"Blessed are the Peacemakers"

The UN World Food Program said it reached an agreement with President Nicolas Maduro’s government to provide daily school meals for 185,000 children by the end of the year. One-third of Venezuelans are food insecure (Voice of America).

Officials will ask for UN assistance in removing landmines near the country’s border with Colombia, President Nicolas Maduro announced. Last week, two soldiers were killed by a landmine while conducting military operations against armed groups, Maduro’s government said (Reuters).

The Defense Ministry announced that two soldiers were killed by a land mine as Venezuela continues an offensive against armed groups along its border with Colombia. Thousands of people have been displaced by the conflict (Reuters).

Human rights groups called for the UN special envoy to resolve a border crisis caused by clashes between Venezuelan troops and Colombian armed groups. Four thousand people have fled the border area since March 21, with some alleging Venezuelan troops murdered civilians (Reuters).

Venezuela’s information ministry alleged “digital totalitarianism” after social media giant Facebook froze President Nicolas Maduro’s page for thirty days. Facebook said Maduro violated its rules against sharing misinformation about the coronavirus (Al Jazeera). 

President Nicolas Maduro is pushing banks to adopt digital payment systems amidst cash shortages. Only 2 percent of the country’s money supply is currently in circulation (Reuters).

United Nations Human Rights experts said today that they are investigating two hundred killings allegedly committed by Venezuelan police so far this year (Reuters).

The Biden administration announced that Venezuelans already in the United States are eligible to apply for temporary protected status (TPS), which will allow them to live and work in the country for eighteen months. It will also review U.S. sanctions on Venezuela (Washington Post). 

Secretary of State Blinken told Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido that the United States is working with allies to increase pressure on Nicolas Maduro’s government and facilitate a power transition, the U.S. State Department said. The United States recognizes Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president (Miami Herald). 

A court ordered that a trial begin for Matthew Heath, a U.S. citizen arrested in September, Heath’s lawyer said. Heath, who Venezuelan officials allege is a U.S. spy, faces terrorism and arms-trafficking charges. The U.S. State Department urged a fair trial and condemned President Nicolas Maduro’s authoritarianism (Al Jazeera). 

Venezuela gave the head of the European Union’s delegation seventy-two hours to leave the country, following this week’s new round of EU sanctions on Venezuelan officials (Reuters). 

The European Union sanctioned nineteen Venezuelan officials over December legislative elections that the bloc says were undemocratic. EU foreign ministers have blacklisted fifty-five Venezuelans in total (MercoPress).

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that his regime had “heaps of contacts” with the administration of former U.S. President Donald J. Trump, and that Trump-era exchanges were congenial. The Trump administration levied sanctions on Venezuela and publicly sought to force Maduro from office (Latin American Herald Tribune).

Opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez praised the EU’s backing of Venezuela’s opposition but contrasted its “declarative support” with material aid President Nicolas Maduro receives from countries such as China, Iran, and Russia. Lopez urged “very clear,” cohesive EU support to oust Maduro (Latin American Herald Tribune). 

Colombian President Ivan Duque announced that his country will grant ten-year protected immigration status to eligible undocumented Venezuelan migrants and refugees living there. More than half of the 1.7 million Venezuelans believed to be in Colombia are there illegally (BBC). 

Trump signed an executive order deferring the deportations of more than 145,000 Venezuelans for eighteen months. His administration also announced sanctions on several business entities and individuals accused of helping Venezuela’s state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), evade earlier U.S. sanctions (Associated Press).

The EU revoked its recognition of opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president. Guaido lost his title as head of Venezuela’s National Assembly after allies of President Nicolas Maduro gained control of the body in December elections that observers condemned as fraudulent (Financial Times).

A new National Assembly dominated by members of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) who are loyal to President Nicolas Maduro was installed yesterday. Allies of Maduro retook control of what was widely seen as the country’s last democratic institution after claiming victory in December elections that the opposition and international observers decried as fraudulent (Miami Herald).

The country’s oil exports plunged in 2020 as the United States imposed strict sanctions, sinking to levels not seen since the 1940s, according to data from Refinitiv Eikon and state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) (Reuters).

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said the opposition-controlled National Assembly’s move to extend its current session is unconstitutional and called on the judiciary to step in. The legislature extended its term after Maduro’s allies won a majority in an election earlier this month that was largely boycotted by the opposition (Reuters).

Venezuela’s opposition-held National Assembly voted to extend its term after President Nicolas Maduro’s allies won an overwhelming majority in an election earlier this month that was mostly boycotted by the opposition. The term extension will allow opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom the United States and dozens of other countries recognize as Venezuela’s interim president, to remain speaker (Reuters).

President Nicolas Maduro announced that the National Constituent Assembly will cease operations by the end of the year. The pro-government legislature was widely criticized for undermining democracy after its creation in 2017. Maduro said the assembly was no longer necessary following his party’s victory in parliamentary elections earlier this month (Reuters).

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s party and its allies won a majority of the seats in the National Assembly yesterday. Maduro already controlled the presidency, the courts, and the military (Washington Post). Only 31 percent of eligible voters participated, and poll stations were barren in an embarrassment for Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). The United States and many European nations said they would not recognize the results of the election, which U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called a “sham” (Reuters). Regardless, the election will weaken the standing of opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom the United States and many other countries recognize as Venezuela’s legitimate president and who boycotted the vote. Guaido’s claim to the presidency is predicated on his position as head of the National Assembly. The opposition will hold a referendum this week to ask Venezuelans whether they reject the results and want to end Maduro’s rule (Associated Press).

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido’s envoy to the United Kingdom, Vanessa Neumann, resigned, saying that the future of Guaido’s leadership is unclear. The opposition is expected to lose control of the National Assembly, the country’s last democratically elected body, after elections this weekend (Financial Times).

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in Venezuela yesterday for a tour of Latin America that will also include stops in Bolivia and Cuba. He said Tehran is looking to boost ties with Caracas (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty).

