The principle of non-intervention in the sovereignty of a country is inserted in the Charter of the United Nations. This rule of international law is not absolute because sovereignty also implies the obligation to protect its citizens. When a population suffers major harm as a result of repression by its government, and the latter refuses or neglects to redress the situation, it is the responsibility of the international community to act in its place. This rule of law is called the responsibility to protect. It derives from international declarations, commitments and treaties on human rights as well as international humanitarian law...EXCELLENT ARTICLE - READ MORE

It is the biggest wave of protests Venezuelans have seen in decades. Driving the unrest is not only rage ― it’s desperation. It’s the feeling you have when a son is in a hospital that has no medicine or electricity due the country’s massive shortages. President Nicolas Maduro has responded to the unrest with tear gas, mass detentions and open fire from military, police and paramilitary squads. He has pushed for a new constitution that would give him even more power...READ MORE

The medical students, doctors and volunteers of the Green Cross First Aid Brigade have been hailed as heroes...READ MORE

The New York-based investment bank came under fire from Venezuelan politicians and protesters in New York opposed to Maduro, who said the deal provided the cash-strapped government hundreds of millions of dollars in badly-needed hard currency. The deal, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, made Goldman complicit in alleged human rights abuses under the government, they said...READ MORE

​PetroCaribe is an agreement between Venezuela and several Caribbean territories to purchase oil on preferential payment conditions. The agreement, which began in 2005, allows beneficiary nations to buy oil at market value but only pay a percentage of the cost up front. The balance can be paid over 25 years at one per cent interest...READ MORE

President Nicolas Maduro’s opponents accuse him of repressing protesters who are calling for elections to remove him from office. He accuses them of plotting a coup against him...READ MORE

Venezuelan security forces disperse protesters opposed to President Nicolas Maduro with water cannons in the capital, Caracas...READ MORE

Special Briefing, Senior State Department Officials, Via Teleconference, May 30, 2017...READ MORE

Foro Penal non-governmental organization announced that sixty-nine people have been killed in Venezuela since April 1 as result of numerous, violent protests held against the nation's leader Nicolas Maduro...READ MORE

Journalists are now reporting regularly on the crisis in Venezuela, with shortages of everything from toilet paper to food and now daily street protests. What the news reports too often miss is, Why? Why is a formerly middle-class, oil-rich country now so desperately poor? The Weekly Standard notes a New York Times article, “How Venezuela Stumbled to the Brink of Collapse,” that spends 1800 words on the country’s “collapse into authoritarianism.” The Standard summarizes...READ MORE

The huge protests rocking Venezuela, which began in early April, were triggered by a decision of its Supreme Court to assume the powers of Venezuela’s National Assembly in violation of the country’s Constitution. In response, President Nicolás Maduro has responded with an iron fist. More than 50 people have been killed, 1,000 injured, and 2,700 arrested, and that last figure doesn’t include the country’s more than 180 long-term political prisoners. The Organization of American States is considering action against Venezuela under its Democratic Charter for Mr. Maduro’s brazen transition to authoritarian rule.,,READ MORE

"It is apparent Goldman Sachs decided to make a quick buck off the suffering of the Venezuelan people," Julio Borges, the leader of the opposition-controlled Congress, said in a letter to Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein."Given the irregular nature of this transaction and the absurd financial terms involved that are to the detriment of Venezuela and its people, the National Assembly will soon launch an investigation into the matter. I also intend to recommend to any future democratic government of Venezuela not to recognize or pay on these bonds," Borges wrote...READ MORE

Two Venezuelan opposition leaders were wounded on Monday by security forces dispersing protests in the capital Caracas against President Nicolas Maduro, according to one of the leaders and an opposition legislator. Fifty-nine people have died in the often violent street melees, which Maduro calls an effort to overthrow his government...READ MORE

A total of 247 people received different injuries during anti-government protests in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas on Monday, local media reported citing Henrique Capriles, an opposition leader and the Miranda state governor. According to El Nacional newspaper, 65 people were injured by steel billets, 66 were hit by shotgun pellets, 90 were asphyxiated, four received fractures and 22 others were beaten...READ MORE

