Venezuela has plunged into a major political crisis amid a growing row over President Nicolas Maduro’s future as the country’s leader.
Maduro started a second term on January 10, following a widely boycotted election last year that many foreign governments refused to recognise.
On January 23, Juan Guaido, leader of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, declared himself interim president.
Shortly after Guaido took an oath swearing himself in, US President Donald Trump publicly recognised him as the country’s leader.
Maduro accused Guaido of staging a coup and ordered his arrest.
Here are all the latest updates as of Saturday, March 23
Maduro vows ‘change’
Maduro has said a major shake-up will take place in his government in the coming days.
“I will in the coming hours announce a profound change in the entire government of Venezuela,” Maduro says in a speech at a political rally broadcast on state television.
“We need to renew ourselves, refresh, improve, change.”
Maduro also says the police has dismantled a plot to assassinate him led by Guaido and announces new arrests.
“We have dismantled a plan organised personally by the diabolical puppet to kill me,” Maduro tells thousands of supporters in Caracas.
“In the next few days there will surely be new captures of new terrorists,” he adds.
US sanctions Venezuelan state-owned bank Bandes
The United States imposed sanctions on Friday on state-owned Venezuelan development bank Bandes in response to the arrest of an aide to opposition leader Juan Guaido, saying the government had used it to prop itself up by moving assets abroad.
“[President Nicolas] Maduro and his enablers have distorted the original purpose of the bank … as part of a desperate attempt to hold onto power,” US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement announcing the action.
Venezuela key topic between Trump and Caribbean leaders
US President Donald Trump is hosting the leaders of Jamaica, Bahamas, Haiti, Dominican Republic and St Lucia at his affluent Mar-a-Lago club to show his support for Caribbean countries that back democratic transition in Venezuela.
The five have either denounced President Nicolas Maduro or have joined more than 50 countries in recognising Juan Guaido as the rightful interim leader of the nation.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump will use the meeting to thank the leaders for their support for peace and democracy in Venezuela and discuss potential opportunities for energy investment.
Nations in the Caribbean, however, have been split on whether to interfere in Venezuela.
South American presidents announce creation of new regional bloc
A group of South American leaders signed a declaration to create a regional bloc of nations they say is open to any country, regardless of ideology, to collaborate on solving regional problems.
Presidents from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Peru attended the summit in Santiago.
Chile and Colombia had led the push for the new political grouping after criticism that the previous regional bloc, called Unasur, failed to take action on Venezuela.
Thursday, March 21
Venezuelan gov’t accuses detained Guaido aide of planning attacks
Venezuela’s interior minister said on Thursday that authorities had arrested opposition leader Juan Guaido’s chief of staff for his involvement in an alleged “terrorist cell” that was planning attacks against high-level political figures.
Interior Minister Nestor Reverol, during an appearance on state television, showed an image of two rifles, which he called evidence collected against Roberto Marrero.
The opposition had said earlier that intelligence agents had planted weapons in Marrero’s house during a pre-dawn raid, a move by President Nicolas Maduro that the Trump administration said would “not go unanswered”.
Trump adviser Bolton vows action after Guaido aide detained in Venezuela
US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser called for the immediate release of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido’s chief of staff on Thursday, saying his detention would “not go unanswered”.
White House national security adviser John Bolton said the government of Nicolas Maduro had “made another big mistake” with the “illegitimate arrest” of the aide, Roberto Marrero. “He should be released immediately and his safety guaranteed,” Bolton wrote in a Twitter post.
IMF still seeking member views on Venezuela leader recognition: Spokesman
The International Monetary Fund is still awaiting guidance from its members on whether to recognise Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s leader, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said on Thursday, adding that there is no schedule for an IMF board meeting to decide the issue.
Rice told an IMF news briefing that there is still no clarity on Venezuela’s leadership situation and any shift in the Fund’s recognition of the government will be guided by its 189 member countries and the international community and “views are still being formed”.
Another Washington-based multilateral institution, the Inter-American Development Bank, last week replaced the representative of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with an economist backed by Guaido, a major setback for the Maduro government.
