Venezuela

(Reuters) - Pressured by strict U.S. sanctions, Venezuela’s oil exports plunged by 376,500 barrels per day (bpd) in 2020, according to Refinitiv Eikon data and internal documents from state-run PDVSA, financially squeezing socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump also put curbs on PDVSA’s main trading partners, the owners of tankers still transporting Venezuelan oil and on fuel supply to the gasoline-thirsty nation.

CARACAS, Dec 29 (NNN-TELESUR) — Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry reported on Monday that over 200 citizens returned to the country on a flight from Chile as part of the Return to the Homeland Plan.

According to Venezuelan authorities, 216 Venezuelans arrived Monday to the Maiquetía International Airport in the Northern state of La Guaira. Moreover, another 120 returned from Argentina on Sunday night.

The Foreign Ministry detailed that these Venezuelans “were stranded and in a vulnerable situation” as a result of the restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

CARACCAS, Dec 23 (NNN-TELESUR) — Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez on Tuesday welcomed the arrival of medical supplies donated by China to support the fight against the pandemic.

After pointing out that it was the ninth shipment sent by Chinese authorities, she recalled that over 274 tons of equipment, medical inputs, and medicines have been received so far this year.

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly, a pro-government legislature created in 2017 that was widely criticized for undermining democracy, will cease operations at the end of 2020, President Nicolas Maduro said on Friday.

The all-powerful institution was officially designated to reform the constitution, but in practice ended up supplanting the opposition-controlled legislature and sacking public officials who challenged the government.

SAN JOSE DE GUANIPA, Venezuela (Reuters) - Francisco Belisario, a Venezuelan mayor, retired general and member of the ruling Socialist party, had enough. His loudest local critic had accused him of bungling the response to the coronavirus outbreak and other big problems.

CARACAS, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday voiced hope for dialogue with the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden.

"Let's hope that the new government of Mr. Joe Biden will be installed. Let's hope they have time to think and channels of communication and dialogue between Venezuela and the United States are opened," Maduro told a press conference at government headquarters in Caracas.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Nicolás Maduro has cemented formal control over all major institutions of power in Venezuela with authorities reporting Monday that his political alliance easily won a majority in congress. Yet he remains a pariah to much of the world following an election critics called deeply undemocratic.

Maduro’s domestic adversaries, however, are also scrambling to assert their own relevance after boycotting elections for the National Assembly that has been their stronghold for five years.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s socialist party was poised to gain control of the National Assembly, the country’s last major independent institution, in congressional elections boycotted by the main opposition coalition.

Official results had not yet been released by late Sunday night, but analysts they say are a near-foregone conclusion with the vote largely shunned by rival candidates and declared a sham by the U.S., European Union and several other nations.

CARACAS, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The president of Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE), Indira Alfonzo, on Friday announced that all preparations were made for the upcoming legislative elections on Dec. 6.

"We have assembled and dispatched the last box" of voting materials, which represents "more than 3 months of efforts on the part of approximately 500 men and women who have been here day and night," Alfonzo told local media.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Hopes of families for a quick release for six American oil executives detained in Venezuela for three years over an alleged corruption scheme have evaporated, with a judge finding them all guilty and quickly sentencing them to prison.

Attorneys and relatives of the so-called Citgo 6 said the men were wrongly convicted, and the defense lawyers vowed to appeal Thursday’s verdicts.