<![CDATA[EL PAÍS]]>https://english.elpais.comSun, 31 May 2026 16:50:29 +0000en1hourly1<![CDATA[Venezuela’s longest-serving political prisoners released after 23 years behind bars]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-05-21/venezuelas-longest-serving-political-prisoners-released-after-23-years-behind-bars.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-05-21/venezuelas-longest-serving-political-prisoners-released-after-23-years-behind-bars.htmlThu, 21 May 2026 11:06:10 +0000Héctor Rovaín was 34 when he went to prison and his parents were still alive. He left at 57 without having been able to bury them. Luis Molina left his daughter as a three‑year‑old and will now meet a married woman and a grandchild he has yet to know. Like the other two, Erasmo Bolívar spent 23 Christmases without embracing his family. All three were officers of the Metropolitan Police (PM), a force that operated in Caracas and which no longer exists. They were accused, without evidence, along with six other officers, of two of the 19 deaths that occurred on April 11, 2002, when an opposition‑called protest tried to reach the Miraflores presidential palace and demonstrators were repelled by gunfire. There remain doubts about where those bullets came from. That same day, Hugo Chávez was toppled in a coup d’état, though he returned to power 48 hours later.

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]]><![CDATA[Chavismo frees Samantha, the teenager jailed for being the sister of a military officer]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-05-20/chavismo-frees-samantha-the-teenager-jailed-for-being-the-sister-of-a-military-officer.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-05-20/chavismo-frees-samantha-the-teenager-jailed-for-being-the-sister-of-a-military-officer.htmlWed, 20 May 2026 10:27:56 +0000Samantha Hernández Castillo was implicated in a plot to plant a bomb in Caracas that never detonated. When she was arrested last November, she was at her grandparents’ house and about to start her final year of high school. Samantha is 16 and the younger sister of First Lieutenant Christian Hernández, an exiled officer accused of military conspiracy. On Monday night, six months after her arrest, she was released from a juvenile detention center under precautionary measures; the restrictions she still faces remain unknown. She appears in a photo with a flat smile and an emoji sweater, embraced by her grandparents. But her family remains broken.

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]]>Ariana Cubillos<![CDATA[Tareck El Aissami: The former Venezuelan power broker now turning against his own in court ]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-05-18/tareck-el-aissami-the-former-venezuelan-power-broker-now-turning-against-his-own-in-court.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-05-18/tareck-el-aissami-the-former-venezuelan-power-broker-now-turning-against-his-own-in-court.htmlMon, 18 May 2026 09:58:32 +0000Less than a month ago, a trial began in Venezuela that once seemed impossible. Tareck El Aissami — just three years ago, the most powerful man in the Venezuelan regime, a former vice president, former oil minister, and an inseparable figure in the governments of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro — arrived at the first hearing in a wheelchair, visibly thinner, wearing the light‑blue prison uniform. He is the central figure in the largest corruption case opened in Venezuela in two decades: 64 defendants, billions of dollars missing, and a criminal system built from within the state to evade U.S. sanctions.

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]]>Matias Delacroix<![CDATA[Alex Saab’s latest downfall: Rescued by Maduro and handed over by Delcy Rodríguez]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-05-18/alex-saabs-latest-downfall-rescued-by-maduro-and-handed-over-by-delcy-rodriguez.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-05-18/alex-saabs-latest-downfall-rescued-by-maduro-and-handed-over-by-delcy-rodriguez.htmlMon, 18 May 2026 09:58:12 +0000On December 20, 2023, Nicolás Maduro, cheerful and emotional, embraced Alex Saab in Miraflores and told him he had always known the day of his freedom would come. The Colombian businessman — accused of being Maduro’s front man and of playing a key role in the financial operations of Chavismo — had spent three years detained between Cape Verde and the United States. Today, the two men in that embrace are both imprisoned in jails in New York and Miami.

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]]>Anthoni Belchi<![CDATA[Venezuela through the polls: Venezuelans trust Chevron more than their own president]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-05-11/venezuela-through-the-polls-venezuelans-trust-chevron-more-than-their-own-president.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-05-11/venezuela-through-the-polls-venezuelans-trust-chevron-more-than-their-own-president.htmlMon, 11 May 2026 12:02:01 +0000For years, it’s been difficult to gauge opinions in Venezuela. Not because there’s any shortage of them, but because expressing one has carried a very high cost. During Nicolás Maduro’s final years in power, polling stopped altogether. Some pollsters had to go into hiding, and people began responding to any political question with “don’t know” or “no answer.”

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]]>Gaby Oraa<![CDATA[Investors land in Caracas while mothers continue searching for their children in prisons]]>https://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2026-05-06/investors-land-in-caracas-while-mothers-continue-searching-for-their-children-in-prisons.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2026-05-06/investors-land-in-caracas-while-mothers-continue-searching-for-their-children-in-prisons.htmlWed, 06 May 2026 11:19:28 +0000José Perozo, a 24-year-old Venezuelan, is behind bars again. In 2024, he was arrested during the crackdown on protests against the presidential election results. This time, he had gone out to fill some water jugs at a reservoir near his home in Mariara, Carabobo state, when a patrol car pulled up beside him. They arrested him, put a hood over his head, and took him away. His mother has searched every police station in town without finding him. “How long will this go on? We can’t even go out on the street!” pleads Yuraima Piñero.

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]]>Miguel Gutiérrez<![CDATA[US intervention ends a decade of statistical silence in Venezuela]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-04-30/us-intervention-ends-a-decade-of-statistical-silence-in-venezuela.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-04-30/us-intervention-ends-a-decade-of-statistical-silence-in-venezuela.htmlThu, 30 Apr 2026 08:38:01 +0000Data on the Venezuelan economy had been kept under wraps. But after roughly a decade of statistical silence — interrupted only occasionally by partial releases — the fog has begun to lift in recent weeks as the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) updates historical series on several key indicators. This measure is crucial amidst the economic recovery efforts undertaken by Delcy Rodríguez’s government since the U.S. military intervention. The newly published figures show that inflation reached 32% in January, 14.6% in February, and 13.1% in March. The year‑on‑year rate last month stood at 649.5%.

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]]>Fernando Vergara<![CDATA[‘Have you been to Caracas yet?’: the question investors are asking about Venezuela]]>https://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2026-04-29/have-you-been-to-caracas-yet-the-question-investors-are-asking-about-venezuela.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2026-04-29/have-you-been-to-caracas-yet-the-question-investors-are-asking-about-venezuela.htmlWed, 29 Apr 2026 09:34:37 +0000At an elite club in northern Bogotá, some fifty Colombian investors listened last Tuesday to a statement that sums up Venezuela’s current economic situation better than any report. It was uttered by Ángel Cárdenas, infrastructure manager at CAF, the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean: “Among investors in the region, the debate is no longer whether the country represents an opportunity or a risk. The question is whether or not you’ve already been to Caracas.” After years of freefall, the country with the world’s largest oil reserves has returned to the global radar.

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]]>Carlos Becerra<![CDATA[Gustavo Petro, the first head of state to meet Delcy Rodríguez in post-Maduro Venezuela ]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-04-24/gustavo-petro-the-first-head-of-state-to-meet-delcy-rodriguez-in-post-maduro-venezuela.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-04-24/gustavo-petro-the-first-head-of-state-to-meet-delcy-rodriguez-in-post-maduro-venezuela.htmlFri, 24 Apr 2026 08:03:21 +0000Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, are preparing for a second attempt at holding a bilateral meeting. Petro announced that the two leaders are scheduled to meet in Caracas at midday on Friday — the first official visit by a head of state to Venezuela since Nicolás Maduro’s removal, and another step in Rodríguez’s consolidation of power.