Venezuela’s Guaido says intelligence agents detained his chief of staff
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido said on Thursday intelligence agents had detained his chief of staff following a pre-dawn raid, signaling that President Nicolas Maduro may be cracking down on the opposition’s challenge to his rule.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a post on Twitter on Thursday, called for Roberto Marrero’s immediate release and said “we will hold accountable those involved”. The United States has repeatedly warned Maduro not to move against Guaido.
Wednesday, March 20
UN rights boss decries Venezuela crackdown
The UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said on Wednesday that Venezuelan security forces, backed by pro-government militias, have cracked down on peaceful dissent, with excessive use of force, killings and torture documented by her office.
Bachelet, addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council, also voiced concern that the latest US sanctions on financial transfers linked to the sale of Venezuelan oil “may contribute to aggravating the economic crisis”.
Venezuelan authorities had failed to acknowledge the extent and severity of the health and food crisis that has driven more than 3 million Venezuelans to flee abroad and they had adopted “insufficient” measures, she told the Geneva forum.
Brazil foreign minister says US, Brazil share same view on Venezuela
Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo said on Wednesday President Jair Bolsonaro’s visit to Washington this week made clear that the United States and Brazil share the same view of how to deal with the Venezuelan crisis.
Araujo said at a news conference that Brazil will act diplomatically and politically, while the US could increase sanctions against the Venezuelan government.
Although US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday all options are open, Brazil’s armed forces are opposed to any military intervention in Venezuela.
Venezuela doctors under Maduro pressure during UN visit
Venezuelan doctors have come under pressure from President Nicolas Maduro’s government for trying to alert a visiting UN mission about the severe lack of hospital medicine and equipment, NGOs say.
Venezuelan authorities say that US sanctions freezing $30bn in assets have blocked imports of basic items including medicine.
But they have roughly stomped down on dissenting voices saying much of the resulting medical emergency is the fault of mismanagement, the NGOs allege.
According to Medicos Unidos (Doctors United), the repression has worsened over the past two weeks. “We have drawn attention to our patients dying for lack of supplies and equipment. Doctors have been arrested without any reason at all,” Jaime Lorenzo, executive director of the association said.
Tuesday, March 19
Trump: US has not yet imposed toughest sanctions on Venezuela
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that his administration had held in reserve what he called “the toughest of sanctions” to try to cut off revenues to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
“We haven’t done the toughest of sanctions, as you know,” Trump said after discussing the crisis in Venezuela at the White House with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
Trump in January slapped sanctions on state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, known as PDVSA, the stiffest economic measure against Maduro to date. But Trump’s administration has not yet tried to prevent companies based outside the United States from buying Venezuelan oil, a strategy known as “secondary sanctions”.
The secondary sanctions were part of Washington’s strategy to cut off revenue to Iran, which eventually helped force Tehran to negotiate a nuclear deal with six world powers in 2015.
Trump reaffirms US considering ‘all options’ in Venezuela
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday reaffirmed that “all options” are being considered in his drive to bring down Venezuela’s hard-left President Nicolas Maduro.
“All options are on the table,” he told reporters in the White House. “It’s a shame what’s happening in Venezuela – the debt and the destruction and the hunger.”
Trump spoke at a meeting where he hosted Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has backed the US-led campaign to pressure Maduro.
US-Russia talks on Venezuela positive but no agreement on Maduro: Abrams
Talks between the United States and Russia over the crisis in Venezuela were positive and substantive but the two sides were still divided over the legitimacy of President Nicolas Maduro, US special representative Elliott Abrams said on Tuesday.
“No, we did not come to a meeting of minds, but I think the talks were positive in the sense that both sides emerged with a better understanding of the other’s views,” Abrams said, adding that both sides had agreed on the depth of the crisis.
Meanwhile, RIA news agency cited Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying the talks over the crisis in Venezuela were difficult but frank.
Russia warned the US not to intervene militarily in Venezuela, a Moscow ally, and said it was increasingly concerned by US sanctions on the Latin American country, Ryabkov was quoted as saying.
US hits Venezuela with new sanctions on state-run mining company
The United States imposed sanctions on Tuesday against Venezuela’s state-run mining company Minerven and its president, Adrian Perdomo, in a bid to further cut off funding to the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The announcement came days after Uganda said it was investigating its biggest gold refinery for importing Venezuelan gold. Washington has warned gold traders not to deal in Venezuelan gold or oil.
