan fuel imports.

☆ Venezuela should release arbitrary detainees, end torture, UN rights chief says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

CARACAS — Venezuela should release arbitrarily detained individuals and end torture, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said on Saturday at the end of a trip to the country. Turk arrived in Venezuela on Thursday and met with President Nicolás Maduro on Friday, in addition to Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, senior government officials, opposition figures and victims of human rights violations. “In my meetings with the president and ministers, I called for all people who have been arbitrarily detained to be released,” Turk said on Saturday in a statement. Turk extended his call to governments around the world to release, pardon or grant amnesty to “all those arbitrarily detained for exercising their fundamental human rights.”During his trip, Turk said he met with people who were arbitrarily detained and tortured. “I was given commitments that torture complaints would be addressed decisively, fully investigated and those responsible brought to justice,” Turk said.

☆ Fact Check-Clip of military vehicle running over protesters filmed in Caracas, Venezuela in 2019
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

(Warning: This article contains graphic content)A clip of a military vehicle running over protesters was filmed in Caracas, Venezuela in April 2019 and not Peru amid protests in January 2023. The clip was shared by social media users online amid protests that kicked off in December following the ousting of Peru’s then president, Pedro Castillo. The social media users erroneously captioned it as an incident in Peru during the protests. Reuters also produced an article reporting that a Venezuela National Guard vehicle ran protesters over outside a military base in Venezuela’s capital on April 30, 2019 (here). Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts here.

“The intentions, of course, were never to cross over to Venezuela, he was just accompanying her,” said Henry Martínez, Hernández’s brother. The men told Hernández that if they wanted to enter Venezuela, he had to pay $100. Hernández told them he was not trying to enter the country and did not have $100. The U.S. has not had a diplomatic presence in Caracas since 2019, so access to jailed Americans has been limited since then. “Sometimes I can hear his voice weak and just frustrated and anxious,” said Henry Martínez.

☆ ConocoPhillips in Talks to Sell Venezuelan Oil in U.S. to Recover Billions It Is Owed
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Patricia Garip | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ConocoPhillips , which abandoned Venezuela after its assets were nationalized in 2007, is now open to a deal to sell the country’s oil in the U.S. as a way to recover the close to $10 billion it is owed by Venezuela, according to people familiar with discussions between the company and Venezuela representatives. In what are preliminary talks between ConocoPhillips and national oil company Petróleos de Venezuela SA, the two sides are looking at a proposal that could allow the Houston-based company to load, transport and sell Venezuela’s oil in the U.S. on behalf of PdVSA, as the state oil company is known. This would give ConocoPhillips a chance to recover the money it lost in the country and help the U.S. meet its energy needs, the people said.

☆ All-female team replaces Juan Guaidó as face of Venezuela opposition
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s opposition has selected an all-female team of mostly unknown exiled former lawmakers to replace the beleaguered Juan Guaidó as the face of its faltering efforts to remove socialist President Nicolas Maduro. Meanwhile, Maduro’s supporters seemed to be relishing the opposition’s squabbles. At Thursday’s session inaugurating the legislative year, loyalist lawmakers re-elected Jorge Rodriguez to lead the National Assembly. U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said Tuesday that the U.S. stands ready to work with any individual, or collective body, chosen by the 2015 National Assembly to represent it. We support the 2015 National Assembly as the only remaining vestige of democracy in Venezuela.”

☆ Venezuela’s Wager to Oust Maduro With Parallel Government Ends
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Ryan Dube | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Venezuela’s Juan Guaidó, once recognized by more than 60 countries as his country’s rightful president, was stripped of his position on Thursday when the opposition dissolved a U.S.-backed parallel government that had failed to oust strongman Nicolás Maduro . With Mr. Guaidó out, lawmakers from Venezuela’s battered opposition will create a committee to oversee billions of dollars in assets abroad that had come under the control of the so-called interim government. They will also try to negotiate conditions for free and fair elections in 2024.