"Goldman Sachs' financial lifeline to the regime will serve to strengthen the brutal repression unleashed against the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans peacefully protesting for political change in the country"...READ MORE

Hundreds of anti-government protesters tried to march on a key military installation in capital city of Caracas.
The angry demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails at riot police who retaliated with tear gas and water canons.
Marks almost two months of violence, aimed at President Nicolas Maduro, which has claimed at least 58 lives.
President Nicolas Maduro's blame him for both the country's crippling economy and the dire food shortages.​..READ MORE

Numerous ex-officials of the Venezuela's socialist government have set up businesses and residences in the United States, despite repeatedly blaming Washington for the country's current political and economic crisis. Ten years ago Jose Cedillo played a major role in targeting opposition TV stations...READ MORE

In the mountains above Caracas, two government officials often stand watch over the antennas of TV news network Globovision, poised to take it off air if regulators object to coverage of anti-government protests, according to two station employees. They said that the 24-hour Venezuelan news station receives regular warnings from state telecom regulator Conatel against showing live footage of clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces, or broadcasting terms such as “dictatorship” and “repression”. “It’s a daily threat,” said one of the employees, citing information from station managers and asking not to be identified for fear of reprisals. “Conatel is making decisions about coverage.”...READ MORE

Anti-government protesters poured into the streets of Venezuela’s capital and blocked its main highway Wednesday, but their march toward downtown Caracas was stopped by volleys of tear gas fired by riot police and national guard troops...READ MORE

​Even by the standards of Latin America’s relatively volatile politics, there seem to be few parallels in recent memory to the brutally authoritarian rule of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who has plunged a prosperous nation into complete paralysis. But Mr. Maduro seems in no mood to mend his ways, even after the controversial move in March to nullify the popularly elected Parliament drew strong rebuke from regional allies as well as the international community. Of course, few believed then that such condemnation of the Supreme Court’s aborted dissolution of the nation’s highest democratic institution would result in a rethink on Mr. Maduro’s overall approach. In a coldly calculated move, the government in April disqualified Henrique Capriles, seen to be a key contender for the 2018 presidential election, from holding public office for 15 years. The move was reminiscent of the bar on another opposition politician by former President Hugo Chávez. The current regime, unfazed by the groundswell of resistance against its dictatorial rule, has persisted in deploying the security forces to unleash violence and terrorise protesters. Any number of broken families have been witness to the horrors of routine abduction of young activists and murder of opposition leaders in the last few years. Instances are legion of Mr. Maduro’s contempt for the rule of law and the will of the people since the victory of the Opposition-dominated National Assembly in the December 2015 general elections...READ MORE

We have just witnessed an extraordinary event in Venezuela. We’ve long since grown accustomed to government bureaucrats endlessly recycling the most blatant lies. But this week, a senior official openly defied the regime’s version of truth — and Venezuelans are still reeling...READ MORE

Venezuela, by the numbers, resembles a country hit by civil war. Its economy, once Latin America’s richest, is estimated to have shrunk by 10 per cent last year – worse even than Syria’s. GDP shrank by 19 per cent. The South American country also has the world’s worst inflation at more than 700 per cent (nearly double that of second-ranked South Sudan), rendering its currency almost worthless. In a country with the world’s largest proven oil reserves, food has grown so scarce that three in four citizens report involuntary weight loss, averaging 19 pounds in a year...READ MORE

.Venezuela is increasingly censoring its internet and expanding online surveillance of citizens.The country is currently in a state of emergency after two months of anti-government protests that have caused the deaths of over 50 people and led to violent confrontations with the police.Citizens are furious with president Nicolás Maduro, who has been using emergency powers since 2015 to pass laws without congressional approval. He claims to be using the powers to fight an "economic war" with unseen enemies, but taxes on alcohol and tobacco alongside a collapsing economy have turned people against him...READ MORE

An economic collapse such as this happens only in countries at war. In the case of Venezuela, two things – not war - are currently happening. One, runaway inflation, which is in the hundreds (again, it is hard to check the figures): estimates range from 500% to 800% last year, with salary adjustments by presidential decree lagging behind and covering less than half at the very best...READ MORE