“The illegitimate Maduro regime is pillaging the wealth of Venezuela while imperiling indigenous people by encroaching on protected areas and causing deforestation and habitat loss,” US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.
US backs Venezuela opposition to take UN disarmament role
A top US diplomat said her country wants an envoy of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido to take up the rotating presidency of a key UN disarmament body in two months.
Assistant Secretary Yleem Poblete said on Tuesday the US hopes a Guaido envoy “will be in a position” to take the conference presidency when Venezuela’s turn comes in May.
Venezuelan ambassador Jorge Valero, who represents President Nicolas Maduro’s government, called Poblete’s comments “absolutely absurd” and accused the Trump administration of seeking to install a “puppet president” in Venezuela.
Venezuela suspends oil exports to India: Oil minister
Venezuela has suspended its oil exports to India and views Russia and China as its main export destinations, the Azeri energy ministry said on Tuesday, citing Venezuela’s oil minister.
The Azeri ministry issued the statement on Tuesday following talks in Baku between Azerbaijan’s energy minister and Venezuelan oil minister and president of state-run oil company PDVSA, Manuel Quevedo.
The Indian market has been crucial for Venezuela’s economy because it has historically been the second-largest cash-paying customer for the OPEC country’s crude, behind the United States.
Earlier this year, the US imposed heavy sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry and has pressed India to stop buying Venezuelan oil.
Monday, March 18
Colombia: 1,000 Venezuelan forces crossed border
About 1,000 members of the Venezuelan security forces have fled to Colombia since last month, giving up weapons and uniforms as they abandoned the government of Maduro, Colombian authorities say.
Colombia’s foreign ministry released the updated number of Venezuelan police and military personnel who crossed the border, many around the time of a February 23 attempt by Guaido to deliver US-provided humanitarian aid to Venezuela.
US -sanctioned general defects to Colombia: sources
A Venezuelan general who is under US sanction for incompetent management of a state medicine programme has fled to Colombia amid growing pressure on Maduro, two sources familiar with the matter tell Reuters.
The US in 2018 sanctioned army General Carlos Rotondaro, former head of a government agency that provided medicine for chronic health conditions, as part of efforts to “highlight the economic mismanagement and endemic corruption” by Maduro’s government.
Rotondaro has left for Colombia and has joined forces with former Venezuelan Chief Prosecutor Luisa Ortega, who is working to have Maduro removed from office, one of the sources says.
Sunday, March 17
Maduro asks cabinet ministers to offer resignations
Nicolas Maduro is planning a “deep restructuring” of his government, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has said, as the country recovers from a prolonged blackout amid a power struggle with the opposition.
“President Nicolas Maduro has asked the entire executive Cabinet to put their roles up for review in a deep restructuring of the methods and functions of the Bolivarian government, to protect the fatherland of Bolivar and Chavez from any threat,” Rodriguez writes on Twitter.
German journalist released in Venezuela headed home
Germany’s foreign ministry says a freelance journalist freed in Venezuela months after being jailed as a suspected spy is on his way home.
A Caracas court ordered the conditional release of Billy Six on Friday. He has been ordered to report to the court every 15 days and not to speak to media.
Six had been charged with espionage, accusations his relatives denied.
Russian and US officials to discuss crisis
Russian and US diplomats will meet in Rome on Tuesday to hold talks about the crisis in Venezuela, according to the foreign ministry in Moscow.
Russia is to reiterate its position that a US military intervention in the South American country will be inappropriate, Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, tells the Interfax news agency.
Consultations are planned with US Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams, Ryabkov says, adding that Moscow wants Venezuela’s domestic unrest to be resolved through dialogue.
Saturday, March 16
March for victory
The president of the National Constituent Assembly Diosdado Cabello is leading the March for Victory in Caracas, where the people have taken to the streets to support the government.
Cabello celebrates “the consolidation of a great popular victory,” after the restitution of electricity and potable water in Venezuela.
“The right was wrong again, the people decided to be free and sovereign, no matter what they try, we will resist,” he says.
Cabello also says that the country needs “a real opposition, that is not controlled by the US, that respects the people of Venezuela, that if it goes to an election it recognises the results.”
Guaido launches new round of protests
Large crowds have gathered in the northern city of Valencia to greet Guaido, who plans to tour Venezuela as part of his campaign to oust Maduro.