☆ Venezuelan opposition strips Juan Guaidó of ‘presidential’ role
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

CARACAS, Venezuela — For three years, Juan Guaidó led the Venezuelan opposition’s efforts to bring about new elections and remove socialist President Nicolás Maduro. The vote reflects a changing balance of power within the opposition, which is trying to find new ways to connect with voters ahead of the nation’s 2024 presidential election. Three of Venezuela’s four main opposition parties backed the proposal to remove Guaidó, who was supported only by his own Popular Will party. After the vote, Guaidó said the move would create a “power vacuum” that could encourage more foreign nations to recognize the Maduro administration. So the opposition legislators created an “interim government,” headed by Guaidó, that was meant to last until Maduro stepped down and free elections could be held.

☆ Venezuela’s U.S.-Backed Opposition Removes Juan Guaidó as Its Leader
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Kejal Vyas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Venezuela’s biggest opposition parties voted to remove Juan Guaidó as their leader, marking an end to a bold, U.S.-backed political gambit in which he was recognized as the country’s legitimate president as part of an unsuccessful bid to oust authoritarian Nicolás Maduro from power. Lawmakers, scattered in exile around the world, voted in a Zoom call to restructure their movement, removing Mr. Guaidó and eliminating the so-called interim government he leads. The interim government had been recognized as Venezuela’s legitimate government by more than 60 countries when it was created in early 2019. But now, the U.S. and only a handful of allies continue to recognize the Guaido-led movement, while Mr. Maduro maintains an ironclad grip on the country with support from Russia, Iran and China.

☆ Former Rep. David Rivera of Florida is arrested in Venezuela probe
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

David Rivera, a Republican who served from 2011 to 2013, was arrested at Atlanta’s airport, said Marlene Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami. To justify the large payments, PDV USA allegedly created “phony contracts” backdated to March 20, 2017 — the day before the consulting agreement took effect. Rivera’s consulting contract had all the hallmarks of a sham, according to PDV USA, which since 2019 has been run by directors appointed by the U.S.-backed opposition. Rivera never met in person with anyone from Citgo or PDV USA while supposedly working on its behalf. “The written record is bereft of any evidence that Interamerican performed any of the contracted services,” PDV USA argues in the new filings.

☆ Despite Shift, Markets Face Long Wait for Venezuelan Oil
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Collin Eaton | José De Córdoba | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Chevron will have to work on myriad technical issues at Venezuela’s aging oil fields before pumping crude there again. The Biden administration made a significant shift in its Venezuela policy when it allowed Chevron Corp. to pump oil in the South American country again, but the decision will yield little increase to the world’s oil production in the short-term. The U.S. company will have to contend with myriad technical issues at Venezuela’s aging oil fields and a complicated network of remaining U.S. sanctions that must be altered to ensure more of the country’s oil reaches the global market.

☆ Venezuelan oil offers little to U.S. or Chevron
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Robert Cyran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, Nov 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) - U.S. President Joe Biden is open to Venezuelan oil. Over the weekend, the Treasury Department issued $355 billion oil giant Chevron (CVX.N) a license to resume limited production in the country. But between the dirty Venezuelan oil and decrepit fields, the help is limited. Steadily tightening sanctions led to the country’s oil production falling by about three-quarters over the years. Follow @rob_cyran on TwitterloadingCONTEXT NEWSThe United States eased sanctions on Venezuela on Nov. 26 by granting a license to Chevron to resume production and importation of Venezuelan oil.

☆ More Venezuelan Oil Unlikely to Reach Markets Soon Despite New Chevron License
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Collin Eaton | José De Córdoba | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Chevron Gets New U.S. License to Pump Oil in Venezuela Again
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Andrew Restuccia | Collin Eaton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The U.S. said it would allow Chevron Corp. to resume pumping oil from its Venezuelan oil fields after President Nicolás Maduro ’s government and an opposition coalition agreed to implement a humanitarian program and continue dialogue in Mexico City on efforts to hold free and fair elections. Following the agreement, the Biden administration granted Chevron a license that would allow the California-based oil company to return to its Venezuelan oil fields in joint ventures with Venezuela’s national oil company Petróleos de Venezuela SA. The new license, granted by the Treasury Department, would permit Chevron to pump Venezuelan oil for the first time in years.

