Venezuelan President referred to the Venezuelan Navy's new developments on Thursday, as Russia and China are to invest and send new equipment to this military force. "The Navy has progressively recovered, with the incorporation of new transport equipment. Recently approved plans and investments will allow us to hold the most sophisticated equipment to protect the oceans and rivers of the motherland," Maduro stated during the homage paid to commemorate Simón Bolivar, the...

Hundreds of people gathered at the headquarters of opposition Acción Democrática (Democratic Action) party in Río Caribe, eastern Venezuela, to pay tribute to Mayor Franceschi Enrique Franceschi, killed on Sunday morning at his place. Officers from the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin), the Venezuelan Scientific, Criminal and Forensic Investigation Agency (Cicpc), and the National Guard have conducted raids in the area. A special security plan has been in...

US Senate majority leader Harry Reid expressed his support for a bill seeking sanctions on Venezuelan officials held accountable of human rights violations during anti-government protests earlier this year in Venezuela. The official commented that he thought that a change in the leadership of the Venezuelan government would improve Venezuela-US relations, but said that would not be possible given the fact President Nicolás Maduro lacked the skills of his predecessor (Hugo...

In a ceremony with journalists, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced on Friday a revision of and a reshuffle in the Venezuelan government. "It is time to go to the next level; a new level of construction," the president noted. "We are shaking all the mechanisms of the government to enter a truly efficient stage," said Maduro. The revision and reshuffle would take place in the first half of July, and will include all ministers and the goals of the...

Human Rights Watch (HRW) expressed on Monday at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) its deep concerns over the serious human rights situation in Venezuela, describing it as "the most alarming" the country has gone through in years. The non-governmental organization said that after an anti-government protest held on February 12, 2014, law enforcement officers have hit people brutally, used firearms, pellets, and tear gas disproportionately against unarmed demonstrators. ...

After being summoned by the Attorney General's Office, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she would appear before authorities despite being "sentenced without a single piece of evidence." Machado added that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has used all the power of the State to "incite hatred" against her. "We support a change within the boundaries of the Constitution. We will move towards democracy. Once again, we have...

Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles Radonski claimed on Thursday that a court's decision to put on trial the leader of opposition Voluntad Popular (People's Will) party, Leopoldo López, and students Christian Holdack and Marco Aurelio Coello was hatched by the government. "We saw it yesterday (Wednesday), and the country must reflect about it: justice (in Venezuela) is rotten; it is a dead loss," the opposition leader noted. Capriles opposition leader...

The Washington Post on Friday advocated sanctions against Nicolás Maduro government officials, even though the US administration is reluctant to impose sanctions at this moment. In its editorial entitled "US sanctions against Venezuelan officials may bring them to the table," the US newspaper states that sanctions against Venezuelan officials could eventually make them sit and talk. "For years the Obama administration, like its predecessors, has avoided punitive...

Iván Simonovis, a former police chief of the Caracas Metropolitan Police who was sentenced to 30 years in prison over the April 2012 coup, on Tuesday went on a hunger strike to reject the court's delay in deciding whether he will be granted humanitarian release due to his poor health condition, a petition filed by his defense lawyers nearly two years ago. Reading a letter from Simonovis, defense lawyer José Luis Tamayo made the announcement. Tamayo pointed out that the...

Ties between the Palestinian Authority and Venezuela were strengthened in Caracas on Friday during talks between Mahmoud Abbas and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro that saw both leaders sign in a new accords between the two governments in the areas of energy and finance. Oil-rich Venezuela has been a firm ally of the Palestinian Authority since President Hugo Chavez, who had long criticized Israel and the United States. Abbas thanked his Venezuelan counterpart for standing with the...