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]]><![CDATA[Venezuela prison riot leaves five inmates dead]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-04-22/venezuela-prison-riot-leaves-five-inmates-dead.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-04-22/venezuela-prison-riot-leaves-five-inmates-dead.htmlWed, 22 Apr 2026 09:58:48 +0000The Venezuelan government has reported the deaths of five inmates during a riot Monday at Yare III prison, located in a town in the Tuy Valley, outside Caracas. The confirmation from the Ministry of Penitentiary Services came a day after the incident, following a weekend in which relatives and human rights advocates had denounced irregularities at the prison.

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]]><![CDATA[Venezuela approves new mining law to open its subsoil to foreign capital]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-04-10/venezuela-approves-new-mining-law-to-open-its-subsoil-to-foreign-capital.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-04-10/venezuela-approves-new-mining-law-to-open-its-subsoil-to-foreign-capital.htmlFri, 10 Apr 2026 10:31:23 +0000The Venezuelan parliament, controlled by the Chavista regime, on Thursday approved a new mining law that—just as with the hydrocarbons law—opens Venezuela’s mineral-rich subsoil to foreign capital. The approval of this 131-article law, which repeals the one enacted by former Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez in 2013, took several sessions and had been under debate for weeks. It finally passed unanimously on the same day that the new Attorney General and Ombudsman were elected.

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]]>Ronald Peña R<![CDATA[Delcy Rodríguez announces ‘responsible’ minimum‑wage increase for Venezuela ]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-04-09/delcy-rodriguez-announces-responsible-minimumwage-increase-for-venezuela.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-04-09/delcy-rodriguez-announces-responsible-minimumwage-increase-for-venezuela.htmlThu, 09 Apr 2026 13:06:44 +0000Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, announced on Wednesday an increase in the minimum wage — the first so far this decade. She did not specify the size of the raise, describing it only as “responsible,” and said it would take effect on May 1. Rodríguez is trying to ease growing discontent after the hopes of an economic recovery sparked by the January 3 U.S. intervention failed to materialize in people’s pockets. With a march called for Thursday in Caracas to demand economic relief, Rodríguez again invoked her administration’s commitment to “president Hugo Chávez’s spirit of social justice.”

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]]>MIRAFLORES PALACE<![CDATA[The fight over Venezuelan assets in the US brings Chavismo closer to the opposition]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-04-07/the-fight-over-venezuelan-assets-in-the-us-brings-chavismo-closer-to-the-opposition.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-04-07/the-fight-over-venezuelan-assets-in-the-us-brings-chavismo-closer-to-the-opposition.htmlTue, 07 Apr 2026 10:23:07 +0000A new legal development in a New York court reveals a possible collaboration between the lawyers representing the government of acting Venezuelan president Delcy Rodríguez and attorneys working for the opposition that controlled the National Assembly in 2015. The key is that these opposition members, represented by Juan Guaidó, took control of some of Venezuela’s assets in the United States in 2019, when Donald Trump was in his first term as U.S. president and did not recognize Nicolás Maduro during Venezuela’s presidential crisis of 2019-2023. Instead, Guaidó was recognized as interim president by 88 countries, including the U.S., although this recognition was revoked in January 2023.

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]]>Ailen Diaz<![CDATA[Delcy Rodríguez, three months as president of Venezuela under Trump’s watchful eye ]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-04-06/delcy-rodriguez-three-months-as-president-of-venezuela-under-trumps-watchful-eye.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-04-06/delcy-rodriguez-three-months-as-president-of-venezuela-under-trumps-watchful-eye.htmlMon, 06 Apr 2026 10:31:45 +0000For the past three months, three pages of a fast‑tracked ruling by the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court have been the legal scaffolding holding Delcy Rodríguez in Venezuela’s presidency. Rodríguez — who was Nicolás Maduro’s vice president until early 2026 — assumed the role of acting head of the executive branch thanks to an “urgent and preventive” injunction issued after the capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on January 3 by a U.S.‑dispatched commando in Caracas. Chavismo thus managed — with Donald Trump’s approval— to give a legal veneer to its continued hold on power.

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]]>Ariana Cubillos<![CDATA[Venezuela activates an electricity saving plan to reverse blackouts ]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-03-25/venezuela-activates-an-electricity-saving-plan-to-reverse-blackouts.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-03-25/venezuela-activates-an-electricity-saving-plan-to-reverse-blackouts.htmlWed, 25 Mar 2026 12:46:58 +0000The blackouts arrived long before the energy-saving plan announced by acting president Delcy Rodríguez last weekend. Reports of power dips are flooding social media. On Monday afternoon, users across the country wrote “bajoooon” or “bajoneitor” (a power outage as powerful as Terminator), the Venezuelan way of humorously addressing the precarious situation. The energy crisis that has plagued Venezuela for years continues to leave much of the country’s western states, such as Zulia, Falcón, Lara, Trujillo, Mérida, and Táchira with power cuts of up to eight hours a day.

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]]>Leonardo Fernandez Viloria<![CDATA[Those who do not give up: the lawyers, mothers and activists still fighting for political prisoners in Venezuela]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-03-18/those-who-do-not-give-up-the-lawyers-mothers-and-activists-still-fighting-for-political-prisoners-in-venezuela.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-03-18/those-who-do-not-give-up-the-lawyers-mothers-and-activists-still-fighting-for-political-prisoners-in-venezuela.htmlWed, 18 Mar 2026 16:35:43 +0000“Who ‘owns’ this prisoner?” This is the question that the lawyers Alfredo Romero and Gonzalo Himiob, who lead the non-profit group Foro Penal, have begun their work with in recent years. Their organization has defended more than 14,000 people, including political prisoners and relatives of those killed in the first protests against Chavismo, those of April 11, 2002. Their office holds part of the memory of two decades of political violence and authoritarian drift, which the interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, is now trying to leave behind, pressured by the U.S. military intervention of January 3, in which her former boss, Nicolás Maduro, was removed from power.

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]]>GABY ORAA<![CDATA[Venezuela opens its gold and gas-rich subsoil to the United States]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-03-11/venezuela-opens-its-gold-and-gas-rich-subsoil-to-the-united-states.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-03-11/venezuela-opens-its-gold-and-gas-rich-subsoil-to-the-united-states.htmlWed, 11 Mar 2026 11:25:27 +0000Since January 3, Venezuela has opened its natural resources to the United States. First it was oil. Crude extracted from Venezuelan wells has returned to what was for years its main customer, and Washington has reciprocated by granting the necessary licenses. Then, the Venezuelan parliament, led by Jorge Rodríguez, the brother of acting president Delcy Rodríguez, amended the hydrocarbons law, and a few days ago, the first contract with Shell was signed. The same pattern is now being repeated for mining operations.

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]]>Leonardo Fernandez Viloria<![CDATA[The Venezuelan opposition moves past the 2024 elections and prepares for the next ones ]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-03-06/the-venezuelan-opposition-moves-past-the-2024-elections-and-prepares-for-the-next-ones.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-03-06/the-venezuelan-opposition-moves-past-the-2024-elections-and-prepares-for-the-next-ones.htmlFri, 06 Mar 2026 10:05:03 +0000Many things have changed in Venezuela since January 3, when U.S. elite troops captured Nicolás Maduro. Throughout this time, however, the regime’s most hardline opposition maintained the same slogan: “Venezuelans have already voted.” This was a reference to the presidential elections of July 28, 2024, when Edmundo González, the candidate backed by María Corina Machado, achieved a landslide victory against Maduro.