MIAMI — Florida Democrats are reeling and coming to terms with devastating Election Day losses, particularly among Latino voters who turned out solidly for Republicans in statewide contests. Most Republicans running in the state won by large margins, turning Florida into a solid red state. “Republicans became the real spokespeople for this community,” said Gamarra, referring to the governor, senators, and South Florida members of Congress. DeSantis always hammers down the message that Florida is a “free state.” Over 80,000 people have died of Covid in Florida. Meanwhile, the number of Democratic Latino registered voters decreased from 947,853 in 2020 to 901,481 in 2022.

☆ Venezuela Opposition Leader Juan Guaidó Vows to Fight On
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Kejal Vyas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó keeps in his office a countdown to 2024, when presidential elections are supposed to take place. CARACAS, Venezuela—Hunched over a tablet at his office in a rundown shopping center, the man the U.S. considers Venezuela’s legitimate president watched videos of the country’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro, as he shook hands with world leaders at the United Nations climate summit in Egypt. It was the latest sign of the isolated situation for Juan Guaidó as the head of Venezuela’s opposition, which despite widespread support at home and abroad has been unable to remove Mr. Maduro from office.

☆ Colombia, Venezuela Leaders Meet Amid Thawing Relations
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Kejal Vyas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

BOGOTÁ, Colombia—The leaders of Colombia and Venezuela met Tuesday for the first time in six years, the latest sign of how new leftist governments in Latin America are breaking from a U.S.-led campaign that unsuccessfully sought to oust Venezuela’s authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro . Colombian President Gustavo Petro , a former guerrilla who once held close ties to Venezuela’s ruling socialist party, traveled to Caracas to have lunch with Mr. Maduro and discuss bilateral trade. Mr. Petro said he would also call on Mr. Maduro to commit to promoting democracy in the region and ending political persecution.

☆ Venezuelans stranded in Panama by U.S. policy change return home
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

The policy change shut the door on Venezuelan asylum seekers, many of whom previously were being paroled into the United States. We began to call relatives in the United States, in Chile and they us yes, it was true. We all lost the little that we had.”Some 900 Venezuelans have returned on charter flights from Panama since the U.S. policy change, according to Panama’s National Immigration Service. The U.S. policy change was driven by a surge in Venezuelans arriving at the U.S. border that put them second only to Mexicans this year. The program, which requires pre-registration online and that applicants have a sponsor in the United States, is similar to one set up for Ukrainians earlier this year.

☆ Freed From Venezuelan Jail, Houston Oil Executive Describes Being Used as a Bargaining Chip
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Ryan Dube | Kejal Vyas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Jose Pereira, wearing mask, and five other oil executives who were summoned to Caracas and detained for nearly five years until their release earlier this month, in a photo posted on Twitter by Venezuela’s foreign minister in 2020. For nearly five years, Houston oil executive Jose Pereira was jailed in Venezuela, spending long stretches in isolation in an underground cell, deprived of medication and surviving on chicken scraps and rice. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Pereira said he had lost 100 pounds and survived two bouts of Covid-19 and a heart attack by the time he was freed earlier this month, after high-level talks between the Biden administration and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ’s authoritarian regime.

☆ Venezuela Opposition Parties Aim to Remove Juan Guaidó as Leader
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Kejal Vyas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Juan Guaidó in Caracas last month. In 2019, the U.S. and dozens of other countries recognized him as Venezuela’s legitimate president. Venezuela’s biggest opposition parties are moving to remove Juan Guaidó as their leader and phase out a U.S.-led strategy in which he was recognized as the legitimate president in an effort to remove Nicolás Maduro from power, according to several people familiar with the discussions. Leaders of three of the largest parties that make up the opposition coalition said during meetings in Panama last week that they would no longer support Mr. Guaidó as the so-called interim president after his term expires on Jan. 5, these people said. While there was no formal vote on the measure, the main parties—A New Era, Democratic Action and Justice First—control a majority of Venezuela’s exiled congress, whose support is essential for Mr. Guaidó to continue in office.

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