CARACAS, April 2 -- Venezuela’s Supreme Court has asked the Constituent Assembly to strip opposition leader Juan Guaido of parliamentary immunity over his violation of a ban on leaving the country. "A request will be sent to the Constituent Assembly’s president that Juan Guaido be stripped of parliamentary immunity for failing to abide by the Court’s decisions," Supreme Court President Maikel Moreno said, as cited by the El Nacional newspaper. Venezuela’s Supreme Court earlier barred Guaido from leaving the country. However, on February 22, he traveled to the Colombian border city of Cucuta, which hosts a humanitarian aid distribution center. Guaido returned to Venezuela after visiting Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Ecuador. Venezuela crisisOn January 23, Juan Guaido, Venezuelan opposition leader and parliament speaker, whose appointment to that position had been cancelled by the country’s Supreme Court, declared himself interim president at a rally in the country’s capital of Caracas. Several countries, including the United States, Lima Group members (excluding Mexico), Australia, Albania, Georgia and Israel, as well as the Organization of American States, recognized him. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in turn, blasted the move as a coup staged by Washington and said he was severing diplomatic ties with the US. On February 4, most of the European Union member states recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president. In contrast, Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Syria and Turkey voiced support for Maduro, while China called for resolving all differences peacefully and warned against foreign interference. The United Nations secretary general, in turn, called for dialogue to resolve the crisis.
0 Comments
DEN HAAG, March 28 -- The United States has got cart blanche from The Netherlands to use the Curacao island (which is part of the kingdom) as a springboard for aggressive intervention in Venezuela, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on Thursday. "We’ve taken note of the agreement signed between the Netherlands and the United States on using the infrastructures of the Curacao island for humanitarian supplies to Venezuela," she said. "At first sight this agreement merely opens access for US officials to Curacao’s infrastructures exclusively for providing humanitarian aid, but, as it has turned out, this deal does not rule out the possibility of using not only civilian but other means of delivery. Of what type? Clearly, military ones." "In the context of the current realities The Hague has in fact given the Americans a free hand to use its former colony as a springboard for aggressive intervention in Venezuela’s affairs under the cover of humanitarian slogans," Zakharova stated. "We hope that the Curacao authorities will not allow the island’s territory to be used as a springboard for another Western adventure capable of destabilizing the situation in the region." WASHINGTON, March 28 -- US President Donald Trump has called on Russia to pull its troops from Venezuela and warned "all options" were open to making that happen. The arrival of two Russian air force planes carrying nearly 100 Russian troops outside Caracas on Saturday has escalated the political crisis in Venezuela. Russia and China have backed President Nicolas Maduro, while the United States and most Western countries support opposition leader Juan Guaido. In January, Guaido invoked the constitution to declare himself interim president, arguing Maduro's 2018 re-election was illegitimate. The US government says the Russian troops include special forces and cybersecurity personnel. "They've got a lot of pressure right now. They have no money, they have no oil, they have no nothing. They've got plenty of pressure right now. They have no electricity," Trump said. "Other than military, you can't get any more pressure than they have... All options are open," he added. Russia has bilateral relations and agreements with Venezuela, which it plans to honour, Russian Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said, in response to Trump's comments. "It's not up to US to decide actions and fate of other countries. It's only up to the people of Venezuela and its only legitimate President Nicolas Maduro," Polyanskiy said on Twitter. Maduro also said a high-profile Venezuelan-Russian intergovernmental meeting will be held in April, adding the sides plan to sign nearly 20 agreements in the spheres of economy, energy, trade and education. The president also announced that Caracas awaits another delivery of humanitarian aid from Moscow. On February 22, the Latin American country received 7.5 tonnes of humanitarian cargo from Russia, including medicine, medical equipment and consumables. CARACAS, March 26 -- Venezuela has been left without power for the second time in 24 hours following an act of sabotage at the Simon Bolivar Hydroelectric Plant, the country’s Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez said on Tuesday, as cited by the Venezolana de Television TV channel. According to Rodriguez, the blackout was a result of "an attack on the Simon Bolivar Hydroelectric Plant" that took place on Monday night. "Power lines were damaged," the minister said. Rodriguez emphasized that "the country’s authorities are assessing the damage." He did not say how many Venezuelan states had been left without electricity. On