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]]>Maxwell Briceno<![CDATA[‘Comma by comma, a change here, a change there’: The passage of Venezuela’s amnesty law ]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-28/comma-by-comma-a-change-here-a-change-there-the-passage-of-venezuelas-amnesty-law.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-28/comma-by-comma-a-change-here-a-change-there-the-passage-of-venezuelas-amnesty-law.htmlSat, 28 Feb 2026 04:45:00 +0000Up until the final minutes before approval of the Venezuelan National Assembly’s amnesty law, opposition lawmakers debated over additions they considered essential. The process was a seven-hour marathon of closed-door discussions, with two hours of debate on the Assembly floor, and a nighttime visit to Miraflores Palace, the seat of government, to deliver the final law to the acting President Delcy Rodríguez. Despite its limitations and omissions, the law allows the Venezuelan government to make a case that it will be allowing greater political freedom after the capture of Nicolás Maduro by the U.S. government.

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]]>Fausto Torrealba<![CDATA[Maduro’s lawyer claims the US is preventing Venezuela from paying for his defense]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-26/maduros-lawyer-claims-the-us-is-preventing-venezuela-from-paying-for-his-defense.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-26/maduros-lawyer-claims-the-us-is-preventing-venezuela-from-paying-for-his-defense.htmlThu, 26 Feb 2026 09:50:00 +0000The sanctions against Nicolás Maduro and the Venezuelan government are hindering his defense in New York. His lead attorney, Barry Pollack, denounced in a letter published Wednesday that the Trump administration is preventing the Venezuelan government from paying for the legal services he is providing to the Chavista leader since his imprisonment in Brooklyn. Maduro was detained along with his wife, Cilia Flores, after being captured by U.S. military forces during the January 3 military intervention.

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]]>ADAM GRAY<![CDATA[Venezuela’s amnesty law excludes hundreds of military personnel and their families]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-23/venezuelas-amnesty-law-excludes-hundreds-of-military-personnel-and-their-families.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-23/venezuelas-amnesty-law-excludes-hundreds-of-military-personnel-and-their-families.htmlMon, 23 Feb 2026 17:54:24 +0000Venezuela’s amnesty law has come into force, and the government has said that more than 300 prisoners will be released this weekend. Courts have already begun receiving petitions, according to lawmaker Jorge Arreaza, who heads the commission that will review the cases.

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]]>MIGUEL GUTIERREZ<![CDATA[Venezuela’s National Assembly gives unanimous approval to amnesty bill]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-20/venezuelas-national-assembly-gives-unanimous-approval-to-amnesty-bill.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-20/venezuelas-national-assembly-gives-unanimous-approval-to-amnesty-bill.htmlFri, 20 Feb 2026 07:59:50 +0000Venezuela’s National Assembly on Thursday passed an amnesty bill that could release hundreds of political prisoners from jail and drop the prosecution of political refugees living in hiding or exile. The bill was approved unanimously after two weeks of consultations with various political and civil society sectors. While the new law incorporates many of the legal points negotiated by opposition lawmakers to ensure broader coverage, it explicitly excludes military personnel — 174 of the approximately 600 political prisoners who remain incarcerated — who are accused of rebellion.

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]]>Julio Urribarri<![CDATA[Relatives of political prisoners in Venezuela stage hunger strike in response to broken promises of their release]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-17/relatives-of-political-prisoners-in-venezuela-stage-hunger-strike-in-response-to-broken-promises-of-their-release.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-17/relatives-of-political-prisoners-in-venezuela-stage-hunger-strike-in-response-to-broken-promises-of-their-release.htmlTue, 17 Feb 2026 10:18:41 +0000At midday on Monday, 10 women lay on mattresses propped against police barricades, numb from dehydration and having gone more than 50 hours without food. They had joined the hunger strike already started by the political prisoners whose freedom they are demanding. After more than a month of vigil, tents have multiplied around Zone 7, a command post of the Bolivarian National Police (PNB) in Caracas, and the protest has been growing. It is the only prison to have been visited by any government representative. There, 10 days ago, Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly, held an unusual meeting with relatives of political prisoners and assured them that all would be released no later than last Friday, with the amnesty law approved. That promise, however, has been put on hold.

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]]>Miguel Gutiérrez<![CDATA[Life after prison in Venezuela: ‘Freedom and life are one and the same’]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-13/life-after-prison-in-venezuela-freedom-and-life-are-one-and-the-same.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-13/life-after-prison-in-venezuela-freedom-and-life-are-one-and-the-same.htmlFri, 13 Feb 2026 20:31:22 +0000Ramón Centeno is learning to sleep with the three dogs his mother left behind and to live without her. He was released from prison on parole in a wheelchair, after spending more than four years locked up in a jail he walked into — on crutches, but walking nonetheless. He was arrested days after conducting an interview. The Chavista regime released him on January 14: he was one of the first 24 journalists considered political prisoners to regain their freedom, amid this transition of sorts that began in Venezuela after the U.S. military intervention of January 3, in which Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured.

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]]>GABY ORAA<![CDATA[Internal differences are delaying the amnesty promised by Delcy Rodríguez in Venezuela ]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-12/internal-differences-are-delaying-the-amnesty-promised-by-delcy-rodriguez-in-venezuela.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-12/internal-differences-are-delaying-the-amnesty-promised-by-delcy-rodriguez-in-venezuela.htmlThu, 12 Feb 2026 09:51:52 +0000The amnesty law for political prisoners in Venezuela is delayed. The Chavista regime had hoped for a swift debate of the bill, but the suspension of Tuesday’s parliamentary session made it clear that it won’t be so simple. The issue is even at risk of not being included on the agenda of the National Assembly meeting scheduled for Thursday. These delays stem from conflicting views within Delcy Rodríguez’s government regarding the scope of ending years of political persecution in Venezuela.

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]]>MIGUEL GUTIÉRREZ<![CDATA[The rise and fall of Alex Saab, financial shark of the Bolivarian Revolution]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-06/the-rise-and-fall-of-alex-saab-financial-shark-of-the-bolivarian-revolution.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-06/the-rise-and-fall-of-alex-saab-financial-shark-of-the-bolivarian-revolution.htmlFri, 06 Feb 2026 19:55:57 +0000Detained in Venezuela amid confusing circumstances, Alex Saab (Barranquilla, 54 years old) is being faced with the possibility of extradition to the United States, where he was previously imprisoned on charges of money laundering. The new administration of Delcy Rodríguez in Caracas, under the watch of Donald Trump, has not made any demands that the ponytailed Colombian businessman be set free, as Nicolás Maduro did when he managed to repatriate his alleged frontman when Saab was imprisoned in Miami. On the contrary, there is every sign that the current regime is in favor of Saab’s detention. His current situation is bizarre: once extradited from Cape Verde, he was set free in a prisoner exchange between Caracas and Washington, named Minister of Industries and National Production, then relieved of his duties by the interim president herself soon after the operation during which U.S. military forces captured Maduro at the beginning of the year. Saab’s luck appears to have run out.

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]]>Miguel Gutierrez<![CDATA[The month that changed Venezuela: From the US attack and Maduro’s capture to amnesty for political prisoners]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-03/the-month-that-changed-venezuela-from-the-us-attack-and-maduros-capture-to-amnesty-for-political-prisoners.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-03/the-month-that-changed-venezuela-from-the-us-attack-and-maduros-capture-to-amnesty-for-political-prisoners.htmlTue, 03 Feb 2026 10:04:55 +0000A dizzying month is coming to a close in Venezuela. Since the early hours of January 3, events have unfolded at an unprecedented speed: a surgical military attack by U.S. special forces, Chavismo stripped of its leader, a regime that cooperates with the enemy, some signs of openness, the redefinition of the oil market, and finally, an unexpected gesture: a general amnesty for all political prisoners, the first explicit acknowledgment that the cycle of political violence must end to open another possible horizon.