A leading opposition activist, Roland Carreno, was arrested for allegedly conspiring “against the democratic peace.” Opposition leader Juan Guaido alleged Carreno was forcibly disappeared. Rights groups say President Nicolas Maduro frequently arrests opposition members (Reuters).

Leopoldo Lopez, a prominent Venezuelan opposition activist, fled the country and is traveling to Spain and then the United States, sources close to him said. Lopez heads opposition leader Juan Guaido’s political party (Miami Herald).

Thousands of Venezuelans are again fleeing the country, many on foot, after months of pandemic lockdown measures. Officials in neighboring Colombia expect two hundred thousand Venezuelans to enter the country in the coming months (Associated Press).

Citing “widespread” political persecution, the UN Human Rights Council voted to extend its investigation of alleged rights violations in Venezuela for two years (Buenos Aires Times).

President Nicolas Maduro successfully appealed a British court ruling that said the UK recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s leader and denied Maduro access to $1 billion worth of gold held by the Bank of England. The case will now go back to the UK High Court (BBC).

An Iran-flagged fuel tanker entered Venezuelan waters yesterday, and two others are expected to arrive in early October (Reuters). The shipments will help ease Venezuela’s worsening fuel crisis (Latin American Herald Tribune).

EU officials met with the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and with Juan Guaido, who the United States and over fifty other countries view as Venezuela’s legitimate leader, to discuss delaying the country’s controversial legislative elections. The United States accused the European bloc of subverting its isolationist policy toward Maduro (Washington Post).

UN investigators accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and other high-ranking officials of crimes against humanity, including extrajudicial executions, the jailing of political rivals, and the torture of protesters (Wall Street Journal). They urged the International Criminal Court and other bodies to criminally investigate. Venezuela condemned the investigators’ report (teleSUR).

The Venezuelan government claimed it foiled a plot to blow up oil and power facilities. The government said it detained eight alleged participants, including a U.S. citizen whom Attorney General Tarek William Saab accused of espionage (Washington Post).

The five opposition parties that make up Venezuela’s Democratic Alliance announced they will participate in the country’s December parliamentary election. Opposition leader Juan Guaido has called for a boycott of the election (teleSUR).

President Nicolas Maduro pardoned 110 opposition figures. Some recipients rebuffed the pardons as an attempt to boost the legitimacy of the country’s December legislative elections, which have attracted widespread criticism in Venezuela and abroad and divided the opposition (Washington Post).

Human Rights Watch said Venezuelan authorities have used the pandemic as a cover to crack down on dissent. Since a coronavirus-related state of emergency was declared in mid-March, dozens of health workers, human rights lawyers, journalists, and opposition figures have been arrested and prosecuted, it said (Guardian).

Russian President Vladimir Putin greenlit a $4 billion loan to cash-strapped Venezuela (MercoPress).

A British judge refused to give Caracas access to more than $1 billion in gold held in a Bank of England vault because the UK does not recognize Nicolas Maduro as Venezuela’s president (Associated Press).

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered the EU’s ambassador to leave the country after the bloc imposed sanctions on officials loyal to him (Associated Press).

The United States imposed sanctions on five Iranian ship captains for delivering oil to Venezuela and warned mariners against doing business with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (Reuters).

Venezuela’s UN ambassador said U.S. sanctions prevented the country from making payments to the United Nations, causing Caracas to lose its voting rights at the General Assembly (Associated Press).

President Nicolas Maduro revoked the license of one of the country’s biggest political parties, giving control to an ally. Critics said the move is meant to weaken Maduro’s political opposition ahead of congressional elections (Wall Street Journal).

President Nicolas Maduro is restricting the return of Venezuelan migrants, blaming them for the spread of the coronavirus (MercoPress).

The Trump administration blacklisted four companies allegedly involved in Venezuela’s oil sector as it seeks to choke off funds to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Iran has recently begun shipping oil to the country (Wall Street Journal).

An advisor to Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido resigned over his involvement in a failed paramilitary operation against President Nicolas Maduro. The advisor was linked to Silvercorp, a private security firm owned by the former U.S. Green Beret who allegedly orchestrated the attack, which resulted in the capture of two U.S. citizens (Miami Herald).

The U.S. State Department and Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido denied links to a maritime operation that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro claimed was a failed coup attempt. Maduro said authorities arrested two U.S. citizens (CNN).

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro reported that security forces had captured two U.S. citizens involved in a reported recent invasion attempt. Authorities also announced that they had arrested thirteen other individuals with connections to the failed incursion (Reuters).

Venezuela says it foiled an attempted maritime “invasion” from its Caribbean coast, killing eight people. A former Venezuelan military official and a former U.S. Green Beret released a video claiming responsibility for the offensive, which they said was not backed by the U.S. military nor the Venezuelan opposition (Washington Post).

Venezuelan officials sent $500 million worth of gold bars to Iran in April in exchange for assistance with operations at Venezuelan oil refineries, according to a new report. This leaves Venezuela with $6.3 billion in hard-currency assets, a three-decade low (Bloomberg).

The government announced that Venezuela would move to privatize parts of the country’s petroleum sector and limit the involvement of the state oil company PDVSA in order to increase Caracas’s oil production (Wall Street Journal).

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro designated Tareck El Aissami, the recent Minister of Industries and National Production, as the country’s new oil minister. The United States previously sanctioned El Aissami on charges of drug trafficking and recently accused him of breaching these sanctions in a March 2020 indictment of Maduro and other high-level Venezuelan officials for narcotics-related charges (Wall Street Journal).

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido have held secret talks on rapprochement in the face of an impending coronavirus crisis and fuel shortages, according to a report (Reuters).

U.S. officials told firms that have energy swap agreements with Venezuela to avoid sending gasoline to the country even amid chronic shortages there. The UN human rights chief and U.S. lawmakers have urged the White House to ease sanctions on Venezuela as it faces the coronavirus (Reuters).

The White House announced yesterday it will double U.S. military assets in the Caribbean, including destroyers, surveillance planes, and troops, in an anti-drug offensive targeting Venezuela. The move comes in the wake of a recent U.S. indictment of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and members of his regime on charges of narcoterrorism (Associated Press).