Monday, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido said that a new power outage had affected 17 of the country’s states. Rodriguez later blamed the government’s opponents for "attacking the national power grid" and announced that power supplies had been restored to almost all of the country. Power outage The Venezuelan capital of Caracas and 20 of the country’s 23 regions were first left without electricity on March 7. The National Electric Company said the blackout had been caused by an accident at the Simon Bolivar Hydroelectric Plant, which Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro blamed on "US imperialism." However, the US Department of State denied any involvement. Venezuela crisis On January 23, Venezuelan parliament speaker Juan Guaido, whose appointment to that position had been cancelled by the country’s Supreme Court, declared himself interim president at a rally in the country’s capital of Caracas. Several countries, including the United States, Lima Group members (excluding Mexico), Australia, Albania, Georgia and Israel, as well as the Organization of American States, recognized him. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in turn, blasted the move as a coup staged by Washington and said he was severing diplomatic ties with the US. On February 4, most of the European Union member states recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president. In contrast, Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Syria and Turkey voiced support for Maduro, while China called for resolving all differences peacefully and warned against foreign interference. The United Nations secretary general, in turn, called for dialogue to resolve the crisis. CARACAS, March 24 -- More than $30 billion disappeared from Venezuela’s foreign accounts in the past two months, according to Venezuelan Minister for Communication and Information Jorge Rodgriguez. "In the past two months, over $30 billion were stolen," he was quoted as saying by Venezuela’s state TV. The official accused Washington of ordering to seize Venezuela’s assets. "Assets, which Venezuela has in various banks, are being withdrawn. This is carried out under direct orders from the US President Donald Trump’s administration," he said. The minister’s statement came shortly after opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself the country’s acting president in January, said that in an interview to Reuters that "the diplomatic pressure [on the country’s government] has worked, the economic pressure and the pressure on assets have worked." "They [Maduro’s government] are isolated, alone, they are falling apart day by day," he added. Juan Guaido, Venezuelan opposition leader and parliament speaker, whose appointment to that position had been cancelled by the country’s Supreme Court, declared himself interim president at a rally in the country’s capital of Caracas on January 23. Several countries, including the United States, Lima Group members (excluding Mexico), as well as the Organization of American States, recognized him as president. Venezuela's incumbent President Nicolas Maduro blasted these actions as an attempted coup and said that he was cutting diplomatic ties with the United States. In contrast, Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Iran, China, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Syria and Turkey voiced support for Maduro. Earlier on Saturday, the opposition leader said in a Twitter post that he and his supporters would keep protesting until Maduro resigns. CARACAS, March 14 -- Venezuelan Armed Forces will hold drills on protecting strategic facilities after a series of power outages in the country, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said on Wednesday. "In order to reinforce the victory of our people in the face of aggression against the power lines, President Nicolas Maduro has ordered National Bolivarian Armed Forces to hold drills 'Ana Karina Rote' this Saturday and Sunday to protect the people and strategic facilties," Lopez wrote on his official Twitter account. On March 7, at least 20 out of 23 Venezuelan states were left without electricity. Venezuela's state energy company Corpoelec said that the blackout was caused by an accident at the Simon Bolivar hydroelectric power station. Some experts say the accident was unprecedented in its scale. Venezuelan Minister of Communications and Information Jorge Rodriguez said earlier that power supply has been restored on the whole territory of the country. CARACAS, March 12 -- Venezuela's National Assembly has declared a state of emergency over power outage on most of its territory at the request of opposition leader Juan Guaido. "The state of emergency is declared in all parts of the country because of the catastrophic situation that resulted from interruptions in power supply," AFP quoted the parliament's resolution as saying. Guaido earlier submitted a request to the National Assembly to declare a state of emergency in the country for 30 days over power outages. The draft decree proposed by Guaido also tasks "Venezuela's Armed Forces with mobilizing all resources necessary for adequate protection of facilities and employees of [state energy company] Corpoelec." On March 7, at least 20 out of 23 Venezuelan states were left without electricity. Venezuela's state energy company Corpoelec said that the blackout was caused by an accident at the Simon Bolivar hydroelectric