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]]>Ronald Peña R<![CDATA[Henrique Capriles: ‘Venezuelans will not settle for just a reshuffling of power’]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-01/henrique-capriles-venezuelans-will-not-settle-for-just-a-reshuffling-of-power.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-01/henrique-capriles-venezuelans-will-not-settle-for-just-a-reshuffling-of-power.htmlSun, 01 Feb 2026 04:00:00 +0000Henrique Capriles Radonski, 53, has regained prominence on the Venezuelan political scene. A member of the National Assembly in a Venezuela without Nicolás Maduro, Capriles is eager to speak. He pauses for several minutes before answering each question, and sometimes returns to and elaborates on his previous responses. Although conciliatory, he reveals a persistent unease with a segment of the opposition that, he says, has judged him harshly. Capriles, an opposition leader, former mayor, former governor, and former presidential candidate, is concerned that the “new political moment” spoken of by interim president Delcy Rodríguez results in nothing more than an oil deal. He insists that without trustworthy institutions and freedoms, elections will change nothing.

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]]>GABY ORAA<![CDATA[Venezuela gives the green light for foreign capital to enter the oil sector]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-01-30/venezuela-gives-the-green-light-for-foreign-capital-to-enter-the-oil-sector.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-01-30/venezuela-gives-the-green-light-for-foreign-capital-to-enter-the-oil-sector.htmlFri, 30 Jan 2026 10:57:17 +0000Venezuela’s National Assembly, controlled by the Chavista regime, has approved the reform of the hydrocarbons law, opening the oil sector to privatization. The debate on the law was swift, as demanded by the United States, and comes after the January 3 military strikes on Venezuelan territory and the capture of Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores. Since then, Washington has almost fully restored commercial relations with the South American country, once viewed as a source of instability and threats.

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]]>MAXWELL BRICENO<![CDATA[Venezuela reactivates releases and frees over 100 political prisoners]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-01-26/venezuela-reactivates-releases-and-frees-over-100-political-prisoners.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-01-26/venezuela-reactivates-releases-and-frees-over-100-political-prisoners.htmlMon, 26 Jan 2026 14:40:02 +0000This Sunday saw 104 new prisoner releases in Venezuela, primarily from penitentiaries in the interior of the country, and prisoners’ advocates continued to confirm further releases. Since January 8, 258 people have been let out on bail, in a slow process, according to NGOs. The Chavista government, under pressure from the United States following the arrest of Nicolás Maduro and amid protests by family members who maintain vigils outside prisons, puts the number of releases at 626.

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]]>Jacinto Oliveros<![CDATA[Chavismo opens up to privatization of Venezuela’s oil with hydrocarbons law reform]]>https://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2026-01-23/chavismo-opens-up-to-privatization-of-venezuelas-oil-with-hydrocarbons-law-reform.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2026-01-23/chavismo-opens-up-to-privatization-of-venezuelas-oil-with-hydrocarbons-law-reform.htmlFri, 23 Jan 2026 19:26:20 +0000The future of the economy in a Venezuela without Nicolás Maduro depends on legal reforms that the Chavista government is quickly initiating. Debate on reforms to the hydrocarbons law began Thursday at the National Assembly, a first step towards allowing foreign capital to take part in the exploitation and commercialization of Venezuelan oil, under the watch of the United States. It marks the beginning of a new period of détente, leveraged by the oil business, which Washington negotiated with the Venezuelan government following its military attack and capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on January 3.

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]]>Matias Delacroix<![CDATA[Juan Barreto: ‘Those in power in Venezuela must take the first steps toward a national agreement’]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-01-21/juan-barreto-those-in-power-in-venezuela-must-take-the-first-steps-toward-a-national-agreement.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-01-21/juan-barreto-those-in-power-in-venezuela-must-take-the-first-steps-toward-a-national-agreement.htmlWed, 21 Jan 2026 12:03:37 +0000On January 3, former Chavista deputy Juan Barreto spent the day in darkness. After a powerful explosion, the neighborhood where he lives in Caracas was left without electricity, as frequently happens due to the deterioration of public services. Like many Caracas residents, he also heard the metallic drone of airplanes. “It was like a pressure cooker, with very high-pitched cicadas and crickets hitting your ears. There was a smell of smoke, on a very clear night, with a very clear sky and a full moon,” he recalls of that early morning that changed the political landscape in Venezuela.

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]]>Alfredo Lasry<![CDATA[Venezuela opens up to the world]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-01-15/venezuela-opens-up-to-the-world.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-01-15/venezuela-opens-up-to-the-world.htmlThu, 15 Jan 2026 09:40:42 +0000Just a few weeks ago, the scene would have been unthinkable. The German ambassador, Völker Pellet, shook hands with Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello at the Miraflores presidential palace. A month earlier, Cabello, one of Chavismo’s strongmen, had dedicated part of his television program, where he usually ridicules and threatens those he considers adversaries, to the German diplomat. He said he had seen him “taking it easy” in Caracas and showed photos from his social media accounts of him walking around Waraira Repano, the Ávila mountain that dominates the city, to mock Berlin’s warning about the risks of traveling to Venezuela in the midst of escalating tensions with Washington. Today, that same ambassador is being officially received in the heart of Chavista power.

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]]>Leonardo Fernandez Viloria<![CDATA[María Corina Machado fights to avoid being left out of a hypothetical transition in Venezuela ]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-01-13/maria-corina-machado-fights-to-avoid-being-left-out-of-a-hypothetical-transition-in-venezuela.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-01-13/maria-corina-machado-fights-to-avoid-being-left-out-of-a-hypothetical-transition-in-venezuela.htmlTue, 13 Jan 2026 12:20:17 +0000María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump this week, the White House has confirmed. The conversation aims to bridge the void created by the paradoxical estrangement between the two at the height of the Venezuelan crisis, following Nicolás Maduro’s forced removal from power.

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]]>OLE BERG-RUSTEN / POOL<![CDATA[Venezuela announces the release of 116 political prisoners]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-01-12/venezuela-releases-around-20-political-prisoners.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-01-12/venezuela-releases-around-20-political-prisoners.htmlMon, 12 Jan 2026 14:53:17 +0000The government of Venezuela has announced the release of 116 political prisoners. Non-profit groups have for now confirmed that 24 individuals were freed in the early hours of Monday morning, including two Italians and the dual Spanish‑Venezuelan citizen Alejandro González, the former husband of lawyer, human rights defender, and academic Rocío San Miguel. The statement from the Ministry for Prison Services notes that “these measures have benefited individuals deprived of their liberty for acts associated with disrupting the constitutional order and undermining the stability of the nation.”

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]]><![CDATA[Delcy Rodríguez: ‘Drug trafficking and human rights were the excuse; the real motive was oil’]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-01-08/delcy-rodriguez-drug-trafficking-and-human-rights-were-the-excuse-the-real-motive-was-oil.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-01-08/delcy-rodriguez-drug-trafficking-and-human-rights-were-the-excuse-the-real-motive-was-oil.htmlThu, 08 Jan 2026 12:36:58 +0000Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodríguez alluded on Wednesday to Donald Trump’s announcement that oil revenues would henceforth be used exclusively to purchase American products, stating that “it is not unusual or irregular that economic relations exist between the United States and Venezuela.” She made these remarks during a meeting at Miraflores Palace with a delegation of members of the new National Assembly, including opposition figures Stalin González and Antonio Ecarri.

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]]>Palacio de Miraflores<![CDATA[Cuba confirms death of 32 of its citizens in the US attack against Venezuela]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-01-05/cuba-confirms-death-of-32-of-its-citizens-in-the-us-attack-against-venezuela.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-01-05/cuba-confirms-death-of-32-of-its-citizens-in-the-us-attack-against-venezuela.htmlMon, 05 Jan 2026 12:09:27 +0000The first official information regarding the deaths resulting from the U.S. military operation in Venezuela has come from Cuba, almost two days after the attacks. The Cuban government issued a statement of condolence for the deaths of 32 military and intelligence personnel members who were part of President Nicolás Maduro’s security detail at the time of his capture.