The U.S. State Department presented a plan for a political transition in Venezuela that would remove U.S. sanctions (State Department). The plan calls for a transitional leadership council chosen by coalitions with majorities in Congress, the departure of foreign security forces, and elections in six to twelve months. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido thanked Washington for the plan, while President Nicolas Maduro’s foreign minister rejected it (Miami Herald).

State-backed Russian oil firm Rosneft sold all its Venezuelan assets to a company that is fully owned by the Russian government. The move is seen by some as a strategy to avoid U.S. sanctions (Associated Press).

U.S. Attorney General William Barr announced the indictment of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and several other Venezuelan officials on narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges, offering a $15 million reward for Maduro’s capture (Washington Post).

U.S. prosecutors unsealed criminal cases against two former officials at Venezuela’s state-owned oil company in a new round of charges against Nicolas Maduro’s government (Wall Street Journal).

Caracas police fired tear gas at demonstrators called upon by opposition leader Juan Guaido to protest the government of Nicolas Maduro (New York Times).

Venezuelan election officials said a parliamentary poll planned for later this year will proceed despite the destruction of nearly fifty thousand voting machines in a warehouse fire (Associated Press).

Brazil recalled all of its diplomats and foreign service officials from Venezuela in a loosening of official ties with Nicolas Maduro’s government (Agence France-Presse).

U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams stated that Washington would impose additional sanctions on importers of Venezuelan oil in Asia and firms that helped the Maduro regime to smuggle its oil into the market (Reuters).

Washington added the Russian oil firm Rosneft and its top executive to an economic sanctions blacklist for supporting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (State Department).

Caracas petitioned the International Criminal Court to investigate U.S. officials for sanctions that it says constitute crimes against humanity, Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said (Reuters).

Venezuelan security officials detained Juan Jose Marquez, the uncle of opposition leader Juan Guaido, on charges of smuggling prohibited items on an international flight. The State Department condemned the move as a “kidnapping” and called for his immediate release (BBC).

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido met with President Donald Trump at the White House yesterday following Guaido’s attendance of the State of the Union address. Guaido also met with Vice President Trump and Senator Marco Rubio separately before the meeting (NBC News).

Trinidadian Prime Minister Keith Rowley stated that the country would not proceed with a project to jointly develop a natural gas field with Venezuela due to U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA. Trinidad and Venezuela will choose to develop this field separately from one another (Reuters).

Colombian President Ivan Duque rejected Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s call for their countries to resume diplomatic relations, citing Venezuela’s “constant aggressions” against its detractors (Reuters).

Colombia will offer work permits to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants living in the country, the federal migration agency announced (Reuters).

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the IOM launched an initiative worth more than $4 million to help Venezuelan migrants settle in Brazil (Reuters).

Washington sanctioned seven current and former officials loyal to President Nicolas Maduro who were involved in delaying a recent election in Venezuela’s parliament (State Department).

President Nicolas Maduro wants allied countries such as Russia to be able to exchange defaulted Venezuelan bonds for stakes in state-backed oil assets, legislators from his Socialist Party said (Reuters).

Opposition leader Juan Guaido was sworn in for a second term as speaker of Venezuela’s parliament after the national guard initially blocked him from entering the building (Agence France-Presse).

Venezuelan security forces barred opposition leader Juan Guaido and his supporters from entering the legislature during a vote to elect its new head of congress. Those present elected a supporter of President Nicolas Maduro, while the opposition denounced the vote as illegitimate (Reuters).

U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani participated in a phone call with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in September 2018, and tried to negotiate Maduro’s exit from power and open Venezuela to foreign business, according to a new report. Giuliani’s efforts contradicted the United States’ official hard-line approach toward Venezuela at the time (Washington Post).

Venezuela’s economic free fall slowed after the removal of some price controls, with its monthly rate of inflation dropping to 35.8 percent in November after reaching a peak of 233.3 percent in September of 2018, according to a report (Washington Post).

President Nicolas Maduro and top officials are holding a series of meetings with U.S. creditors in an effort to pay back debts by granting them Venezuelan oil rights, according to a report (Bloomberg).

Juan Guaido, who declared himself Venezuela’s president in January, called for a new wave of protests against President Nicolas Maduro during a rally in Caracas that attracted tens of thousands of people. Maduro supporters held a rival rally (Financial Times).

The UN refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration are set to launch a coordinated response plan to support the estimated 6.5 million Venezuelans who will have fled their country by next year. The agencies have called for $1.35 billion in funding (United Nations).

Incoming President Alejandro Giammattei, who takes office in mid-January, told reporters that he will recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s president and cut all diplomatic ties with Nicolas Maduro’s government (Reuters).

President Nicolas Maduro raised the minimum wage by 275 percent, the third hike this year amid hyperinflation, and decreed that workers will receive new food bonuses (Bloomberg).

The United States is preparing fresh sanctions on Cuba over its support of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, according to U.S. special envoy for Venezuela Elliott Abrams. The sanctions will likely target the tourism sector and Venezuelan oil imports (Reuters).

President Donald J. Trump signed a new order that bans senior Venezuelan officials and their families from entering the United States (BBC).

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro met with Russian President Vladimir Putin today in Moscow, where Putin said he supports dialogue between the Venezuelan government and opposition to bring an end to the political crisis in Venezuela (Reuters). Separately, former Venezuelan intelligence chief General Manuel Ricardo Cristopher claims that he personally provided Maduro with details of a Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) presence within Venezuela last November (Washington Post).

Sixteen countries voted to impose sanctions on members of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s regime to pressure Maduro to leave power. The Lima Group, a multilateral body coordinating a regional response to the Venezuelan crisis, said it does not support the use of military force (Reuters).

Several smaller opposition parties have agreed to direct negotiations with President Nicolas Maduro’s government after opposition leader Juan Guaido announced that a Norway-brokered peace process had been exhausted. Guaido called the decision a “maneuver” by Maduro’s regime to split the opposition (Associated Press).

The European Union will give $33 million for Colombian efforts to support Venezuelans who have fled their country, announced EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini (Reuters).

