Page 17 - Venezuela

Crude oil fall below $90 per barrel on report of US-Venezuela deal

Brent futures were down 59 cents, or 0.67%, at $90.27 a barrel at 10:30 CDT (1532 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell by 0.29 cents, or 0.37%, to $87.30 a barrel

18 migrants killed, and 29 injured in a bus crash in southern Mexico

At least 18 migrants from Venezuela and Peru died early Friday in a bus crash in southern Mexico, authorities said. Mexico's National Immigration Institute said the dead include two women and three children, and that 29 people were injured. There was no immediate information on their condition. Photos distributed by the institute showed the bus rolled over onto its side on a curvy section of highway in the southern state of Oaxaca. The cause of the crash on the town of San Pablo Huitzo, near the border with the neighbouring state of Puebla, is under investigation. The institute said a total of 55 migrants, mostly from Venezuela, were aboard the vehicle. It was the latest in a series of migrant deaths in Mexico amid a surge in migrants travelling toward the US border. Because migration agents often raid regular buses, migrants and smugglers often seek out risky forms of transportation, like unregulated buses, trains or freight trucks. Last week, 10 Cuban migrants died and 17 others

Biden admin is resuming deportation flights for Venezuelan migrants: Report

The Biden administration will resume deporting Venezuelan migrants, the largest single group encountered at the US-Mexico border last month, back to their economically troubled country as their arrivals continue to grow. The process is expected to begin shortly, said two US officials, though they did not provide specific details on when the flights would begin taking off. The officials were not authorised to disclose details of the government's plan and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. The resumption of deportation comes not long after the administration increased protected status for Venezuelans who arrive to the US, so if someone arrived to the US before July 31 of this year, but not after, they'd be eligible for protections. The decision reflects the larger strategy by President Joe Biden to not only provide expanded legal pathways for people arriving, but also to crack down on those who illegally cross into the country from Mexico. The officials would not discuss detai

Jindal Steel denies it agreed to invest in Venezuela's iron ore plant

Jindal Steel & Power "completely and categorically denies signing of any agreement or committing to any investment in Venezuela," according to a statement

Under pressure over border, Biden admin to protect thousands of Venezuelans

The Biden administration said that it was granting temporary legal status to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who are already in the country quickly making them eligible to work as it grapples with growing numbers of people fleeing the South American country and elsewhere to arrive at the US border with Mexico. The move along with promises to accelerate work permits for many migrants may appease Democratic leaders who have pressured the White House to do more to aid asylum-seekers, while also providing grist for Republicans who say the president has been too lax on immigration. The Homeland Security Department plans to grant Temporary Protected Status to an estimated 4,72,000 Venezuelans who arrived in the country as of July 31, 2023, making it easier for them to get authorisation to work in the US. That's been a key demand of Democratic mayors and governors who are struggling to care for an increased number of migrants in their care. That's in addition to about 2,42,700 ...

China upgrades relationship with Venezuela to 'all weather' partnership

China announced on Wednesday it was upgrading its diplomatic ties with Venezuela to an all weather partnership, a label reserved for a select few of its diplomatic partners. Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro is on a state visit to Beijing, his fifth as president, according to state broadcaster CCTV. He met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two signed a series of bilateral documents for Belt and Road projects and cooperation in the areas of the economy, trade, and education, according to CCTV. China is willing to increase imports of Venezuelan products, Xi said, according to the CCTV readout. The broadcaster did not give other details on the nature of the cooperation. Venezuela is also the first Latin American country to join in China's International Lunar Research station, a long-term project that will study the moon. One of the best known of China's select all-weather strategic partnerships is with Pakistan, where it has invested USD 25.4 billion over the past decade. Abou

S Arabia welcomes Venezuelan leader, reaching out to yet another US foe

Saudi Arabia has welcomed Venzuelan President Nicolas Maduro on an official visit, reaching out to yet another U.S. foe as the oil-rich kingdom engages in a flurry of diplomacy. Maduro arrived late Sunday in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, where he was greeted by Saudi officials, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency. It did not give a reason for the visit or elaborate on his schedule, but Saudi Arabia is hosting an international conference on combating extremism later this week in the capital, Riyadh. The gathering will be co-chaired by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Saudi Arabia has been a close U.S. ally for decades, but relations have been strained in recent years. Over the last few months, the kingdom has restored relations with Iran's theocracy and Syria's President Bashar Assad both seen as pariahs in the West. Last month, the Saudis welcomed Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a close Western ally, to an Arab League summit. But days later, they hosted a .

Venezuelan president Maduro to fully open border with Colombia from Jan 1

Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro on Monday announced his intention to fully open the border crossings with Colombia starting January 1, a measure repeatedly postponed following the restoration of diplomatic and commercial ties between the South American neighbours. Relations between the countries were broken off in 2019, but Maduro has said the environment is conducive to improved ties with the election of Gustavo Petro as Colombia's first leftist president. The neighbours resumed diplomatic relations in September. I am going to announce that we will be completely opening the border, for all of western Venezuela with Colombia, for the passage of vehicles, motorcycles, trucks as of January 1. Maduro said on state television. We are preparing everything to comply with what we announced, to fulfill what was promised to President Gustavo Petro, he said. Petro has recognised Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela. His predecessor, Ivn Duque, along with dozens of other countri

Biden administration eases Venezuela sanctions as opposition talks resume

The Biden administration on Saturday eased some oil sanctions on Venezuela in an effort to support newly restarted negotiations between President Nicols Maduro's government and its opposition. The Treasury Department is allowing Chevron to resume limited energy production in Venezuela after years of sanctions that have dramatically curtailed oil and gas profits that have flowed to Maduro's government. Earlier this year the Treasury Department allowed the California-based Chevron and other U.S. companies to perform only basic upkeep of wells it operates jointly with state-run oil giant PDVSA. Under the new policy, profits from the sale of energy would be directed to paying down debt owed to Chevron, rather than providing profits to PDVSA. Talks between the Maduro government and the Unitary Platform resumed in Mexico City on Saturday after more than a yearlong pause. It remained to be seen whether they would take a different course from previous rounds of negotiations that have not ..