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]]>Gaby Oraa<![CDATA[Maduro jailed in New York after his capture in Caracas]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-01-03/trump-says-maduro-has-been-captured-and-flown-out-of-venezuela.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-01-03/trump-says-maduro-has-been-captured-and-flown-out-of-venezuela.htmlSat, 03 Jan 2026 19:56:39 +0000Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, arrived in New York late on Saturday night, local time, and were then transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. There they will stand trial on charges of drug trafficking and weapons possession.

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]]><![CDATA[Human rights activists, opposition members, and a minor: Maduro’s other political prisoners]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-29/human-rights-activists-opposition-members-and-a-minor-maduros-other-political-prisoners.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-29/human-rights-activists-opposition-members-and-a-minor-maduros-other-political-prisoners.htmlMon, 29 Dec 2025 10:06:03 +0000The Venezuelan government’s announcement on Christmas Eve that it would release 99 political prisoners has not yet been fully finalized. Little by little, families and lawyers are compiling lists of names and confirming whether the prisoners have actually been able to leave jail.

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]]>Ariana Cubillos<![CDATA[Venezuela faces its most tense Christmas yet]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-25/venezuela-faces-its-most-tense-christmas-yet.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-25/venezuela-faces-its-most-tense-christmas-yet.htmlThu, 25 Dec 2025 10:25:09 +0000Christmas follows a routine: shopping, dinner, gifts, family celebrations that vary from humble to lavish, reflecting a country growing increasingly unequal, like Venezuela. The holiday season in Caracas in 2025 masks what is on the minds of many Venezuelans. Festivities are overshadowed by the greatest geopolitical tensions the country has faced in decades, amid the largest recent deployment of U.S. military assets — a volatile threat hanging over Venezuela’s Caribbean border.

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]]>Ronald Pena R<![CDATA[The United States warns it will deprive Maduro of ‘the resources he uses to fund’ drug trafficking]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-24/the-united-states-warns-it-will-deprive-maduro-of-the-resources-he-uses-to-fund-drug-trafficking.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-24/the-united-states-warns-it-will-deprive-maduro-of-the-resources-he-uses-to-fund-drug-trafficking.htmlWed, 24 Dec 2025 08:17:33 +0000The crisis between the United States and Venezuela has reached the United Nations Security Council. During an emergency meeting held this Tuesday, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Mike Waltz, said that the United States will impose sanctions on Venezuela “to the maximum extent”, referring to the blockade the White House is enforcing against the fleet of sanctioned oil tankers that transport crude oil to and from Venezuelan ports.

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]]>OLGA FEDOROVA<![CDATA[Oil, gold and rare earth elements: the backdrop to US political tension with Venezuela]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-22/oil-gold-and-rare-earth-elements-the-backdrop-to-us-political-tension-with-venezuela.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-22/oil-gold-and-rare-earth-elements-the-backdrop-to-us-political-tension-with-venezuela.htmlMon, 22 Dec 2025 09:31:36 +0000The script for the current political crisis in Venezuela rests on two central arguments, regularly invoked by the Venezuelan opposition and the United States government: the alleged links between the Chavista regime and terrorist groups and criminal networks, and the illegitimate nature of Nicolás Maduro’s presidency following accusations of fraud in the 2024 presidential elections. In recent days, Washington has put forward a third reason. U.S. President Donald Trump himself has openly alluded to the importance of Venezuelan oil and the supposed existence of liabilities and energy rights seized from U.S. companies in previous litigation with the Venezuelan state. “You remember, they took all of our energy rights,” Trump stated, referring to Chavismo and its dispute with the multinational Exxon Mobil, which resulted in the company’s departure from Venezuela in 2007. “They took all of our oil from not that long ago, and we want it back.”

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]]>Gaby Oraa<![CDATA[Venezuelan migrants contribute billions of dollars to Latin America, but continue to work in the informal sector]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-19/venezuelan-migrants-contribute-billions-of-dollars-to-latin-america-but-continue-to-work-in-the-informal-sector.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-19/venezuelan-migrants-contribute-billions-of-dollars-to-latin-america-but-continue-to-work-in-the-informal-sector.htmlFri, 19 Dec 2025 14:17:26 +0000Irvin Ibarra left Venezuela 10 years ago with nothing but the clothes on her back and a trade she couldn’t practice. In Colombia, she started selling coffee on the street and today she runs a dance school in a working-class neighborhood of Bogotá. Her story is one among hundreds of thousands that make up a diaspora of more than 7.9 million Venezuelans, one of the largest in the world. Most have settled in Latin America and, beyond the social challenges their arrival has posed, they have become a driving force in the economies that welcomed them: the 6.9 million Venezuelans living in the region have generated at least $10.6 billion in revenue, according to the latest report from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), released Thursday.

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]]>Adriana Correa<![CDATA[Trump presses a new button in his strategy against Maduro: Economic strangulation through oil]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-18/trump-presses-a-new-button-in-his-strategy-against-maduro-economic-strangulation-through-oil.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-18/trump-presses-a-new-button-in-his-strategy-against-maduro-economic-strangulation-through-oil.htmlThu, 18 Dec 2025 11:42:19 +0000Last week’s military operation against the Skipper, an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast, was a declaration of intent from the White House. And, following Donald Trump’s announcement of a “total blockade” against all sanctioned cargo ships attempting to enter or leave Venezuela, everything seems to indicate that there will be more. Venezuela must return “the oil, land, and other assets that they previously stole from us,” the magnate has insisted. And so, what began three months ago as an ambitious anti-drug operation has now mutated into a direct attack on the Venezuelan government’s finances.

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]]>SHAWN THEW / POOL<![CDATA[Venezuela breaks energy agreements with Trinidad and Tobago due to alleged complicity with the US]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-17/venezuela-breaks-energy-agreements-with-trinidad-and-tobago-due-to-alleged-complicity-with-the-us.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-17/venezuela-breaks-energy-agreements-with-trinidad-and-tobago-due-to-alleged-complicity-with-the-us.htmlWed, 17 Dec 2025 10:15:21 +0000The government of Nicolás Maduro denounced on Monday that Trinidad and Tobago participated in the seizure of a tanker carrying 1.9 million barrels of oil that the United States intercepted last week off the coast of Venezuela. Caracas has deemed this operation an act of “piracy” and has therefore decided to immediately break off all negotiations and contracts with the small Caribbean nation for the supply of natural gas, which fall under the Framework Agreement on Energy Cooperation signed between both countries a decade ago.

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]]>Oscar Castillo<![CDATA[The trip that changed everything: Venezuela waits to see if María Corina Machado will be able to return ]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-15/the-trip-that-changed-everything-venezuela-waits-to-see-if-maria-corina-machado-will-be-able-to-return.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-15/the-trip-that-changed-everything-venezuela-waits-to-see-if-maria-corina-machado-will-be-able-to-return.htmlMon, 15 Dec 2025 11:20:02 +0000What will happen to the Venezuelan opposition when its political and media star leaves the country and may not be able to return? That is the big question currently facing Venezuelan politics after María Corina Machado left the country to travel to Oslo and receive (a day late) her Nobel Peace Prize. Her journey, presented as a historic — and heroic — feat, now opens up an unpredictable scenario: what happens if the opposition figure most legitimized in recent years to challenge the Nicolás Maduro regime is unable to return?

