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Venezuela crisis: What is behind the turmoil? Tension in Venezuela is on the rise again as the opposition and the government accuse each other of trying to stage a coup. There has been a wave of anti-government protests and dozens of people have been killed in protest-related violence since April....Continue reading

The architecture of fear: how Caracas has adapted to constant threat of violence The last thing Corina expected on the night she and her two children were carjacked was for her kidnappers to scold her. It’s extremely irresponsible of you to be driving at this time of night, ma’am, Corina recalled her captor saying. You shouldn’t be going around in this tiny car at night. He then kicked her out of the car, took her cash and left her and her children on the streets of Carac...as in the dead of night. The story is just one of many on a list that has gone viral in Caracas about criminals advising their victims on how to avoid falling prey to their traps. Although the article, published by El Estimulo newspaper, has a humorous tone, it highlights a fact of life in the world’s most dangerous city. A self-imposed curfew rules over the Venezuelan capital where, according to Organised Crime Observatory, 3,102 murders took place in 2016 alone. Only the brave walk the streets of Caracas after sunset, when the dizzying frenzy of the daytime city gives way to an eerie stillness as residents seek refuge indoors: the wealthy hide inside their gated communities and the poor lock the doors to their makeshift zinc-roofed homes. A handful of speeding cars tear through half-empty roads and solitary figures walk briskly down dark pavements. The steady deterioration of the city’s public lighting has served as a blanket of immunity for thieves and kidnappers It was not always this way. Dubbed the Paris of South America, Caracas benefited from a strong oil sector and an influx of European immigrants in the 1950s. The city boomed for decades, feeding on foreign investment and building modern infrastructure. Mass housing projects began to materialise as residents from the countryside arrived in search of a better life. But in the 1980s, oil prices collapsed and decades of government mismanagement led to soaring inflation and an economic crisis that has only worsened since the death of Hugo Chávez four years ago. Shortages in the capital have caused a desperate lack of food and access to basic medical supplies, prompting a humanitarian crisis and testing the already delicate social fabric: according to polling firm Datalanalisis, 95.1% of the population is unhappy with the state of the country.

Venezuelans march against United States sanctions. Thousands of government supporters in Venezuela have marched through the streets of Caracas to denounce the recent approval of sanctions by the US. Wearing predominantly red, the protesters called on the United States to respect Venezuela.... President Nicolas Maduro addressed his supporters at the end of the march and accused the US of trying to intervene in his country's domestic affairs. The sanctions against Venezuelan officials were approved last week. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives last week after being approved by the Senate. It is now likely to be signed into law by President Barack Obama. It targets current and former Venezuelan officials who directed "significant acts of violence or serious human rights abuses against persons associated with the anti-government protests in Venezuela that began on 4 February". 'Arrogant imperialist Yankees' More than 40 people from both sides of the political divide were killed in the protests which took place in Venezuela between February and May. The government said opposition leaders had incited protesters to violence and had been planning a coup against President Maduro. Addressing thousands of his supporters in Caracas, Mr Maduro denounced the American government as "arrogant imperialist Yankees". He said Venezuela and other countries should set up "a committee of legal experts to investigate all the human rights violations and crimes against humanity carried out by the United States, which have bombed Libya, Iraq and Syria". Correspondents say sanctions could lead to a worsening of relations between the US and Venezuela. Today's march had been called to mark the 15th anniversary of Venezuela's constitution, approved in the early years of President Hugo Chavez's government. Mr Maduro was elected last year to succeed Mr Chavez, who died of cancer. He vowed to push forward his predecessor's programme of social reforms.

Venezuela: Arrests in Shooting of Antigovernment Protester. The authorities on Wednesday said they had charged two sergeants in the country’s National Guard in the death of a 23-year-old woman who was shot during antigovernment protests. The shooting of the woman, Geraldín Moreno, in February in Valencia, the country’s third-largest city, provoked outrage and fueled allegations that the protests sweeping Venezuela in recent months had been violently repressed. Witnesses said ...that Ms. Moreno was on the ground when a soldier shot her in the face at close range. President Nicolás Maduro has said repeatedly that his government defends human rights and that it is vigorously investigating allegations of wrongdoing by security forces. A human rights lawyer, Gonzalo Himiob, pointed to an apparent lack of progress in other investigations and questioned the government’s commitment to holding violators accountable. See more

With oil economy running on fumes, Venezuela 'on the edge of the apocalypse' In the serene private clubs of Caracas, there is no milk, and the hiss of the cappuccino machine has fallen silent. In the slums, the lights go out every few days, or the water stops running. In the grocery stores, both state-run shops and expensive delicatessens, customers barter information: I saw soap here, that store has rice today. The oil engineers have emigrated to Calgary, the soap opera star...Continue reading

Venezuela seizes US-owned oil rigs in dispute over unpaid bills. Venezuela is quietly seizing control of two oil rigs owned by a unit of Houston-based Superior Energy Services after the company shut them down because the state oil monopoly was months behind on payments. The seizure started Thursday after a judge in the state of Anzoategui entered a Superior depot and ordered the company to hand over the rigs to an affiliate of state-owned PDVSA. Four members of the local pol...ice and national guard are overseeing the equipment's removal. PDVSA in a court document obtained by The Associated Press calls the expropriation essential to Venezuela's development. Late President Hugo Chavez liked to grandstand on national television ordering troops to seize everything from supermarkets to foreign-owned oil companies. However his successor Nicolas Maduro has avoided expropriations six months into his rule.

