Category: Latin America

The government on Monday deployed hundreds of soldiers in a part of Caracas where weeks of often violent protests have taken place, and a top official boasted that the area had been “liberated.” The operation centered on a public square, Plaza Francia, in the city’s well-off Altamira district, where virtually every night up to hundreds of young protesters gathered to engage in battles with the police and National Guard troops, building barricades to block streets and throwing rocks and gas bombs at security forces, who responded with tear gas and plastic buckshot. The deployment extended into other nearby neighborhoods where residents had been active in the protests and had barricaded many streets. Soldiers, some armed with assault weapons, were stationed in the plaza and on many of the major streets in the area, which has long been an opposition stronghold. Municipal workers removed barricades and cleaned up the trash […]

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A Venezuela National Guard captain died on Monday after being shot in the head during a demonstration, the military said, the 29th fatality in six weeks of clashes between protesters and security forces. General Padrino Lopez, head of the armed forces’ strategic operational command, said the captain was shot late on Sunday at a street barricade set up by demonstrators in the central city of Maracay, in Aragua state. "He was another victim of terrorist violence," Lopez said on Twitter, calling for an end to the confrontations. "Our armed forces don’t repress peaceful protests, they protect them." Since early February, students and hardline opposition leaders have been calling supporters onto the streets to protest against President Nicolas Maduro and his socialist government. The demonstrators are demanding political change and an end to high inflation, shortages of basic foods and one of the worst rates of violent […]

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Air Canada says it will continue to monitor the situation "with the objective of resuming operations" Air Canada has suspended flights to and from Venezuela, citing concerns over security. The airline said it would consider resuming operations once the situation in Venezuela had stabilised. It operated three return flights between Toronto and Caracas per week. Twenty-nine people – from both sides of the political divide – have been killed in six weeks of protests against high inflation, crime and the shortage of many staples in Venezuela. "Due to ongoing civil unrest in Venezuela, Air Canada can no longer ensure the safety of its operation and has suspended flights to Caracas until further notice," says the Canadian airline in a statement. It says customers who have not begun their travel "may obtain refunds". Others may be rebooked on other airlines. Retaliation Several international airlines have reduced operations in recent weeks […]

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Air Canada says it will continue to monitor the situation "with the objective of resuming operations" Air Canada has suspended flights to and from Venezuela, citing concerns over security. The airline said it would consider resuming operations once the situation in Venezuela had stabilised. It operated three return flights between Toronto and Caracas per week. Twenty-nine people – from both sides of the political divide – have been killed in six weeks of protests against high inflation, crime and the shortage of many staples in Venezuela. "Due to ongoing civil unrest in Venezuela, Air Canada can no longer ensure the safety of its operation and has suspended flights to Caracas until further notice," says the Canadian airline in a statement. It says customers who have not begun their travel "may obtain refunds". Others may be rebooked on other airlines. Retaliation Several international airlines have reduced operations in recent weeks […]

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Venezuela’s central bank president acknowledged on Sunday that his country was undergoing an "economic crisis" but said measures like a new market-based currency mechanism would help bring rapid improvements. The announcement came amid continuing street protests against the government of President Nicolas Maduro. Unrest has been fueled by a 56 percent annual inflation rate and regular shortages of consumer goods. Late Saturday, Maduro warned protesters in Caracas to clear a square they have made their stronghold , or face eviction by security forces. Plaza Altamira, in upscale east Caracas, has been a focus of anti-government protests and violence during six weeks of unrest around Venezuela that has killed 28 people. "I’m giving the Chuckys, the killers, just a few hours," Maduro said, using the name of a murderous child-doll in a horror film to describe anti-government demonstrators who have made the normally genteel 1940s square a base of operations. "If they don’t […]

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Venezuela’s central bank president acknowledged on Sunday that his country was undergoing an "economic crisis" but said measures like a new market-based currency mechanism would help bring rapid improvements. The announcement came amid continuing street protests against the government of President Nicolas Maduro. Unrest has been fueled by a 56 percent annual inflation rate and regular shortages of consumer goods. Late Saturday, Maduro warned protesters in Caracas to clear a square they have made their stronghold , or face eviction by security forces. Plaza Altamira, in upscale east Caracas, has been a focus of anti-government protests and violence during six weeks of unrest around Venezuela that has killed 28 people. "I’m giving the Chuckys, the killers, just a few hours," Maduro said, using the name of a murderous child-doll in a horror film to describe anti-government demonstrators who have made the normally genteel 1940s square a base of operations. "If they don’t […]

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The World Bank said it won’t reconsider Venezuela’s request to review last year’s decision against it for seizing assets of ConocoPhillips in 2007. Venezuelan energy company Petroleos de Venezuela , known as PDVSA, said a 2013 ruling it failed to act in good faith in talks to compensate Conoco for assets seized in 2007 was unfair. The World Bank’s International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes said Wednesday it was upholding the September decision. "The majority of the tribunal concludes that it does not have the power to reconsider," the ruling states in part. Former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in 2007 moved to put the state in control of several oil projects in 2007. PDVSA said the September decision for compensation was unjust and ICSID said in its ruling it would take that matter up "in due course." There was no statement from PDVSA […]

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A university student, a National Guard captain and a third man were shot to death in separate incidents on Wednesday during anti-government protests in the central city of Valencia. Three National Guardsmen and several protesters were wounded. Two of the deaths occurred in the opposition-dominated neighborhood of Isabelica, where residents dissatisfied with the scarcity of basic items and rising unemployment have protested for weeks by blocking streets and throwing rocks at police officers.  The opposition has accused the government of supporting armed civilian thugs who attack protesters. A month of student-led demonstrations in a number of Venezuelan cities has left at least 25 people dead, according to the government.

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The gunmen descended a street on Monday night toward a park taken over by student demonstrators in the western city of San Cristóbal, the crucible of the protests that have shaken Venezuela . They opened fire, and a 23-year-old student leader, Daniel Tinoco, fell. Hit in the upper body, he died before he got to a hospital, fellow protesters said. Less than a week earlier, in Caracas, someone opened fire and killed a 25-year-old soldier, Acner López, who was riding on a motorcycle. Residents said he was in a group of soldiers shooting tear gas at demonstrators and apartment buildings. The shot that killed him, investigators believe, came from someone in one of the apartments. These two deaths, among more than 20 that the government says are linked to over a month of protests, are emblematic of a spiral of violence that people on both sides […]

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