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]]>Rodrigo Abd<![CDATA[The mystery of María Corina Machado’s departure from Venezuela]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-10/the-mystery-of-maria-corina-machados-departure-from-venezuela.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-10/the-mystery-of-maria-corina-machados-departure-from-venezuela.htmlWed, 10 Dec 2025 17:23:38 +0000María Corina Machado reportedly left Venezuela on Tuesday with U.S. support. The opposition leader departed on a boat from Venezuela’s western coast bound for the island of Curaçao, according to U.S. officials who spoke to The Wall Street Journal. Her apparently clandestine escape occurred just one day before the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, meaning Machado was unable to arrive in time to accept the award, which was presented to her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa Machado. Machado promised to appear in Oslo, as she herself told the Nobel Peace Prize organizers, thus allaying concerns about her whereabouts and safety.

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]]>Jesus Vargas<![CDATA[Pressure from Trump: María Corina Machado’s strategy to force a transition in Venezuela ]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-09/pressure-from-trump-maria-corina-machados-strategy-to-force-a-transition-in-venezuela.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-09/pressure-from-trump-maria-corina-machados-strategy-to-force-a-transition-in-venezuela.htmlTue, 09 Dec 2025 11:08:10 +0000María Corina Machado has made U.S. foreign policy the central platform of her strategy to bring about a transition in Venezuela. Since July 28, 2024, when the opposition presented the official records declaring Edmundo González Urrutia, Machado’s chosen representative, the winner of the presidential election, the most troublesome opposition figure for Chavismo has received a new boost: renewed attention from Washington. But even there, it is unclear what this support will lead to; a military intervention, a surgical coup, or will it be limited to air maneuvers and targeted attacks in the Caribbean? In this gray area between diplomatic support, displays of force, and ambiguous messages, Machado has built her narrative. “Venezuela’s freedom is near,” she said in October, upon learning that she had won the Nobel Peace Prize, an award she is expected to receive in person this Wednesday in Oslo, Norway.

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]]>Ariana Cubillos<![CDATA[Flights suspended, families stranded: The air travel chaos driving Venezuelans to the border ]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-08/flights-suspended-families-stranded-the-air-travel-chaos-driving-venezuelans-to-the-border.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-08/flights-suspended-families-stranded-the-air-travel-chaos-driving-venezuelans-to-the-border.htmlMon, 08 Dec 2025 11:06:32 +0000María Cordero should be preparing for her arrival in Caracas for the Christmas holidays, but she’s at home in Spain, checking her airline’s notifications every few hours. Her direct flight to Venezuela was canceled, and the only alternative they’re offering her now is to land in Bogotá and, from there, continue to the border and cross on foot into Cúcuta, the Colombian city that has become the de facto new international gateway for Venezuelans. “They hit us where it hurts,” she says. Her disrupted itinerary is now the reality for thousands of passengers trying to return to — or leave — a country that has been practically cut off from the world.

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]]>Mario Caicedo<![CDATA[Venezuela’s Maduro breaks silence about call with Trump: ‘It was respectful and cordial’]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-04/venezuelas-maduro-breaks-silence-about-call-with-trump-it-was-respectful-and-cordial.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-04/venezuelas-maduro-breaks-silence-about-call-with-trump-it-was-respectful-and-cordial.htmlThu, 04 Dec 2025 08:25:10 +0000The president of Venezuela has spoken for the first time about his telephone conversation with Donald Trump on November 21. “About 10 days ago, the White House called Miraflores Palace, and I had a conversation with President Donald Trump,” Maduro began. “It was respectful and cordial. If that call means that steps are being taken toward a respectful dialogue between our countries, then dialogue and diplomacy are welcome,” he said live on television. Maduro, who thus broke his silence on the matter this Wednesday, emphasized that his years as foreign minister taught him to exercise prudence on important issues.

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]]>Leonardo Fernandez Viloria<![CDATA[Venezuela claims the United States asked for permission to resume flights carrying deportees]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-02/venezuela-claims-the-united-states-asked-for-permission-to-resume-flights-carrying-deportees.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-02/venezuela-claims-the-united-states-asked-for-permission-to-resume-flights-carrying-deportees.htmlTue, 02 Dec 2025 18:48:12 +0000Tensions between Washington and Caracas have reached fever pitch following U.S. President Donald Trump’s warnings about closing Venezuelan airspace and apparent disagreements between the two leaders during a phone call last week, according to U.S. media. Nevertheless, both governments have agreed to resume deportation flights that were supposed to be suspended, along with flights from several commercial airlines from Europe and Latin America, which canceled their routes following U.S. authorities’ warnings the danger posed by increased military operations.

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]]>Cristian Hernandez<![CDATA[Venezuela’s airspace becomes another battlefield]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-01/venezuelas-airspace-becomes-another-battlefield.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-01/venezuelas-airspace-becomes-another-battlefield.htmlMon, 01 Dec 2025 12:07:09 +0000Venezuela’s skies have become another battlefront. For the past week, what seemed like just another element of Washington’s hybrid offensive against Caracas has transformed into a vast, silent battlefield isolating the country. Venezuelan airspace is now the scene of threats, warnings, canceled flights, and military maneuvers fueling a conflict with an uncertain outcome.

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]]>Gaby Oraa<![CDATA[Maduro addresses his supporters: ‘Failure is not an option at this crucial juncture’]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-11-26/maduro-addresses-his-supporters-failure-is-not-an-option-at-this-crucial-juncture.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-11-26/maduro-addresses-his-supporters-failure-is-not-an-option-at-this-crucial-juncture.htmlWed, 26 Nov 2025 09:51:44 +0000Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro brought Tuesday’s rally in Caracas to a close, in a show of force with which the Chavista regime sought to demonstrate cohesion amid escalating tensions with the United States. Dressed in military uniform and flanked by the top brass of his government and the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, Maduro raised the sword of Simón Bolívar, a central emblem of Chavista ideology. From below the stage, thousands of supporters chanted in unison: “The man of peace is named Nicolás!”

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]]>Ariana Cubillos<![CDATA[Venezuela on the brink of the unknown: Psychological warfare, isolation and a tense standoff with the US]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-11-24/venezuela-on-the-brink-of-the-unknown-psychological-warfare-isolation-and-a-tense-standoff-with-the-us.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-11-24/venezuela-on-the-brink-of-the-unknown-psychological-warfare-isolation-and-a-tense-standoff-with-the-us.htmlMon, 24 Nov 2025 15:16:27 +0000The sudden suspension on Saturday of most international flights to Caracas, after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warned of the risks of flying over Venezuelan airspace, has heightened fears about a crisis of still unknown dimensions. The alert, which led airlines such as Iberia, Avianca and TAP to cancel routes, leaves Venezuela more isolated and vulnerable — another element in the U.S. strategy to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. No one dares to guess what Donald Trump’s plan is, but whatever it may be, its outcome is unlikely to be straightforward.

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]]>Ariana Cubillos<![CDATA[Venezuelans deported to Bukele’s mega-prison reveal torture and other abuses: ‘They said we would only leave in a black bag’]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-11-12/venezuelans-deported-to-bukeles-mega-prison-reveal-torture-and-other-abuses-they-said-we-would-only-leave-in-a-black-bag.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-11-12/venezuelans-deported-to-bukeles-mega-prison-reveal-torture-and-other-abuses-they-said-we-would-only-leave-in-a-black-bag.htmlWed, 12 Nov 2025 11:18:31 +0000Photos of Luis missing a front tooth and Daniel’s nose with a visibly deviated septum are among the evidence included in the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report “You Have Arrived in Hell,” released Wednesday. The report reveals torture and other abuses against Venezuelans at the Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot), President Nayib Bukele’s mega-prison in El Salvador. Also included are images of the scars on Mateo’s hand and Carlos’s chest, the result of being shot at close range with rubber bullets while detained in cells at this prison.

