If President Nicolás Maduro goes ahead with his plan to elect members for a Constituent Assembly on July 30, he will effectively set the stage to perpetuate himself in power, at the expense of Venezuelan democracy and the human rights of the Venezuelan people...READ MORE

​" The escalation of human rights violations in Venezuela and the systematic attacks against the population, which include murders, imprisonment, and torture, make it evidence in the eyes of the international community that we are looking at crimes against humanity" ... READ MORE

A new US sanctions announcement has coincided with a two-day strike and a major protest in Venezuela. The sanctions are a warning of stricter measures if President Maduro goes through with rewriting the constitution...READ MORE

According to the prosecution, a 30-year-old man died in a new wave of anti-government protests in the Venezuelan state of Merida, bringing the death toll past 100...READ MORE

CARLOS Sanchez frets constantly about the safety of the family he left behind in Venezuela three years ago. “What worries me the most is that something might happen to them, like getting robbed or that they get killed for some reason, or that they get kidnapped because they think that because I’m here I have a lot of money,” said Mr Sanchez, 19, who lives in Maryland with his father... READ MORE

President Nicolás Maduro has vowed to proceed with his plans to convene a constituent assembly and revise the country’s constitution, a move opponents fear will subvert democracy and install a dictatorship. The opposition recently held a referendum in which some 98 percent of the 7.5 million voters rejected the assembly, though the poll was unofficial and nonbinding. In the meantime, almost 100 people have been killed during protests and confrontations. As it has been for years, the situation remains unsettled and unsettling...READ MORE

Foes of Venezuela's unpopular President Nicolas Maduro are calling for a national shutdown on Thursday to demand a presidential election and the abandonment of a new congress they fear would cement dictatorship... READ MORE

The 24-hour strike is meant to begin at 6 a.m. as an expression of national disapproval of Maduro's plan to convene a constitutional assembly that would reshape the Venezuelan system to consolidate the ruling party's power over the few institutions that remain outside its control. The opposition is boycotting a July 30 election to select members of the assembly... READ MORE

A group of senators from Colombia and Chile filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, accusing him in particular of torture and illegal imprisonment, a statement published on the website of a Colombian lawmaker said...READ MORE

In Venezuela, where most of the country's residents voted against the convening of a constituent assembly in a popular referendum, a pattern similar to that of Maidan in Kiev back in 2014 was seen, according to the head of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies (RISI) Center for Public Relations Igor Pshenichnikov...READ MORE

What is a constituent assembly? It’s a constitutional convention called by the president and made up of elected delegates. It has the power not only to revise the constitution but to write a new one, or to disband or replace branches of the government...READ MORE

 "We do not want to be Cuba, we do not want to be a country without freedom," said Julio Borges, leader of the opposition-controlled parliament. "Today, Venezuela said yes to a dignified country, a democratic country, a country where people do not have to go because they have no future. The mandate the people have given us is clear."...READ MORE

Drawing inspiration from Ukraine’s 2013-14 revolt, young protesters in Venezuela carry Viking-like shields as they battle government security forces during protests against President Nicolás Maduro ... PICTURES

Venezuela's opposition voted en masse against President Nicolas Maduro and his plan to rewrite the constitution, hoping to use this success to demand a change of government after nearly four months of violent protests...READ MORE

Venezuelans have congregated in a Caracas neighborhood to protest the death of a boy with Down syndrome, who reports claim police shot to death after he reflexively fled the scene of law enforcement activity...READ MORE

" As socialist Venezuela’s economic woes continue, many Venezuelans are struggling to afford the most basic of hygiene products, such as toothpaste " ... READ MORE

Stating that the majority of Venezuelans support their views, the bishops of Venezuela issued an “urgent message” on July 12 condemning oppression committed by President Nicolás Maduro’s regime...READ MORE

"On my last day in Venezuela, a group of heavily armed men accused me of being a journalist. The government is trying stop the horrific conditions of people eating from garbage and children resorting to prostitution from getting to the press" ...READ MORE

"let’s speculate away" "The government needs a let-up in protests, which are pushing the security forces and the state as a whole to a series of stress points where major violence, a coup, or some other violent denouement gradually shifts from imaginable to possible to probable to likely. And Zapatero…well, Zapatero seems to need that Nobel Peace Prize"...READ MORE

​" Seeing Leopoldo López out of prison is good news but changing one prison for another is not good enough. Being subjected to house arrest means that Leopoldo is still being deprived of his freedom " ... READ MORE

Maduro's critics accuse him of being a demagogue who is trying to consolidate his power by rewriting the constitution and locking up his opponents. The Venezuelan Catholic church said he has turned the country into a "Dictatorship" ... READ MORE ​

​" the ideal scenario for Venezuela would be an internationally facilitated agreement to form a transitional government, whose leaders would not run in the next elections, with the mandate to jumpstart the economic recovery with international help, guarantee constitutional compliance and due process, and organize internationally-monitored elections one to two years later. This could offer a way forward from a troubling situation for Venezuela—and most importantly, its people " ... READ MORE

"This is crazy. (They're saying), workers who don't go to vote will be sacked," said one employee of state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela S.A.[PDVSA.UL], asking to remain anonymous because he is not authorized to speak to media...READ MORE

Venezuela's Catholic Church said Friday that constitutional reforms planned by the country's leftist government in response to a deadly political crisis were turning the country into a "military dictatorship."... READ MORE

Venezuelan police chased anti-government protesters into a shopping mall Thursday and fired tear gas, leaving dozens injured in the latest spasm of violence in the oil-rich nation saddled with deep economic woes and grassroots anger... READ MORE