Guaido post photos on Twitter showing him at a cathedral service and a market.
“Those who work here and those who come to buy what little they can are working people who deserve to live better,” Guaido writes.
“And although now the market [is not a place of] bustle and joy, today our people filled it with a strong cry of hope and freedom,” he adds.
Protests are also planned in the capital, Caracas, and other parts of the country as Guaido seeks to ramp up pressure on Maduro, who says he is the target of a coup plot directed from Washington.
Friday, March 15
Netherlands, US agree to use Curacao as possible aid hub
The Netherlands and the US reached an agreement on Friday to use facilities on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao for possible distribution of aid to nearby Venezuela, Curacao’s prime minister said.
The island will only be used for civilian operations to deliver aid, such as food and medicines, to Venezuela if the Venezuelan government explicitly allows it, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said last month.
Curacao Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath said on Twitter the US and the Netherlands signed an agreement detailing the access and use of facilities in Curacao as a humanitarian hub for aid to Venezuela.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has refused to let foreign aid into Venezuela, despite a deep economic crisis marked by shortages of food and medicine and hyperinflation. Maduro has called US-led aid efforts a veiled invasion meant to push him from power.
IDB first multilateral lender to recognise Guaido’s envoy
The Inter-American Development Bank on Friday voted to replace the representative of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with an economist backed by opposition leader Juan Guaido, in a major setback for the Maduro government.
The decision makes the IADB, Latin America’s largest regional lender, the first financial institution to recognise Guaido and would eventually free up development lending to Venezuela if Maduro steps down.
Guaido, who has been recognised as the OPEC country’s legitimate leader by most Western countries, including the US and many in Latin America, named Harvard University economist Ricardo Hausmann as his representative to the IADB, forcing a vote by the lender’s 48-member board of governors just two weeks before its annual meeting in China.
US envoy: Venezuela oil production dropping steadily
The US special representative for Venezuela said on Friday that Venezuela’s oil exports have been dropping steadily by roughly 50,000 barrels per month and production is likely to dip below a million barrels a day within a “month or two”.
“They are heading down toward a million now, and in a month or two will be below a million” barrels per day, US envoy Elliott Abrams told a news briefing, adding that the decline seen in recent days could partly be attributed to the blackouts that had crippled the country. “It’s a steady decline,” he added.
The OPEC member’s oil production has dwindled in the last two decades, from more than 3 million bpd at the beginning of the century to between 1.2 million and 1.4 million bpd by late 2018. Most of the crude it produces now is heavy or extra heavy.
American Airlines pilots told by union not to fly to Venezuela
American Airlines Group Inc pilots should not fly to Venezuela, an influential pilots union said on Friday, following a travel advisory issued by the US State Department this week.
The department cited civil unrest, poor health and arbitrary arrest and detention of US citizens in Venezuela for issuing the advisory.
“Do not accept any trips to Venezuela,” the Allied Pilots Association said in a statement.
A number of airlines have stopped their flights to the country because of security concerns and disputes over money they say the government owes them. United Airlines ended its flights to Venezuela in 2017.
Military intervention not an answer for Venezuela: Colombia president
Military intervention in Venezuela is not the way to resolve the crisis in the country, Colombia’s President Ivan Duque said in an interview in Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore published on Friday.
“I do not think the solution is a military intervention,” Duque told the newspaper when asked about any proposed intervention, especially by the US.
US President Donald Trump has taken steps to ratchet up pressure on Maduro and bolster Guaido, recognised by the US and more than 50 other countries, including Colombia. But Washington has dismissed as baseless suggestions it is planning to intervene militarily.
Bolivia’s Morales: Venezuela needs dialogue, not foreign meddling
Bolivia’s leftist President Evo Morales, a supporter of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, said on Friday that European nations should support a dialogue within the country.
Morales, who is on a visit to Greece, said meddling in the domestic affairs of another country never bodes well.
“History has taught that there have been many interventions from the outside, such as the case of Libya and Iraq, and they never offered a solution”, Morales said in translated comments after meeting Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. “On the contrary it abolished democracy,” he said.
Morales is one of a few Latin American leaders to support the embattled Maduro, whose country has been reeling from a humanitarian crisis.
