21 Mar 2014
19 Mar 2014
3 Mar 2014
Revolution Or Unrest: How Venezuela Compares To Ukraine
As the world continues to watch events in Ukraine, a new wave of protests are taking place across the world in Venezuela.
15 Apr 2013
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
Nicolás Maduro Moros, (born 23 November 1962) is a Venezuelan politician and has been the President of Venezuela since April 14th 2013. He previously was the Vice President of Venezuela from 2012 and the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2013. Maduro became interim President following the death of Hugo Chávez. The electoral authority declared Maduro as the President on April 14, 2013.
A former bus driver, Maduro went on to become a trade union leader, before being elected to the National Assembly in 2000. He was appointed to a number of positions within the Venezuelan Government under Chávez, ultimately being made Foreign Minister in 2006. He was described during this time as the "most capable administrator and politician of Chávez's inner circle".
After Chávez's death in 2013, Maduro became interim President. A special election was held on 14 April to elect a new President, and Maduro was unanimously adopted as the candidate of the United Socialist Party and won.
11 Mar 2013
Iran's president Ahmadinejad criticised for hugging mother of Hugo Chavez
The Iranian president's domestic opponents reacted furiously after photos emerged of him giving Elena Frias de Chavez, 78, a consoling hug at last Friday's funeral in Caracas - at which he also kissed Mr Chavez's coffin. Religious conservatives said the act insulted Iran's religious dignity and amounted to "haram" – a term used to describe a religiously forbidden act under Islamic rules.
Mohammad Taghi Rahbar, the Friday prayer leader of Iran's second city, Isfahan, told Mehr news agency that Mr Ahmadinejad had "lost control". He added: "Shaking hands with a non-mahram (unrelated by family) woman, under any circumstances, whether young or old, is not allowed. Hugging or expressing emotions is improper for the dignity of the president of a country like the Islamic Republic of Iran."
6 Mar 2013
8 Oct 2012
Hugo Chavez Wins Re-Election In Venezuela Presidential Vote
Venezuela's electoral council says President Hugo Chavez has won re-election, defeating challenger Henrique Capriles. National Electoral Council president Tibisay Lucena says that with most votes counted, Chavez had about 54 percent of the vote.
It was Chavez's third re-election victory in nearly 14 years in office. The victory gives Chavez another six-year term to cement his legacy and press more forcefully for a transition to socialism in the country with the world's largest proven oil reserves.
30 Sept 2012
Opposition duo die at Venezuelan election rally
Two opposition politicians have been killed in Venezuela during a campaign rally, a week before the country's presidential election. Geison Valero belonged to the opposition party First Justice and Omar Fernandez was an independent.
The First Justice party said they were campaigning for opposition leader Henrique Capriles in Barinas state when gunmen shot them dead. Witnesses said the vehicle belonged to the state oil company PDVSA. But there has been no confirmation of this from the Venezuelan authorities.
A statement by the party said a rally had been planned in Barinas, President Hugo Chavez's home state, but the road was blocked by government supporters. When the two men left their car to try to gain access, they were fired on by gunmen inside a van, it said.
Mr Chavez and Mr Capriles are wrapping up their campaigns over the next few days ahead of the 7 October elections. There have been other incidents of violence on the campaign trail. Supporters of both candidates threw stones at each other earlier this month when Mr Capriles attempted to march through the city of Puerto Cabello.
15 Nov 2011
The Destabilization of Venezuela? Applying Washington's “Benghazi Formula”
On November 10, H. Chavez called Contragolpe host Vanessa Davies in the middle of the show to break the news that a US nuclear-powered submarine had been spotted in the country's territorial waters. According to Chavez's on-air account, an “unidentified” and “large-size” submarine appeared on the radars of the Venezuelan submarine fleet which was conducting regular exercise, but, being an extremely fast-moving vehicle, easily escaped the Venezuelan boats that took to trailing it. Chavez stressed that the Venezuelan navy responded to the provocation with due restraint and did not open fire during the incident.
As a matter of fact, this was not the first US submarine invasion of Venezuela's territorial waters on record. In April 2002, on the eve of an attempted anti-Chavez coup, US Defense Intelligence Agency operatives were supposed to hold a coordination meeting with the perpetrators aboard a US submarine. In September 2005, the USS Virginia, a US attack submarine, left the Naval Submarine Base in Groton, CT, for a 70—day reconnaissance raid in the Caribbean Sea. The Virginia and other US submarines are known to have paid a number of uninvited visits to Venezuela's territorial waters since the time.
3 Jan 2011
'US plotting new coup in Venezuela'
A political analyst says that the US is trying to plot another coup in Venezuela by choosing an ambassador to Caracas that has tried to curry favour with the Venezuelan military.
The appointment of an ambassador by the US "who was really discussing Venezuelan military loyalty and morale … is really a discussion of the potential of a new coup in Venezuela," said Sara Flounders, Co-Director of International Action Center in New York.
In an interview with Press TV, Flounders noted that "Venezuela has been a victim of US coup d'état and attempted coups. President [Hugo] Chavez himself [was a victim] of a direct US sponsored coup in 2002."
Tensions have flared up between the United States and Venezuela since August after US President Barack Obama nominated Larry Palmer as the US ambassador to Caracas.
However, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez insisted that Palmer was not welcomed after the diplomat levelled harsh criticism against Venezuela during his US Senate confirmation hearings months ago.
At the time, Palmer had claimed that morale is low in Venezuela's military and also linked the government to leftist rebels in neighbouring Colombia.