The White House announced $120 million in new humanitarian aid for migrants fleeing Venezuela, bringing total U.S. assistance for the crisis to more than $375 million since fiscal year 2017 (U.S. State Department).

The U.S. State Department announced it is opening an office in its embassy in Colombia that will focus on the crisis in Venezuela, signaling support for a diplomatic solution to the political impasse in the country (Financial Times).

The Colombian government reported that more than eighty-five thousand Venezuelan migrants entered Ecuador from Colombia in the last month, prior to visa restrictions implemented by Ecuador yesterday (Reuters). Separately, ten countries have agreed to provide vaccination cards that will be recognized across the region to Venezuelan migrants beginning in October, health officials announced (Reuters).

Venezuelans will require a visa to enter the country beginning today. Up to three thousand Venezuelan migrants per day entered Ecuador over the past week, the United Nations said (Financial Times).

Representatives from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s regime have been holding back-channel talks with U.S. negotiators to discuss the terms of possible new elections, according to reports. Venezuelan officials are reportedly seeking safety guarantees in the case the regime loses power (Wall Street Journal).

U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro confirmed that secret talks have been underway to resolve Venezuela’s political crisis (Al Jazeera).

Allies of Venezuela’s socialist government reportedly said that holding a presidential election in the coming months may be considered in order to resolve the country’s political crisis. Separately, opposition leaders will visit the United States this week to meet with U.S. officials (Reuters). Finally, the U.S. military announced that it is now planning for “the day after” Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro leaves power (Associated Press).

Diosdado Cabello, who is considered the second most powerful person in Venezuela’s socialist government, met in July with someone in close contact with U.S. officials. A second meeting is currently being planned (Associated Press). The conversation included a discussion over guarantees for Maduro insiders (Associated Press). Separately, the United Nations appealed for increased humanitarian aid for Venezuelan refugees (Reuters).

A crackdown on dissent by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government has increasingly included torture of military officers, according to a Caracas-based monitoring group. The group counted 250 cases of torture against members of the military, their relatives, and opposition activists since 2017 (New York Times). Separately, Venezuela’s opposition-run congress announced yesterday that it will create a commission to renegotiate the country’s debt (Reuters).

The Venezuelan Supreme Court, filled with judges seen as loyalists to President Nicolas Maduro, stripped three opposition lawmakers of their parliamentary immunity and charged them with treason (Latin American Herald Tribune). Separately, a pro-Maduro legislative body that rivals the opposition-controlled National Assembly said it will create a commission to look into holding 2020 elections early (Reuters).

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido said yesterday that the Venezuelan government is preparing to call for new legislative elections and dissolve the opposition-run legislature (Reuters).

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro canceled plans for a delegation to travel to Barbados for a round of talks with the country’s opposition, criticizing opposition leader Juan Guaido for celebrating sweeping U.S. sanctions (Latin American Herald Tribune). Caracas said it was open to continuing the talks in the future, while the head negotiator for the opposition tweeted that Maduro’s administration fears “the possibility of a real political change in the country” (Associated Press).

U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton warned countries and threatened sanctions against international companies continuing to do business with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government (Reuters). Separately, Russia’s foreign ministry said that the U.S. freeze of Venezuelan assets implemented yesterday is illegal (Reuters).

U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order freezing all Venezuelan government assets in the United States and prohibiting transactions with the regime (Wall Street Journal). U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross will be among representatives from about sixty countries meeting in Lima, Peru, today to discuss the Venezuelan crisis (Agence France-Presse). Separately, John Bolton warned China and Russia against increasing support for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (Reuters).

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced a plan to rebuild Venezuela’s economy under democratic rule, contingent on the removal of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (Wall Street Journal). Separately, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he was considering a blockade of Venezuela to increase pressure for Maduro to step down (Reuters). Finally, officials from Maduro’s government met with opposition leaders in Barbados to attempt to negotiate a political settlement (Reuters).

Colombian President Ivan Duque said yesterday that, under Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela has become a terrorist and drug trafficking sanctuary. The statement comes after Maduro announced that two former commanders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were welcome in Venezuela despite being wanted by Colombian judicial authorities (Reuters).

Despite recent sanctions, the United States renewed Chevron’s operating license in Venezuela for three months. Chevron is the last U.S. oil company operating in Venezuela and has been in Venezuela for nearly one hundred years (Reuters). Separately, the United States issued new sanctions against Colombian businesses accused of money-laundering operations that support the Venezuelan government (Wall Street Journal).

Venezuela’s National Assembly, led by opposition leader Juan Guaido, rejoined the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance yesterday. The move is thought to precede a request for foreign military intervention to unseat Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (Reuters). Separately, Russia announced yesterday that it has been in contact with Venezuela’s opposition movement (Reuters). Finally, Juan Guaido reported that he would preserve Chevron Corp’s assets in Venezuela should the United States fail to renew its operating license (Reuters).

Venezuela’s government blamed a major power outage on an electromagnetic attack, in the first blackout to affect Caracas since March when the government blamed the outage on a U.S. electromagnetic attack (Reuters). Power returned to the capital today, but more than half of Venezuela’s twenty-four states remain without power (Reuters).

According to the U.S. military, a Russian-made Venezuelan fighter shadowed a U.S. Navy EP-3 plane at an unsafe distance in international territory (Reuters). The United States rejected Venezuelan claims that the plane entered Venezuelan airspace unannounced (Bloomberg).

Yesterday, the European Union announced that it is preparing its next round of sanctions targeting Venezuelan security forces on grounds of human rights violations (Al Jazeera). Separately, Venezuela released Karen Palacios, a musician detained after criticizing Maduro’s government on social media (Associated Press). Lastly, the United States reportedly allocated forty million dollars for humanitarian aid to support Venezuela’s opposition (Reuters).

Yesterday, Venezuela’s opposition announced it will continue talks with the government to resolve the country’s political crisis. This development follows a meeting in Barbados last week mediated by Norway (Reuters). Separately, the Colombian paramilitary group the National Liberation Army has reportedly expanded its operations in Venezuela, receiving sanctuary in exchange for supporting Venezuela’s government-aligned paramilitaries (Wall Street Journal).