Thursday, March 14
US revoked more than 340 visas from Venezuelans since Monday
The US has revoked hundreds of visas from Venezuelans since Monday, nearly a third of which belonged to former diplomats from Venezuela and their families, and is urging US citizens in Venezuela to flee the country days after the US withdrew its diplomats from Venezuela, the State Department said on Thursday.
“Since this Monday … we have revoked 340 visas, 107 of which include visas of Maduro’s former diplomats and their families,” State Department spokesman Robert Palladino told reporters.
The US has been stepping up actions against President Nicolas Maduro’s government as it tries to pressure Maduro to step down.
US considering sanctions to restrict Visa, Mastercard in Venezuela: Official
The US is considering imposing financial sanctions that could prohibit Visa, Mastercard and other financial institutions from processing transactions in Venezuela, a senior Trump administration said on Thursday.
The move, which has not been finalised, would be a significant ratcheting up of pressure on the government of President Nicolas Maduro and his supporters.
“The purpose of these sanctions is to continue to deprive the illegitimate Maduro regime of access to funds and deny their ability to continue stealing from the Venezuelan people,” the official said.
Pompeo: All US diplomats have left Venezuela
The US has withdrawn all remaining diplomatic personnel from its embassy in Caracas as the crisis in Venezuela deepens.
“Today, all US diplomats remaining in Venezuela departed the country. I know it is a difficult moment for them,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on Thursday.
He said the US remains committed to supporting opposition leader Juan Guaido, who wants to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and hold elections.
The embassy closure is set to worsen already tattered relations with US President Donald Trump, who has not ruled out military intervention to overthrow Maduro as Washington monitors rapidly unfolding events in the oil-rich but crippled South American nation.
House bills meant to step pressure on Venezuela’s Maduro
The House Foreign Affairs Committee has approved bills intended to step up US pressure against Maduro’s government.
The first bill would add new restrictions on the export of tear gas, riot gear and other ítems that can be used to control crime.
The second measure urges the Trump administration to provide up to $150m in humanitarian aid. Additionally, the State Department and intelligence agencies will be required to provide an assessment of a threat of Russian influence in Venezuela.
US diplomats in Venezuela prepare to head home
The last US diplomats in Venezuela are at the country’s main airport, preparing to head home amid deteriorating ties between Washington and President Maduro, a US official said.
Earlier on Thursday, a convoy was seen leaving the US Embassy in Caracas.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted this week that the diplomats were being withdrawn because they had become a “constraint” on US policy.
The Venezuelan government disputed Pompeo’s account, saying it had instructed the US diplomats to leave.
Diplomats walk out of UN conference
Diplomats walked out of a UN convention on drugs addressed by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza, saying his government was illegitimate and did not represent the country.
Dozens of officials from Latin America, as well as the US, Canada and some European countries, including France, left the room in protest as Arreaza took the podium for the meeting of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in Vienna.
Multiple diplomats, including from Latin America and Europe, staged a walk-out last month during an Arreaza address to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva when he called for direct talks between Maduro and US President Donald Trump about the country’s crisis.
Wednesday, March 13
Food supplier reports looting
Venezuela’s largest private food supplier says massive looting and vandalism occurred at four facilities in the city of Maracaibo during nationwide power outages, complicating efforts to distribute food and drinks to people in the area.
Empresas Polar says that the distribution centre and a production plant for Pepsi-Cola Venezuela were hit during unrest after blackouts started a week ago. So were a pasta plant and a beer distributor.
It reports the loss of large quantities of food, water and other drinks, vehicles, computers, office furniture and other items.
China offers help to restore power
China has offered to help Venezuela as it faces a crippling multi-day power blackout that President Nicolas Maduro blames on the US.
“China hopes that Venezuela can quickly find the cause of this accident and restore normal power and social order,” foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang says at a regular briefing.
“China is willing to offer assistance and technical support to Venezuela to restore the power system,” Lu says.
Tuesday, March 12
Journalist Luis Carlos Diaz released
Luis Carlos Diaz has been released after being detained for 24 hours.
His release has been confirmed by the National Press Workers Union (SNTP).
Diaz was charged with instigating crime and barred from leaving the country without authorisation SNTP says, he must appear before a court every eight days, the group adds.