Venezuela, Colombia resume flights after 2-year hiatus due to Covid

The flight on Monday by Turpial Airlines from Caracas to Bogota is the first one since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in early 2020

1.2 million people in Venezuela cut from essential supplies after floods

Heavy rain has damaged 41 roads in Sucre and 28 in Anzoategui, said Transportation Minister Ramon Velasquez Araguayan

Venezuelan, Colombian presidents meet for 1st time in years as ties improve

This is the first visit by a Colombian head of state to Venezuela since 2016, reports Xinhua news agency.

Colombia's President Gustavo Petro promises to deepen ties with Venezuela

The presidents of Colombia and Venezuela met on Tuesday and said they would improve trade and security cooperation, as both countries seek to normalise relations following the election of Colombia's first leftist leader. After the meeting in Venezuela's presidential palace, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said it was suicidal for the governments of Venezuela and Colombia to have become estranged from each other recently, adding that the border between the countries had been forgotten and turned over to criminal mafias. Colombia's president said both countries would now look for ways to share intelligence on drug trafficking groups, and added that he would lobby for Venezuela's re-entry into the Andean Community of Nations, a regional trade and investment group that Venezuela withdrew from in 2006. Petro has asked for Venezuela's support in peace talks with the National Liberation Army, or ELN, a Colombian rebel group that operates on both sides of the border. Petro's efforts to ..

Iran starts refining crude oil in Venezuela: Petroleum Minister Javad Owji

Iranian Petroleum Minister Javad Owji has said that Iran has started refining its crude oil in Venezuela, state media affiliated to his Ministry reported.

Joe Biden turning to Trump-era rule to expel Venezuelan migrants

Two years ago, candidate Joe Biden loudly denounced President Donald Trump for immigration policies that inflicted cruelty and exclusion at every turn, including toward those fleeing the "brutal" government of socialist Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. Now, with increasing numbers of Venezuelans arriving at the US-Mexico border as the Nov 8 election nears, Biden has turned to an unlikely source for a solution: his predecessor's playbook. Biden last week invoked a Trump-era rule known as Title 42 -- which Biden's own Justice Department is fighting in court to deny Venezuelans fleeing their crisis-torn country the chance to request asylum at the border. The rule, first invoked by Trump in 2020, uses emergency public health authority to allow the United States to keep migrants from seeking asylum at the border, based on the need to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Under the new Biden administration policy, Venezuelans who walk or swim across America's southern border will be expelled

US mulls Ukrainian-type parole for Venezuelan migrants, says officials

The Biden administration is developing plans for Venezuelans with financial sponsors to be granted parole to enter the United States, similar to how Ukrainians have been admitted after Russia's invasion, U.S. officials said Tuesday. Four officials offered broad outlines of the plan to deal with a large increase in Venezuelans arriving at the U.S. border with Mexico. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly. Venezuelans who cross the border illegally on land would be immediately returned to Mexico, two officials said. Currently, Mexico only accepts migrants expelled under Title 42 authority a pandemic-era rule that denies migrants rights to seek asylum and is designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 if they are from Guatemala, El Salvador or Honduras, in addition to Mexico. Venezuelans who qualify for parole would enter the U.S. at airports, two officials said, mirroring a program introduced in April that allows Ukrainia

Venezuela searches for missing after landslide in Las Tejerias; 43 dead

Rescuers worked to clear rocks and mud from the streets of a north-central city in Venezuela on Tuesday, three days after it was hit by a massive and deadly landslide, and expanded their search for any bodies buried under the sludge. Officials raised the death toll from the slide in Las Tejerias to at least 43 and warned that it could go up further as bodies are found downstream from the hardest-hit neighbourhoods. Crews extended their search perimeter to include that area, along a river located about a mile (2 kilometres) outside the city. At least 56 people were said to be missing, and some local residents have joined in the hunt for them. Magaly Colmenares said she was with a group of firefighters that recovered the body of her grandson Monday from a house swamped by mud. The corpse was taken to a health centre that has been pressed into service as a morgue. He was buried with a man who tried to help him and his 3-month-old sister, Colmenares said. I found my angel, and we have

Venezuela, South Korea, Afghanistan lose vote for UN rights body

Venezuela, South Korea and Afghanistan lost contested races for seats on the top UN human rights body in Tuesday by the General Assembly, which faced criticism for electing countries like Vietnam and Sudan, which have been accused of having abysmal human rights records. The 193-member assembly voted by secret ballot to fill 14 seats on the 47-member Human Rights Council. Seats are allocated to regions to ensure geographical representation, a rule that has regularly led to many regions putting forward uncontested slates as Africa, Eastern Europe and Western nations did this year. Human rights groups have long criticised this practice, saying it denies UN member nations any choice of countries on the council and virtually guarantees seats for some countries with poor rights records. In this year's election, the most hotly watched race was in the Latin America and Caribbean regional group, where Chile, Costa Rica and Venezuela were vying for two seats. The result saw Chile get 144 ...

22 dead, more than 50 missing after landslide in Venezuela: Vice-President

At least 22 people died while more than 50 are missing after a landslide in central Venezuela; the landslide was reported after heavy rains caused a river to overflow

US looking to ease sanctions on Venezuela to boost oil supply: Report

The deal may be announced by the end of October and will allow US oil companies to drill oil in Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro will hold a free, fair presidential elections in 2024 in return