The United Nations reported that Venezuelan security forces have used death squads to murder thousands of young men (Reuters). Separately, Venezuela released twenty-two prisoners amidst UN calls for humanitarian relief (Reuters). As well, Russia announced its intent to bolster Venezuela’s armed forces (Reuters). Representatives from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s regime and the Venezuelan opposition are slated to resume talks in Barbados this week (Reuters).

Yesterday, after opposition leader Juan Guaido announced that the time would never be right for negotiating with a dictator, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro indicated he was still committed to talks to achieve a political settlement (Reuters).

Two Venezuelan intelligence officials have been charged with homicide in the death of naval officer Rafael Acosta. Acosta’s wife and rights groups said he was tortured in detention, and UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet called for a full investigation (Reuters).

Captain Rafael Acosta died in a military hospital while detained by Venezuela’s intelligence service for allegedly plotting to assassinate Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (BBC).

At the Organization of American States’ assembly in Medellin yesterday, several countries criticized the presence of a delegation sent by Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido. President Nicolas Maduro withdrew Venezuela from the body in 2017. This week’s summit aims to chart a regional approach to Venezuela (Financial Times).

Jorge Rodriguez, communications minister for the Venezuelan government, claimed that Venezuelan authorities foiled a violent coup plot against Nicolas Maduro and other top officials. Rodriguez implicated the United States, as well as Israel, Colombia, and Venezuela’s former spy chief, in designing the coup (Washington Post). 

Yesterday, General Manuel Ricardo Cristopher Figuera, former security chief under Hugo Chávez and intelligence chief under Nicolás Maduro, arrived in the United States to inform U.S. officials of Maduro’s activity (Washington Post).

Days after the United Nations urged Venezuela to release prisoners detained for peaceful protests, Venezuelan authorities arrested six military and police officials (Reuters).

Venezuelan refugees are joining the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and National Liberation Army (ELN) militant groups, as well as right-wing paramilitaries, in exchange for food and pay, five Colombian military commanders said. They estimated that 10 percent of militants nationwide are Venezuelan (Reuters).

Venezuela freed opposition activist Gilber Caro ahead of a visit by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (Reuters). Separately, a second shipment of Red Cross humanitarian aid arrived in Venezuela, containing medical supplies and hospital generators (Agence France-Presse).

More than fourteen thousand Venezuelans filed for asylum in the European Union last year, according to the EU’s asylum agency. The total puts Venezuela ahead of Afghanistan and now only behind Syria in terms of asylum applications to the bloc (Deutsche Welle).

Tens of thousands of Venezuelans crossed into Colombia to buy food, medicine, and other necessities after President Nicolas Maduro reopened the border with the country on Saturday. The border had been closed since February, when opposition figure Juan Guaido led efforts to bring U.S. aid into the country (BBC).

President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that there is no plan to send troops to Venezuela to bolster President Nicolas Maduro’s regime, but that Moscow will continue to fulfill contractual obligations to the country regarding military and technical cooperation (Associated Press).

In a leaked recording of a closed-door meeting in New York last week, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said efforts to unite the Venezuelan opposition have “proven devilishly difficult” and that at least forty opponents of President Nicolas Maduro believe they should be his successor (Washington Post).

Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said Canada had “no choice” but to suspend its embassy operations in Caracas since President Nicolas Maduro’s regime has refused to renew accreditation for its diplomats. Canada has recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s leader since January (Deutsche Welle).

The Colombian government said U.S. humanitarian aid that was sent in February and was destined for Venezuela will instead be provided to Venezuelan migrants in the neighboring country, as well as to Colombians in need of assistance. U.S. officials and Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido were involved in the decision (Associated Press).

The opposition said that, during a second round of talks with government envoys in Norway, it laid out a roadmap to end President Nicolas Maduro’s regime and install a transitional government, but that the negotiations concluded without agreement. Maduro said on TV that his government seeks a peace deal through dialogue (Deutsche Welle).

The central bank published economic statistics for the first time since 2015 (Wall Street Journal). The economy contracted about 19 percent in the first nine months of 2018, and the country suffered six-figure hyperinflation over the whole year, according to the data (Latin American Herald Tribune).

President Nicolas Maduro called for an early election for the opposition-controlled National Assembly, which he said was the only governing body that has “not been legitimized in the last five years” (Reuters).

Venezuela’s opposition, led by National Assembly President Juan Guaido, has hired attorney Lee Buchheit to facilitate the restructuring of Venezuela’s $150 billion debt burden. Buchheit, a U.S. citizen, has worked on similar cases in Russia, Uruguay, and Greece. The move comes as the opposition has held talks in Norway with President Nicolas Maduro’s regime (Financial Times).

President Nicolas Maduro said his government will reveal details about talks with the opposition in Norway after his information minister returns to Venezuela today. The two sides met with envoys from the International Contact Group, which is made up of European and Latin American countries seeking to resolve the crisis in Venezuela (Associated Press).

President Nicolas Maduro said his information minister, Jorge Rodriguez, is on a mission abroad but did not provide further details (Associated Press). Unnamed opposition members said the two sides were holding exploratory talks in Norway. Norwegian media reported that the talks are taking place in an undisclosed location and are expected to conclude on Thursday (Agence France-Presse).

Abuses by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s regime, including extrajudicial executions and arbitrary detentions, may constitute crimes against humanity, according to a new report by Amnesty International. The rights group said security forces repressed and attacked perceived opponents across the country, particularly in poor areas (Amnesty International).

The United States ordered the eviction of activists occupying Venezuela’s Washington embassy who said they were there at the invitation of President Nicolas Maduro’s government (Latin American Herald Tribune). Venezuela’s vice foreign minister called the U.S. move a violation of international law. Washington recognizes opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s president (CNN).

Opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has sought to oust President Nicolas Maduro, said at a Saturday rally that he told his envoy in the United States to open “direct communications” regarding U.S. military coordination with the opposition (Associated Press).

