Former Chacao Mayor Leopoldo López attends the second session of the Court hearing (Handout photo) In the second session of a public hearing where the political disqualification of former Chacao mayor Leopoldo López is discussed, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) requested the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to condemn Venezuela for violating the American Convention on Human Rights. The Commission said that the Venezuelan State violated Articles 8, 23...

The US government will take action if Venezuela violates international sanctions meted out to Iran, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cautioned on Tuesday. "If there is any evidence that they have violated the sanctions, we will act against them," Clinton said during the parliamentary questioning. In any event, the US Secretary of State said that so far there is no evidence that the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has been in breach of the sanctions...

Amnesty International has urged Cuban authorities to end the harassment of relatives of a human rights activist who died during a hunger strike last year. Reina Luisa Tamayo, whose son Orlando Zapata Tamayo died at a Havana prison in February 2010, told Amnesty International she was arrested by state security agents who threatened to stop her and other mourners from commemorating the anniversary of Orlando’s death in church, on 23 February. “The fact that the Cuban...

Despite almost global condemnation of the violence against demonstrators in Libya, some prominent Latin Americans are standing-by Libya's Muammar al-Qaddafi, even as he declares that he'll keep fighting and will die as a 'martyr.' Nicaragua's leftist President Daniel Ortega says he has telephoned Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi on Monday to express his solidarity. Cuba's former leader Fidel Castro also weighed in on developments in the middle eastern nation on Tuesday. Castro said that unrest...

Both Libya and Venezuela on Monday denied reports that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was seeking asylum as a violent revolt gripped his country and would join his friend President Hugo Chavez in the South American oil producing nation. Fueling rumors in the media, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he had seen information to suggest Gaddafi had fled Libya and was on his way to Venezuela, a fellow OPEC member. But Venezuela's information minister said Gaddafi, who has ruled Libya...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Monday he had seen some information to suggest Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi had fled the country and was on his way to Venezuela. "You asked me earlier about whether Colonel Gaddafi is in Venezuela," he told reporters on the sidelines of a European Union foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels. "I have no information that says he is, but I have seen some information that suggests he is on his way there...

Reporters Without Borders welcomes yesterday’s joint announcement by MVS Radio and news anchor Carmen Aristegui that Aristegui is to resume hosting her morning news programme on 21 February, two weeks after her controversial dismissal for referring on the air to opposition claims that President Felipe Calderón had a drinking problem. MVS Radio accused Aristegui of violating professional ethics by “broadcasting rumours” when it fired her on 6 February, two days after...

Two hostages were released by the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on Wednesday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed in a statement. The hostages, police major Guillermo Solorzano and soldier Salin Sanmiguel, "were delivered to former Senator Piedad Cordoba, ICRC members and one members of the non-governmental organization Colombians for the Peace," said the statement. The humanitarian mission, dubbed "Freedom," began Wednesday...

Last October, Ambassador Roger Noriega, former Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere during the George W. Bush Administration, exposed Hugo Chávez's efforts to aid and abet Iran's illegal nuclear weapons program, including its efforts to obtain strategic minerals such as uranium and to evade international sanctions. Documentary evidence now suggests that Hugo Chavez's junior partner in Ecuador, Rafael Correa, is apparently forging his own dangerous alliance with the...

"Do you think that (Venezuelan President Hugo) Chávez will stop buying Russian weapons if we have a fight? What is the end of keeping on fighting because he is buying Russian weapons?" said Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos when asked about an arms race in the region, in an interview with US network CNN. Santos ruled out the possibility that this issue may undermine relations with Venezuela. Additionally, he stressed that "this is a good time for dialogue"...