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]]>PRESIDENCIA DE EL SALVADOR<![CDATA[Maduro warns that he has 5,000 anti-aircraft missiles to ‘guarantee peace’]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-10-23/maduro-warns-that-he-has-5000-anti-aircraft-missiles-to-guarantee-peace.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-10-23/maduro-warns-that-he-has-5000-anti-aircraft-missiles-to-guarantee-peace.htmlThu, 23 Oct 2025 08:33:34 +0000Warlike rhetoric and geopolitical tensions are taking on a new dimension in Venezuela. Nicolás Maduro warned Wednesday that the National Bolivarian Armed Forces have more than 5,000 Igla-S missiles in their anti-aircraft defense systems, as part of the equipment with which Caracas is confronting the U.S. military threat. Washington has maintained a naval deployment in the Caribbean for the past two months, which Chavismo has interpreted as a maneuver to force a change of government in Venezuela, although the White House maintains that it is part of its fight against drug trafficking.

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]]>MARCELO GARCIA<![CDATA[Nicolás Maduro, besieged but unshakable]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-10-20/nicolas-maduro-besieged-but-unshakable.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-10-20/nicolas-maduro-besieged-but-unshakable.htmlMon, 20 Oct 2025 11:24:10 +0000Though surrounded, it is holding firm. The Chavista regime — the political system founded by former Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez — remains immovable, pressuring anyone who challenges it, punishing its enemies, suppressing dissent without mercy. Each day, it offers new evidence that it controls Venezuela’s political and military situation, despite the escalating tensions with the United States. And its leader, Nicolás Maduro, remains at the helm.

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]]>Leonardo Fernández Viloria<![CDATA[A ‘war on drugs’ for regime change: Trump hits Maduro with gunboat diplomacy]]>https://english.elpais.com/usa/2025-10-13/a-war-on-drugs-for-regime-change-trump-hits-maduro-with-gunboat-diplomacy.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/usa/2025-10-13/a-war-on-drugs-for-regime-change-trump-hits-maduro-with-gunboat-diplomacy.htmlMon, 13 Oct 2025 09:17:21 +0000Ten warships in total, including three destroyers, an amphibious assault ship, a missile cruiser, and a nuclear-powered submarine, along with around 10,000 troops. The U.S. Navy deployment, ordered in August by Donald Trump in the area under the U.S. Southern Command’s influence, is almost unprecedented in the Caribbean and faces an equally unusual adversary: Venezuelan drug cartels.

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]]>Juan Carlos Hernandez<![CDATA[Nicolás Maduro: ‘If you want peace, prepare to win it’]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-10-13/nicolas-maduro-if-you-want-peace-prepare-to-win-it.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-10-13/nicolas-maduro-if-you-want-peace-prepare-to-win-it.htmlMon, 13 Oct 2025 08:11:29 +0000Nicolás Maduro appeared at a public event on Sunday to mark October 12, a date that Chavismo — the socialist movement founded by former president Hugo Chávez and continued by Maduro — has renamed “Indigenous Resistance Day.” “If you want peace, prepare to win it,” declared the president, wearing a feathered headdress and carrying an Indigenous weapon on his shoulder. It was his first public statement since the announcement that Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

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]]>Leonardo Fernandez Viloria<![CDATA[Venezuela requests urgent meeting with the UN in the face of a possible ‘armed attack’ by the US]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-10-10/venezuela-requests-urgent-meeting-with-the-un-in-the-face-of-a-possible-armed-attack-by-the-us.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-10-10/venezuela-requests-urgent-meeting-with-the-un-in-the-face-of-a-possible-armed-attack-by-the-us.htmlFri, 10 Oct 2025 13:53:39 +0000The government of Nicolás Maduro on Thursday requested that a meeting of the United Nations Security Council be convened “urgently” in the event of an “armed attack” by the United States against Venezuela, which Caracas believes could happen “very soon.” This was stated in a letter sent by the Bolivarian government to the representative of this body, currently chaired by Russia, a Chavista ally.

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]]>Leonardo Fernandez Viloria<![CDATA[Fears of an imminent US attack set off alarm bells in Venezuela]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-10-03/fears-of-an-imminent-us-attack-set-off-alarm-bells-in-venezuela.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-10-03/fears-of-an-imminent-us-attack-set-off-alarm-bells-in-venezuela.htmlFri, 03 Oct 2025 08:16:56 +0000María Elvira Salazar, a Republican congresswoman, wrote on X that Christmas, which has already begun in Venezuela, is nothing more than “a farce” decreed by Nicolás Maduro, as if he could change the date of Jesus Christ’s birth at will. “True Christmas for Venezuelans is coming,” she wrote enigmatically. Republican politicians, influencers, and even El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele have been sending out messages of this kind for a month now. The New York Times reported that a group of advisers is pressuring Donald Trump to “remove” the Venezuelan president by intensifying U.S. military deployment. Some time later, five fighter jets flew over an area bordering Venezuelan airspace, like birds of ill omen. The signs of an imminent attack have multiplied, with no one knowing whether this is a real scenario or just a high-level campaign to force the Chavista government to enter a negotiated solution.

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]]>Palacio de Miraflores<![CDATA[Venezuela denounces deployment of US fighter jets near its territory: ‘It’s a provocation’]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-10-02/venezuela-denounces-deployment-of-us-fighter-jets-near-its-territory-its-a-provocation.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-10-02/venezuela-denounces-deployment-of-us-fighter-jets-near-its-territory-its-a-provocation.htmlThu, 02 Oct 2025 19:18:04 +0000Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López denounced on Thursday the presence of five U.S. fighter jets flying near Venezuelan territory, specifically north of the country’s central Caribbean coast. “It is a provocation, a major threat against the nation’s security,” the general declared.

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]]>JHONN ZERPA<![CDATA[The UN documents deepening repression in Venezuela amid escalating tension with the US ]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-09-23/the-un-documents-deepening-repression-in-venezuela-amid-escalating-tension-with-the-us.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-09-23/the-un-documents-deepening-repression-in-venezuela-amid-escalating-tension-with-the-us.htmlTue, 23 Sep 2025 09:09:16 +0000Reports of arbitrary arrests and disappearances of political activists, human rights defenders and their families have overlapped in recent weeks with rising tensions between the United States and Venezuela over military maneuvers in the Caribbean. On Monday, the United Nations Independent Fact-Finding Mission revealed in a report new patterns of repression against opponents following the presidential elections and during this complicated year.

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]]>PALACIO DE MIRAFLORES<![CDATA[United States subjects Maduro to psychological terror: ‘The wrath of God will fall upon you like thunder’ ]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-09-17/united-states-subjects-maduro-to-psychological-terror-the-wrath-of-god-will-fall-upon-you-like-thunder.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-09-17/united-states-subjects-maduro-to-psychological-terror-the-wrath-of-god-will-fall-upon-you-like-thunder.htmlWed, 17 Sep 2025 09:30:20 +0000When Donald Trump was asked if he was planning an attack inside Venezuelan territory in the war he is waging against drug trafficking, he responded with “you’ll see,” with an enigmatic eyebrow and gesture of the mouth. American operations in the Caribbean have generated a psychological war that seeks to make the threat against Nicolás Maduro credible and to exert pressure within his inner circle. After three attacks on vessels — in which at least two were destroyed with the loss of their crew according to the White House — and with the U.S. military presence near territorial waters off the Venezuelan coast, bilateral tensions are growing as part of a war of narratives and intimidating rhetoric that Chavismo has taken note of.