Two opposition lawmakers sought shelter at the Argentine and Italian embassies in Caracas yesterday after the country’s supreme court stripped them and their colleagues of immunity and said they should be investigated for treason (Reuters).

Security forces towed the car carrying Edgar Zambrano, the vice president of Venezuela’s opposition-controlled National Assembly, and detained him after he refused to exit his vehicle yesterday. President Nicolas Maduro’s regime accused Zambrano of being involved in a failed coup attempt last week led by the opposition leader Juan Guaido (Guardian).

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said the USNS Comfort, a military hospital ship, will begin a five-month deployment in June to provide care for Venezuelan refugees across Latin America (Miami Herald). Pence also said Washington will consider lifting sanctions on top Venezuelan military officials who break with President Nicolas Maduro (New York Times).

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, in a speech today, is expected to lay out incentives for Venezuela’s armed forces to abandon President Nicolas Maduro in favor of opposition leader Juan Guaido. He is also expected to announce new sanctions on top Venezuelan judges (Reuters).

An unnamed State Department official said that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, will discuss the situation in Venezuela on the sidelines of an Arctic Council meeting in Finland next week (Associated Press). Separately, he Spanish government said it has no intention of turning over opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez and that it expects President Nicolas Maduro’s regime to “respect the inviolability” of the residence of Spain’s ambassador in Caracas, where Lopez has taken refuge. Venezuela’s supreme court issued an arrest warrant for Lopez, who was freed from house arrest earlier this week by dissident members of the military (El Pais).

Opposition leader Juan Guaido acknowledged that his calls this week for an uprising against President Nicolas Maduro did not draw enough support from the Venezuelan military and said “we have to insist that all the armed forces protest together” (CNN). Yesterday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that U.S. military action to back Guaido is possible (Voice of America).

Venezuelan opposition leader and self-declared President Juan Guaido called for a second day of protests and again urged the military to break with President Nicolas Maduro following bloody clashes as Guaido led an attempt to oust the regime yesterday (Associated Press). One man died after he was shot during protests in Aragua State, and dozens of people across the country were injured from live fire, rubber bullets, and tear gas, according to a Caracas-based monitoring group (Washington Post). 

Opposition leader and self-declared interim president Juan Guaido, outside a Caracas air base with dozens of men in military uniform, said the armed forces took “the correct decision” to assist the opposition in forcing out President Nicolas Maduro (Reuters). Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez said the government was facing a small coup attempt led by military traitors (Associated Press). Separately, Peru yesterday deported a group of more than forty Venezuelan migrants (Reuters).

Dozens of diplomats from countries across the Americas that back Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido walked out of an address by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza to the UN General Assembly yesterday. Arreaza called the move “discriminatory and unacceptable” (Agence France-Presse).

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton announced a raft of new measures meant to tighten the screws on Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, including sanctions on Venezuela’s central bank and on a Nicaraguan bank Bolton described as a “slush fund” for President Daniel Ortega (CNN).

President Nicolas Maduro said the aid delivery was coordinated with his government, which had previously denied the existence of a humanitarian crisis and blocked an effort by the opposition and the United States to deliver aid in February (Associated Press).

The Chinese foreign ministry accused the United States of “treating Latin America as its backyard” through “pressure, threat or even subversion.” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused China last week of prolonging the crisis in Venezuela by financially supporting the government of President Nicolas Maduro (Guardian).

Speaking at the Columbia-Venezuela border, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo again called for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down and allow humanitarian aid to enter the country, reiterating that “all options are on the table” to oust Maduro after visiting a center for Venezuelan migrants alongside Colombian President Ivan Duque (Miami Herald). Over the weekend Maduro proposed adding a million people to the country’s civilian militia in order to “defend the fatherland” (Reuters).

Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said Caracas will “fulfill its commitments” to supply Cuba with subsidized oil despite new U.S. sanctions targeting thirty-four vessels used by Venezuela’s state oil company (Reuters).

Private Iranian airline Mahan Air announced it began direct flights to Caracas to transport foreign ministry officials from Tehran. Several European countries have accused the airline of transporting weapons and personnel to Syria and other conflict areas (Reuters).

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza, in Damascus yesterday, commended Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for what he called a victory over terrorism in the country’s civil war. He also said both of their countries “fight against U.S. conspiracies and imperialism” (Associated Press).

In a new report, Human Rights Watch and Johns Hopkins University researchers said the Venezuelan government has proven unable to address the humanitarian crisis in the country and has “in fact exacerbated it through their efforts to suppress information about the scale and urgency of the problems.” The report called for a major UN-led emergency response (Human Rights Watch).

Members of the Constituent Assembly, a body aligned with President Nicolas Maduro, voted to override Juan Guaido’s parliamentary immunity, possibly paving the way for his arrest. The Constituent Assembly is a rival of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, of which Guaido, who claims to be Venezuela’s legitimate president, is the leader (Reuters).

Venezuela’s supreme court ruled that the head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, Juan Guaido, is in contempt of the law for defying a court-imposed travel ban and that an assembly loyal to President Nicolas Maduro’s regime will vote on whether to remove Guaido’s parliamentary immunity from prosecution (Latin American Herald Tribune).

International Federation of the Red Cross chief Francesco Rocca said the humanitarian group expected to deliver food and medicine to 650,000 people in two weeks, working on the basis of “impartiality, neutrality and independence” (BBC).

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s embattled regime announced it has banned opposition leader Juan Guaido from public office for fifteen years (Agence France-Press). The state’s comptroller accused Guaido, who declared himself as interim president in January and is backed by dozens of countries including the United States, of taking gifts from foreign states and having inconsistencies in his personal finances (CNN). Also yesterday, Moscow and Caracas confirmed the deployment of Russian military personnel to Venezuela but said they would not take part in any military operations (Reuters).

At the White House yesterday with Fabiana Rosales, the wife of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, President Trump said Moscow is aware of U.S. opposition to its military presence in Venezuela and called on the country to stay out of the conflict (New York Times).

