Venezuela

CARACAS (Reuters) - Human rights groups on Saturday called for an investigation into a prison riot in western Venezuela that left 46 people dead and 75 injured, and questioned authorities’ explanation that the incident was linked to a failed escape attempt.

The U.N.’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCR) said on Twitter it was “gravely concerned” about the incident on Friday at the Los Llanos penitentiary in Portuguesa state. The South American country’s prisons are infamous for extreme levels of violence and poor conditions.

CARACAS (Reuters) - At least 17 prisoners in a Venezuelan jail were killed on Friday as they attempted to escape during a riot, according to a military report seen by Reuters and an opposition lawmaker from the area.

The National Guard report said soldiers fired at a group of armed prisoners as they tried to break out of the main entrance of the Los Llanos jail in central Portuguesa state. One officer with a megaphone then negotiated with the prisoners and they agreed to withdraw, it said.

CARACAS, April 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro named a top official targeted by US sanctions as oil minister as the market for the country’s vital export is in tumult.

Maduro tasked Tareck El Aissami — a vice president for the economy who has been indicted in the United States on drugs trafficking charges — with “restructuring and reorganization” of the OPEC member’s crippled oil industry.

Maduro also named Asdrubal Chavez, cousin of the late president Hugo Chavez, as interim president of the state oil firm PDVSA.

25 April 2020; AFP: The price of Venezuelan oil has fallen to below $10 a barrel -- its lowest level in more than two decades, the government said on Friday.

The oil ministry said the price between Monday and Friday was 70.62 Chinese yuan -- $9.90 a barrel -- a level that has not been seen since 1998 when it was $9.28.

Since 2017, the government of President Nicolas Maduro has announced its oil prices in yuan rather than dollars in protest over US sanctions.

CARACAS, April 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A plane carrying 90 tons of UN health, water and sanitation aid arrived in Venezuela on Wednesday to help the cash-strapped country fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The shipment includes 28,000 Personal Protective Equipment kits for health workers, oxygen concentrators, pediatric beds, water quality control products and hygiene kits, the UN said.

“This is the first United Nations humanitarian shipment in support of the Venezuela COVID-19 outbreak,” said Peter Grohmann, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Venezuela.

4 April 2020; AFP: The European Union on Friday welcomed a US plan for a transitional government in Venezuela and subsequent lifting of economic sanctions.

Washington last month suggested that both hard left President Nicolas Maduro and his rival Juan Guaido -- previously backed by the US -- step aside in favour of a transitional administration made up of members of both their parties.

CARACAS, March 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Venezuela’s armed forces reaffirmed their support for President Nicolas Maduro after the US Justice Department charged him with “narco-terrorism” and offered a $15 million reward for his capture.

In a statement read out on state television, armed forces chief Admiral Remigio Ceballos said the army categorically rejected “the extravagant and extremist accusations” against Maduro.

CARACAS, March 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Venezuela’s first communications satellite, launched in 2008, is out of service due to a systems failure, the country’s government said.

“Due to a failure, the Simon Bolivar satellite is no longer working for communication,” said the science and technology minister in a statement, without giving further details.

On Monday, the US-based news site Space News reported that VeneSat1 — the satellite’s other name — “has been stuck for 10 days in an elliptical orbit,” after a “series of maneuvers left it tumbling in an unusable orbit.”

CARACAS, March 21. /TASS/: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Russia was ready to provide humanitarian assistance to Venezuela amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

"Russia informed us about sending special humanitarian assistance, which is expected to arrive to the country next week," the president said during a phone conversation with Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, aired by the country’s state television.

Maduro also said that a team of 130 Cuban doctors has just arrived to the country.

He also called upon citizens to observe the quarantine.

SAN CRISTOBAL, Venezuela (AP) — Nicolás Maduro’s government on Monday banned gasoline sales in two states as part of a broader lock-down to stem panic buying by Venezuelans accustomed to hoarding basic goods whenever there’s a hint of turmoil.

But his orders, which explicitly prohibit lines outside gas stations, were largely ignored in the western city of San Cristobal. At one gas station, tensions boiled over as motorists, some of whom had been stranded four days waiting to fill up, vowed to stay put until sales resumed.