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CARACAS, Venezuela — (AP) — Venezuela's Supreme Court, loyal to President Nicolás Maduro, on Tuesday ordered the takeover of two influential political parties opposed to the socialist government ahead of parliamentary elections expected this year. The court suspended and replaced the board of directors for the Justice First party a day after the same move against the Democratic Action, one of the nation's oldest and largest parties. It was part of a “necessary restructuring process,” the court said in rulings posted on Facebook. No legal action was taken, however, against Popular Will, the party of opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who...

A former Green Beret has taken responsibility for what he claimed was a failed attack Sunday aimed at overthrowing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and that the socialist government said ended with eight dead. Jordan Goudreau’s comments in an interview with an exiled Venezuelan journalist capped a bizarre day that started with reports of a pre-dawn amphibious raid near the South American country’s heavily guarded capital. An AP investigation published Friday found that Goudreau had been working with a retired Venezuelan army general now facing U.S. narcotics charges to train dozens of deserting Venezuelan soldiers at secret camps inside neighboring Colombia....

President Trump earned a standing ovation during his State of the Union Address this year when he recognized Venezuelan President Juan Guaidó in the audience. For many, it was an electrifying moment – Guaidó is a symbol of courage and of freedom pitted against a bad and destructive anti-American dictatorship. President Trump said, "We are supporting the hopes of Cubans, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans to restore democracy. The United States is leading a 59-nation diplomatic coalition against the socialist dictator of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro. Maduro is an illegitimate ruler, a tyrant who brutalizes his people. But Maduro’s grip on tyranny will...

If the Democratic Party is so left wing, then why isn’t a single of the top candidates against Washington’s recognition of Juan Guaido as the country’s president? Oh wait, there is one who does not recognize Guiado. It’s Bernie Sanders. Sanders is not an Independent for nothing. Last week, Guaido, who was once the official head of the National Assembly of Venezuela until Socialists United politics orchestrated a vote to get him out, was singled out by President Trump at his State of the Union address. Guaido was the only foreigner highlighted by the president. It wasn’t that Trump and...

Juan Guaidó, Venezuela’s opposition leader, defied the regime and managed to break in to the country’s parliament building to preside over a session of the assembly for the first time since it was hijacked by President Maduro’s allies.

MIAMI (AP) — Six American oil executives under house arrest in Venezuela were rounded up by police hours after President Donald Trump met Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s chief opponent at the White House, according to family members of the men. Alirio Zambrano said early Thursday that the executives of Houston-based Citgo were abruptly taken from their homes last night by the SEBIN intelligence police. Zambrano, the brother of two of the six detained men, said their current whereabouts are unknown. “We demand to know they are safe but more importantly their freedom!” Zambrano said on social media, adding that he...

EXECUTIVE ORDER BLOCKING PROPERTY OF THE GOVERNMENT OF VENEZUELA... All property and interests in property of the Government of Venezuela that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of any United States person are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in... unrestricted immigrant and nonimmigrant entry into the United States of aliens determined to meet one or more of the criteria in section 1(b) of this order would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, and...

While some may be taking the latest news out of Venezuela as a hopeful note, it may actually spell the beginning of the end of any hope that dictator Nicolas Maduro will be removed from power. We’re hearing from representatives of self-declared interim President Juan Guaido that he is now willing to enter into “negotiations” with Maduro, an option he had rejected as recently as last week. They already have representatives meeting in Norway where they’re trying to find a way out of the current quagmire. And with public support for Guaido’s calls to replace Maduro appearing to decline, it...

President Trump is questioning his administration’s aggressive strategy in Venezuela following the failure of a U.S.-backed effort to oust President Nicolás Maduro, complaining he was misled about how easy it would be to replace the socialist strongman with a young opposition figure, according to administration officials and White House advisers. The president’s dissatisfaction has crystallized around national security adviser John Bolton and what Trump has groused is an interventionist stance at odds with his view that the United States should stay out of foreign quagmires. Trump has said in recent days that Bolton wants to get him “into a war”...

Dozens of supporters of opposition leader Juan Guaido converged Tuesday on the now-shuttered Venezuelan embassy in Washington, clashing with pro-regime activists who have been camped out at the building for weeks in support of embattled Nicolas Maduro. .... In Washington, flag-waving and national-anthem singing demonstrators, many of whom were born in Venezuela, quickly outnumbered those from the anti-war group Code Pink gathered to support Maduro's regime. .... "This group – the Code Pink – has taken the embassy," Gandullia said. "We want to enter. We want to take over. And demonstrate that it belongs to us." Activists from Code Pink,...