President Nicolas Maduro said the power outage, which has affected much of the country’s western half since Monday, was due to an attack on electrical infrastructure. Power returned to most of the capital of Caracas by Tuesday afternoon (Reuters).

Much of Caracas and other parts of Venezuela lost power yesterday. The government blamed the outage on an “attack on the charging and transmission center” at the hydroelectric plant that supplies power to 80 percent of the country, while the opposition accused the Maduro regime of trying to “disinform and create anxiety.” A nationwide blackout earlier this month lasted for a week (Agence France-Presse).

Russia military aircraft reportedly arrived in Venezuela, where officials are expected to discuss equipment maintenance, training, and cooperation between the allies, according to an unnamed Venezuelan official (Reuters).

UN human rights chief Michelle Bahelet warned that U.S. sanctions on Venezuela’s state oil company announced in January could have repercussions for ordinary Venezuelans’ “basic rights and wellbeing,” though she noted that the country’s economic crisis was underway before the United States imposed sanctions (Associated Press). Separately, opposition leader Juan Guaido’s chief of staff was detained by Venezuelan intelligence officers early today, according to Guaido and other opposition lawmakers (New York Times).

Opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself interim president and is backed by the United States and dozens of other countries, began a national tour, called Operation Freedom, to rally support for a march on the presidential palace in Caracas (Agence France-Presse).

The attorney general newly appointed by opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself interim president of Venezuela, said he will appeal to a decision by the World Bank’s arbitration tribunal to award $8.75 billion to ConocoPhillips over the Venezuelan government’s 2007 confiscation of two of its crude oil projects (Bloomberg).

The information minister said yesterday that power had been restored after a week-long blackout that affected most of the country. President Nicolas Maduro’s regime blamed opposition leader Juan Guaido and the United States for the outage (CNN).

Attorney General Tarek William Saab said opposition leader Juan Guaido is under investigation for sabotaging the national power grid. Separately, Colombia’s migration director said a cousin of President Nicolas Maduro attempted to enter the country during the blackout, which has affected much of Venezuela over the past week, but Bogota refused his entry (Associated Press).

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the withdrawal of all remaining diplomatic staff in Venezuela, citing the deteriorating situation in the country. Pompeo said their presence has become a “constraint on U.S. policy” (CNN).

President Nicolas Maduro’s government announced that schools and businesses will be closed today as a blackout affecting much of the country entered its fourth day (Reuters). Opposition leader Juan Guaido said he will call for a national emergency declaration in parliament (CNN).

At least eighteen of Venezuela’s twenty-three states were affected by a blackout yesterday that appeared to be due to an apparent failure at a hydroelectric plant in Bolivar State. Members of President Nicolas Maduro’s regime blamed the outage on sabotage by the opposition and the United States (Guardian).

American journalist Cody Weddle was arrested and detained in Caracas yesterday before being deported (local10). His assistant, a Venezuelan citizen, was also detained. Separately, President Nicolas Maduro ordered the expulsion of Germany’s ambassador to Venezuela for his support of opposition leader Juan Guaido (Guardian).

Opposition leader Juan Guaido met with about a hundred representatives of state workers unions yesterday and called for rolling strikes to increase pressure on President Nicolas Maduro’s regime (Washington Post).

Opposition figure and self-declared interim president Juan Guaido returned to Venezuela after spending close to a week abroad with regional allies despite a court travel ban. He was met by foreign diplomats at the airport, and President Nicolas Maduro’s regime made no immediate attempt to arrest him (New York Times).

A U.S.-drafted resolution calling for a new presidential election in Venezuela was vetoed by Russia and China. At the same time, a Russia-drafted resolution affirming the government of President Nicolas Maduro’s authority to initiate international assistance failed to garner enough support (Reuters).

Oil minister Manuel Quevedo told an energy conference in Saudi Arabia that Venezuelan oil exports stand at 1.2 billion barrels per day despite U.S. sanctions. A London-based shipment tracker noted higher sales to India and the United Kingdom (Wall Street Journal).

Opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself interim president of Venezuela in January, said he will return to the country “despite the risks.” Guaido defied a court travel ban last week by traveling to Colombia to assist international efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Venezuelans (Reuters). U.S. special envoy Elliott Abrams said Washington will soon announce new U.S. sanctions on high-ranking officials in President Nicolas Maduro’s regime, as well as individuals who handle their finances (Voice of America).

The U.S. television network said one of its news teams was briefly detained by Venezuelan authorities and is being deported following an interview with President Nicolas Maduro. Maduro halted the reporters’ questioning after they showed him footage of Venezuelans eating from a garbage truck, according to lead reporter Jorge Ramos (Reuters).

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and opposition figure Juan Guaido are expected to meet in the Colombian capital today following deadly clashes at the border over the weekend as the opposition attempted to move humanitarian aid into Venezuela. At least four people were killed and three hundred injured in the violence, according to UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet (CNN).

President Nicolas Maduro ordered the closure of Venezuela’s border with Brazil and warned he may do the same with the Colombian border as the two neighboring countries work with opposition figure Juan Guaido to deliver aid to Venezuelans despite the regime’s ban on humanitarian assistance (CNN). The UN refugee agency reported that the number of Venezuelan refugees now stands at 3.4 million, with five thousand people on average fleeing the country every day in 2018 (UNHCR).

Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said air and sea traffic from three Caribbean islands will be closed ahead of a Saturday deadline imposed by the Venezuelan opposition to allow humanitarian aid shipments into the country (New York Times).

Brazil announced it will start delivering humanitarian aid to the Venezuelan border by Saturday at the request of opposition figure and interim president Juan Guaido (Guardian).

U.S. President Donald J. Trump used a speech in Miami yesterday to warn Venezuela’s disputed president, Nicolas Maduro, that while the U.S. seeks peaceful regime change in the country, “all options are on the table” (Politico). Washington has urged Venezuela’s military to turn against Maduro and allow humanitarian aid to enter the country, which the Maduro government has refused (Reuters).

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said his foreign minister, Jorge Arreaza, met twice with U.S. special envoy for Venezuela Elliott Abrams in New York and invited him to visit the country “privately, publicly, or secretly” (Associated Press).