power station. Maduro blamed "US imperialism" for the accident. The US State Department denied any involvement. CARACAS, March 11 --The power supply of the Venezuelan capital Caracas is restoring. After dark it could be seen that a considerable part of the street lighting system had started operating, and there was light in some houses. Caracas residents also reported the renewal of the electric power supply. On Thursday evening, Caracas and most Venezuelan states were left without electricity. These are 20 or 22 out of 23 states, according to the local media. Thus, almost the whole territory of the country had no electricity. It is the longest power outage within the capital residents’ memory. The incident was reportedly caused by a sabotage at the Simon Bolivar Hydroelectric Plant in Bolivar State, which is the largest in the country. Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro blamed the "American imperialism" for the incident. The US Department of State refuted these accusations. On Friday evening the electricity supply improved, but deteriorated again on Saturday afternoon after a report of an explosion at the electric power station located on the outskirts of Ciudad Bolivar, the capital of Venezuela’s southeastern Bolivar State. Venezuela’s government declared Monday, March 11, to be a nonworking day due to the absence of electricity. CARACAS, March 8 -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday blamed "American imperialism" for a prolonged power outage which affected most of the South American country. The embattled president blamed the blackout on "the electrical war announced and directed by American imperialism against our people", he said on Twitter. But US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denied Washington was behind it. "Power shortages and starvation are the result of the Maduro regime's incompetence." State-owned electricity operator Corpoelec blamed the outage on the act of "sabotage" at the Guri Dam, one of the world's largest hydroelectric stations and the cornerstone of Venezuela's electrical grid. Speaking from the capital Caracas, as the city is being completely in the dark. "The government is saying that the opposition and its leader Juan Guaido are behind this attack, as well as the US," she said, adding that many states remain without electricity. For his part, Guaido, the self-declared interim leader said early on Friday that all but one of Venezuela's 23 states had no electricity and that capital Caracas had been without light for "a record" six hours. "This blackout is evidence of the usurper's inefficiency," Guaido said on Twitter, referring to Maduro. Venezuela's Communication Minister Jorge Rodriguez told state broadcaster Telesur that some 10 states had been affected by the blackout, which he called "brutal electrical sabotage", adding that the power was back on in three states and the rest of the country would follow within hours. "What's the intention?" he said. "To submit the Venezuelan people to various days without electricity to attack, to mistreat, so that vital areas would be without power." Rodriguez also accused US Senator Marco Rubio of being involved in the "sabotage", claiming that he "predicted" the power outage before it happened. "My apologies to the people of Venezuela," Rubio responded on Twitter. "I must have pressed the wrong thing on the 'electronic attack' app I downloaded from Apple. My bad." Maduro has presided over a massive economic crisis since he succeeded Hugo Chavez as president in 2013. The prolonged crisis has seen large numbers of people facing food and medicine shortages forcing millions to leave the country. CARACAS, March 3 -- Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno has called Venezuela a failed state. "Venezuela today is a completely failed state, and this should not go on like that," Moreno said after a meeting with Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido in Salinas. Guaido in turn thanked Moreno for assistance in "liberating" the Bolivarian Republic. "I thank [Ecuador's] President Lenin Moreno for supporting our efforts to liberate and restore Venezuela," Guaido wrote on his official Twitter account. He also noted that Ecuadorians and Venezuelans are fraternal peoples. "We will continue expanding cooperation and strengthening our relations," he said. On January 23 Venezuelan National Assembly Speaker Juan Guaido proclaimed himself as the country's acting president. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has described it as a coup attempt and announced severing diplomatic relations with the United States. On January 28 the US imposed sancitons on Venezuela's state-owned PDVSA oil company. Guaido was recognized as interim president by the Lima Group countries (except for Mexico), as well as by Albania, Georgia, the United States, and the Organization of American States. Several EU countries came forward with support for the Venezuelan parliament and expressed hope for new elections to resolve the crisis. Maduro was supported by Russia, Bolivia, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Turkey. Belarus and China called for resolving all issues by peaceful means and spoke against any interference from the outside. The UN secretary general called for dialogue to resolve the crisis. |
Thank you for choosing to make a difference through your donation. We appreciate your support.
Categories
All
Archives
March 2024
|