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido has taken to the streets with detained activist Leopoldo Lopez and a small contingent of heavily armed soldiers in a military uprising. “This is the moment of all Venezuelans, those in uniform and those who aren’t,” said Lopez in his first public appearance since being detained in 2014 for leading anti-government protests. “Everyone should come to the streets, in peace.” Lopez said he has been freed by the military. Moments earlier, Guaidó appeared in an early morning video shot next to a Caracas air base surrounded by several heavily armed soldiers...

Merida, April 3, 2019 – Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly (ANC) has lifted the parliamentary immunity of the self-declared “Interim President” Juan Guaido, opening the door for criminal charges to be brought against him. Tuesday’s unanimous decision came following a request from the Supreme Court, and included the “authorisation” of the continuation of investigations into the also deputy and president of the National Assembly. “The investigation [against Guaido] is formally authorised to continue in accordance with our Constitution and laws” said ANC President Diosdado Cabello during the session. Cabello added that justice was “necessary” and what would safeguard peace in Venezuela....

President Donald Trump's special envoy to Venezuela warned that the administration could impose financial sanctions against Russia if it continues to meddle in Venezuela. Elliott Abrams said he has already delivered a list of options to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, including diplomatic pressure and economic sanctions, that can be employed against Russia if it continues to send military personnel to Caracas. The Trump administration ratcheted up its warnings Friday against Russia and other countries who may be considering sending military personnel to Venezuela by calling the action a direct threat to peace and security in the region. Pompeo earlier...

VALENCIA, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader and National Assembly head Juan Guaido said on Saturday he was launching a "new phase" in his push to oust President Nicolas Maduro, pledging to travel across the country before "reclaiming" the presidential palace. Guaido, who invoked the constitution in January to assume an interim presidency, saying Maduro's re-election was illegitimate, called on thousands of supporters to stay committed to what he dubbed "Operation Freedom." "Very soon, when we have visited and organized every inch ... we will go to Miraflores and reclaim what belongs to the Venezuelan people," Guaido said, referring to...

CARACAS (Reuters) - As Venezuela’s five-day power blackout left homes without water, Lilibeth Tejedor found herself looking for it on Monday in the last place she would have imagined - a drain pipe feeding into a river carrying sewage through the capital, Caracas. Tejedor, 28, joined dozens of people who had flocked to the Guaire river, which snakes along the bottom of a sharp ravine alongside Caracas’ main highway, to fill up a four-gallon (15 litre) plastic container. Unlike the fetid liquid flowing through the Guaire river, the water emerging from the pipe was at least clear. Those who gathered...

More than 300 Venezuelan soldiers have defected in just four days as the country plunges deeper into chaos. Soldiers who have sought refuge in Colombia since the weekend told the Associated Press that the catalyst for defection was the command from above to keep desperately needed humanitarian aid from their compatriots. "I was tired of people seeing me as just one more of them," Sgt. Jorge Torres said, referring to President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government. "I'm not." A high-stakes plan by the Venezuelan opposition to bring humanitarian aid into the country floundered over the weekend when National Guard troops loyal...

US military planes have been delivering humanitarian aid for Venezuela in the Colombian border town of Cucuta. The aid is being stockpiled at the request of the Venezuelan opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, who declared himself interim president last month. President Nicolás Maduro has alleged that the aid is part of a US plot to disguise an invasion into Venezuela. Mr Guaidó said some 600,000 Venezuelan volunteers would carry the aid across the border on 23 February.

An eight-day "ultimatum" for Venezuela's President Maduro to call fresh elections is set to expire in hours. Several EU nations are preparing to recognize Juan Guaido as interim leader, but Maduro remains defiant. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro faces massive pressure to call for new elections before midnight on Sunday. Germany, France, Britain, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and Belgium have said they will recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as president if Maduro fails to announce a second vote before the eight-day ultimatum expires. France's European affairs minister, Nathalie Loiseau, told LCI television on Sunday that "if by tonight [President] Maduro does...

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told me that as recently as a couple of weeks ago Trump mused to him about the possibility of using military force in Venezuela, where the U.S. government is currently pushing for regime change using diplomatic and economic pressures. What happened: Graham, recalling his conversation with Trump, said: "He [Trump] said, 'What do you think about using military force?' and I said, 'Well, you need to go slow on that, that could be problematic.' And he said, 'Well, I'm surprised, you want to invade everybody.'" Graham laughed. "And I said, 'I don't want to invade everybody,...