Opposition figure and interim president Juan Guaido announced a new six-member board for the U.S.-based subsidiary of state oil company PDVSA that he said is “free of corruption and without any partisan affiliation.” The Trump administration announced last month that any revenue earned by Citgo would be put into an account inaccessible to President Nicolas Maduro’s regime (Agence France-Presse).

Rival demonstrations in support of and against President Nicolas Maduro’s regime took place in Caracas and other cities on Tuesday. Opposition leader Juan Guaido, called on the military to allow international aid shipments into Venezuela on February 23 (Al Jazeera).

The United States has drafted a resolution at the United Nations asking Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to press for new elections in Venezuela and urge Nicolas Maduro’s regime to allow international aid deliveries. Russia is expected to veto any such resolution (Agence France-Presse).

The Venezuelan military used an oil tanker and shipping containers to block a bridge linking Venezuela and Colombia as the opposition planned deliveries of international aid, according to the Colombian government (CNN). The border city of Cucuta, Colombia, is one of three locations announced by opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim President Juan Guaido as collection points for the aid shipments. Maduro has long barred such assistance despite an intensifying humanitarian crisis (Associated Press).

Opposition lawmaker Carlos Paparoni said that the Portugal-based bank Novo Banco halted a $1.2 billion transfer by President Nicolas Maduro’s government to banks in Uruguay. Paparoni hailed the move, saying it is “protecting the resources of all Venezuelans” (Reuters).

Foreign ministers from countries across the Americas met yesterday in Ottawa where they agreed to support Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president of Venezuela. They also called on the country’s armed forces to “demonstrate their loyalty” to Guaido (CBC News). Representatives from the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union also took part in the meeting. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in power since 2013, told a Spanish television network on Monday that “we prepare ourselves to defend our country” (BBC).

European countries including France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, already backed by the United States, as interim president of Venezuela and called on the country to hold new elections (Guardian).

Opposition leader Juan Guaido, who claimed the Venezuelan presidency last week, told the Associated Press that convoys carrying humanitarian aid from a “global coalition” will attempt to enter the country within a few weeks despite a government ban on such aid. Guaido said the move will test whether the military will “side with Nicolas Maduro” or allow the much-needed assistance (Associated Press).

Several Colombian and Spanish journalists working for the Spanish-language agency EFE were detained by Venezuelan authorities yesterday, according to the agency’s Caracas bureau chief. The arrests follow reports that two French journalists were arrested and two Chilean journalists were deported from the country (Reuters).

Venezuela’s supreme court, stacked with allies of President Nicolas Maduro, ordered financial restrictions and a travel ban for U.S.-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself president last week. Attorney General Tarek Saab said Guaido would be investigated for “serious crimes that threaten the constitutional order” (Guardian).

The United States announced sanctions on Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, upping pressure on President Nicolas Maduro’s government as Washington and others across the Americas continue to back opposition leader Juan Guaido, who claimed the presidency last week (Wall Street Journal). The fresh sanctions stop short of banning U.S. companies from purchasing Venezuelan oil but would redirect any revenue from such sales into blocked accounts, according to the Treasury Department (Reuters).

On state television yesterday, President Nicolas Maduro said “we’re ready to defend our homeland” as a platoon of soldiers shot rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft fire, seen as an attempt to bolster military support for Maduro. Opposition leader Juan Guaido, who claimed the presidency last week, called for further protests on Wednesday (Al Jazeera).

Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said yesterday that opposition leader Juan Guaido’s move to claim the Venezuelan presidency was “reprehensible” as top military figures defended President Nicolas Maduro’s government (Financial Times). The U.S. State Department announced it would remove nonessential staff and diplomats’ families from the country (Washington Post).

Ten countries across the Americas, including the United States, Canada, and Brazil, recognized Juan Guaido, leader of Venezuela’s opposition-controlled National Assembly, as the country’s president after Guaido swore himself in yesterday (CBC). President Nicolas Maduro, in power since 2013, broke diplomatic relations with the United States and ordered U.S. diplomats to leave Venezuela, a demand U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States would not comply with (Washington Post).

Opposition protests calling for the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro are expected to draw hundreds of thousands of people across Venezuela today, the sixty-first anniversary of the overthrow of a military dictatorship. Pro-government demonstrations are also planned (Reuters). U.S. Vice President Mike Pence declared his support for opposition leader Juan Guaido and the National Assembly in a video message and said Maduro “must go” in an op-ed (Wall Street Journal). Maduro accused Pence of attempting to instigate a coup (Al Jazeera).

The defense ministry said twenty-seven members of the National Guard were arrested after stealing weapons yesterday in an attempt to start a rebellion against the government of President Nicolas Maduro (BBC).

President Nicolas Maduro accused his opponents of sabotaging a Caracas hospital’s electrical system “to create a show for the international media” after two people reportedly died at the facility during a weekend power outage (Latin American Herald Tribune).

Juan Guaido, the leader of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, was briefly detained by intelligence agents yesterday. Guaido made comments on Friday that were interpreted by some as declaring himself the country’s interim president (Reuters).

Thirteen nations across the Americas issued a joint statement saying they will not recognize Nicolas Maduro as Venezuela’s president and called for him not to take office. Maduro, who won an election last year marred by accusations of fraud, came to power in 2013 following the death of President Hugo Chavez (Washington Post).

The United States announced sanctions on the owner of media company Globovision, as well as several businesspeople with ties to the Venezuelan government, for allegedly making billions of dollars in profit from manipulating the country’s broken currency market (Wall Street Journal). Separately, the opposition-controlled National Assembly condemned new investment deals by state oil firm PDVSA with French firm Maurel & Prom and with U.S. company Erepla, saying lawmakers should have first approved the agreements. The congress, effectively stripped of much of its power since 2016, is unlikely to be able to block the deals from moving ahead (Reuters).

Supreme Court Justice Christian Zerpa, formerly an ally of President Nicolas Maduro, fled to the United States, condemning last year’s election as “not free and competitive.” Zerpa said he waited to publicly criticize the government until his family was able to leave the country (BBC).