Venezuela To Free Seized Oil Survey Ship, Owner Says (Update). (The ship's Malaysian owner, SapuraKencana Petroleum, said that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government had decided to free the vessel). CARACAS: Venezuela has agreed to free a U.S.-chartered oil survey ship and 36 crew members seized last week in a territorial dispute with neighbouring Guyana, the boat's owner said on Tuesday. The Teknik Perdana was carrying out a seabed survey for Texas-based Anadarko i...Continue reading

Venezuela, Guyana to Discuss Seized Oil Ship. The top diplomats of Venezuela and Guyana agreed to meet to discuss the fate of an oil research ship seized in disputed waters as the captain of the U.S.-chartered vessel was being charged Monday in Venezuela with violating its maritime economic zone. The foreign ministers of the two countries will meet Thursday in Port of Spain, the capital Trinidad and Tobago, to "resolve diplomatically" any differences stemming from the Venezue...lan navy's seizure of the ship last week, Venezuela's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The ship and its 36-man international crew, including five Americans and workers from Russia, Indonesia and Brazil, has been anchored since Sunday off Venezuela's Margarita Island in the Caribbean. The federal prosecutor's office said the ship's Ukrainian captain, Igor Bekirov, would appear in a court Monday evening. The vessel, sailing under a Panamanian flag, was conducting a seismic study for Texas-based Anadarko Petroleum Corp. under a concession from Guyana, which says the vessel was well within its territorial waters. John Christiansen, a spokesman for Anadarko, said the crew of the Teknik Perdana was safe, being treated with respect and fully cooperating with Venezuelan officials. U.S. officials said they were monitoring the situation but declined to comment further due to privacy concerns. The vessel's seizure threatens to revive a decades-old territorial dispute between Venezuela, South America's biggest oil producer, and Guyana, one of the region's poorest countries. Venezuela has for decades claimed two-thirds of Guyana's territory as its own, and the region west of the Essequibo River is designated a "reclamation zone" in official Venezuelan maps. Although U.S. and Venezuelan relations have been strained for years over what Venezuela's socialist government considers U.S. meddling in the region, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro made no mention of the ship in nearly five hours of televised remarks Sunday. Ties between Guyana and Venezuela have improved recently, with Maduro describing the territorial dispute as a relic of the colonial era in his first visit as president to Georgetown in August to discuss joint oil projects.

Venezuela’s Oil Chief Ramirez Named New Economy Vice President Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez is the country’s new vice president responsible for the economy, according to a decree signed by President Nicolas Maduro published in the official Gazette distributed today. Ramirez, who has overseen South America’s largest oil industry since 2002, replaces Finance Minister Nelson Merentes as the head of Maduro’s economic team. Spokesmen for the finance and oil ministries di...dn’t immediately reply to phone messages seeking comment. Merentes is the leader of the government faction trying to move Venezuela closer to a full market economy, Barclays Plc said in a note to clients on Aug. 14. Since becoming finance minister in April, he has started new dollar auctions, met foreign investment bankers and talked to more than 5,000 businessmen in a bid to damp world-beating inflation and reduce shortages of staple goods such as sugar, toilet paper and meat. Although vice presidents in Venezuela don’t have any real power, the move underlines internal dynamics within the regime, Efrain Velazquez, a partner in economic consultancy Azpurua Garcia-Palacios & Velazquez, said by phone from Caracas today. See more

RIL joins Venezuela oil block development plan Mumbai, Oct 10 Reliance Industries (RIL) and Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PdVSA) have signed a joint study agreement for a development plan for the Ayacucho Block 8 in Orinoco oil belt of Venezuela, RIL said here Thursday. "RIL and PdVSA have also extended the term of the MoU signed between the parties last year by one year for continued cooperation," a company release added. RIL signed the MoU last year... with PdVSA to produce heavy oil in the Orinoco extra heavy crude belt. "The signing of the joint study agreement for Ayacucho Block 8 and the extension of MoU marks further strengthening of the long standing relationship between RIL and PdVSA as well as between India and Venezuela," RIL said. RIL buys crude oil from Venezuela for its refineries in Jamnagar. Its refineries are suited to process cheaper Venezuelan crude, which provide better margins. RIL and PdVSA also plan to work together on studies of how to update and improve Venezuela's refinery network, as well as on tapping offshore natural gas reserves. Read more: http://india.nydailynews.com//ril-joins-venezuela-oil-bloc

OVL mulls raising stake in Venezuela oil project. ONGC Videsh Ltd and its partners are mulling raising stake in Venezuela's $20 billion Carabobo-I oil project even as India looks at raising crude oil imports from the Latin American country. OVL, which has 11 per cent stake in the project that will produce 400,000 barrels per day of oil (20 million tonnes) in four years, is looking at buying a similar stake that Malaysia's Petronas has decided to give up in the project ....Continue reading

Power cut leaves most of Venezuela without electricity. A power cut has left 70% of Venezuela without electricity, including parts of the capital Caracas. The blackout disabled traffic lights in the city, causing traffic chaos. It also partially disrupted the underground transport system.... Thousands of workers were sent home. Power was slowly being restored in different areas after the cuts. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro blamed the opposition for "sabotage" to power transmission lines.