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]]>Leonardo Fernandez Viloria<![CDATA[The mystery of the boat pulverized by a missile in the middle of the Caribbean]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-09-05/the-mystery-of-the-boat-pulverized-by-a-missile-in-the-middle-of-the-caribbean.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-09-05/the-mystery-of-the-boat-pulverized-by-a-missile-in-the-middle-of-the-caribbean.htmlFri, 05 Sep 2025 08:24:11 +0000San Juan de Unare was a small fishing village where people would rise in the middle of the night to haul their boats to the shore and head out into the calm Caribbean Sea. Their fathers had done the same, and so had their fathers before them. More than 20 years ago, however, it became a transit point for drugs, and everything changed. Disputes arose, rivalries between clans emerged, and death followed. First one killing, then two, and then, in two unforgettable days, 78 all at once. Earlier this week, according to Venezuelan media reports, a group of young men from the town boarded a boat and never came back.

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]]><![CDATA[United States and Venezuela: Six years of maximum tension]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-09-04/united-states-and-venezuela-six-years-of-maximum-tension.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-09-04/united-states-and-venezuela-six-years-of-maximum-tension.htmlThu, 04 Sep 2025 09:24:07 +0000Hostility between the United States and Venezuela has reached an unprecedented level during Donald Trump’s presidential cycles. After six years of wrangling — of understanding and decompressing the Venezuelan political conflict and its international implications — tensions have escalated with the deployment of warships in the Caribbean and the deadly attack on a drug-trafficking boat — which killed all 11 crew members — allegedly originating from Venezuela.

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]]>GOBIERNO DE ESTADOS UNIDOS<![CDATA[Maduro warns the US: ‘If Venezuela was attacked, we would declare an armed struggle’ ]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-09-02/maduro-warns-the-us-if-venezuela-was-attacked-we-would-declare-an-armed-struggle.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-09-02/maduro-warns-the-us-if-venezuela-was-attacked-we-would-declare-an-armed-struggle.htmlTue, 02 Sep 2025 08:09:30 +0000Venezuela has deployed troops to the border and called for the enlistment of militia members and Venezuelans to confront a hypothetical foreign military incursion. The move is in response to the deployment in recent weeks of ships, military contingents and a nuclear submarine by the United States in its fight against drug trafficking and drug cartels—which it has linked to members of the Venezuelan government—and coincides with the joint naval exercise Unitas 2025, scheduled to take place off the U.S. coast beginning September 15. “If Venezuela was attacked, we would declare an armed struggle and a Republic in arms,” President Nicolás Maduro warned this Monday at a press conference with international media.

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]]>Leonardo Fernandez Viloria<![CDATA[Signed: ‘The Horrible Human Being.’ The story of the triple murderer released by Trump]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-07-28/signed-the-horrible-human-being-the-story-of-the-triple-murderer-released-by-trump.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-07-28/signed-the-horrible-human-being-the-story-of-the-triple-murderer-released-by-trump.htmlMon, 28 Jul 2025 09:59:30 +0000Víctor Salas has talked so much over the last week that his mouth is dry. He asks for some water so he can continue telling his unusual story. Since Monday, he has given countless interviews in Madrid to national and international media outlets to warn of a “serious mistake.” The man who tried to kill him in 2016, Dahud Hanid Ortiz, was repatriated by the United States from Venezuela on Friday, July 18, and allowed to go free. It was this survivor who broke the news to the Spanish press after receiving a police alert.

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]]><![CDATA[The hell of Module 8 in Nayib Bukele’s mega-prison: ‘They would beat us over anything’ ]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-07-25/the-hell-of-module-8-in-nayib-bukeles-mega-prison-they-would-beat-us-over-anything.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-07-25/the-hell-of-module-8-in-nayib-bukeles-mega-prison-they-would-beat-us-over-anything.htmlFri, 25 Jul 2025 11:08:40 +0000Several of the Venezuelans who were sent back home from the Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot) in El Salvador were left with scars on their wrists and ankles. Kneeling with their hands behind their backs or walking crouched down with their hands and feet in handcuffs was part of the daily routine during their four months in President Nayib Bukele’s mega-jail. The Donald Trump administration had sent them there, resorting to an old law against foreign enemies; it was a hellish stop in their irregular deportation process from the United States.

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]]>GABY ORAA<![CDATA[US defends repatriation of triple murderer who slipped into the prisoner exchange with Venezuela: ‘Many reported being subjected to torture’]]>https://english.elpais.com/usa/2025-07-23/us-defends-repatriation-of-triple-murderer-who-slipped-into-the-prisoner-exchange-with-venezuela-many-reported-being-subjected-to-torture.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/usa/2025-07-23/us-defends-repatriation-of-triple-murderer-who-slipped-into-the-prisoner-exchange-with-venezuela-many-reported-being-subjected-to-torture.htmlWed, 23 Jul 2025 20:22:44 +0000Since his return to the White House last January, and even earlier on the campaign trail, Donald Trump has defended his ruthless immigration policy on the assumption that other countries send their worst criminals to commit crimes in the United States. But on Friday it was his own administration that imported the perpetrator of a triple murder committed in Madrid, Spain. He is a U.S. citizen of Venezuelan origin who is known in Spanish police, judicial and media circles as “the triple murderer of Usera.” His name is Dahud Hanid Ortiz.

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]]><![CDATA[Perpetrator of triple homicide in Madrid included in group of political prisoners repatriated by US from Venezuela]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-07-22/perpetrator-of-triple-homicide-in-madrid-included-in-group-of-political-prisoners-repatriated-by-us-from-venezuela.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-07-22/perpetrator-of-triple-homicide-in-madrid-included-in-group-of-political-prisoners-repatriated-by-us-from-venezuela.htmlTue, 22 Jul 2025 17:35:47 +0000The United States has welcomed the release and surrender by the Venezuelan Chavista regime of a group of 10 Americans who landed last Friday in Texas, among them a triple murderer, Dahud Hanid Ortiz. The identity of this freed man has been confirmed to EL PAÍS through a source close to the Spanish secret services and another from the Venezuelan NGO Foro Penal, which is dedicated to the defense of political prisoners. This organization, a reference in the field of human rights in Venezuela, warned that among those being released was one who was not a political prisoner. This Tuesday, Foro Penal confirmed to this newspaper that it was referring to Ortiz.

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]]><![CDATA[Amnesty International warns of escalating enforced disappearances in Venezuela]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-07-16/amnesty-international-warns-of-escalating-enforced-disappearances-in-venezuela.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-07-16/amnesty-international-warns-of-escalating-enforced-disappearances-in-venezuela.htmlWed, 16 Jul 2025 11:54:05 +0000Amnesty International has warned that forced disappearances in Venezuela have escalated following the presidential elections on July 28, 2024, and have become part of a systematic pattern of persecution against government dissidents.

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]]>Ariana Cubillos<![CDATA[The abandoned homes of Venezuelan migrants]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-05-11/the-abandoned-homes-of-venezuelan-migrants.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-05-11/the-abandoned-homes-of-venezuelan-migrants.htmlSun, 11 May 2025 04:00:00 +0000There are houses with beds that haven’t been slept in for years. Others, where the bottom of a cup of coffee — drunk just before leaving for the airport — has hardened into a kind of bitumen and stifled any plans for a return trip. In nearly all of them, dust has formed stubborn knots on the furniture and walls, making them difficult to remove.

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]]>F.A.S<![CDATA[María Corina Machado: ‘They think they’re unbeatable because they have the weapons, the money, and the control’]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-05-09/maria-corina-machado-they-think-theyre-unbeatable-because-they-have-the-weapons-the-money-and-the-control.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-05-09/maria-corina-machado-they-think-theyre-unbeatable-because-they-have-the-weapons-the-money-and-the-control.htmlFri, 09 May 2025 10:02:26 +0000The information gap surrounding the departure from Venezuela of María Corina Machado‘s five associates, who had been taking refuge in the Argentine embassy in Caracas for more than 400 days, continues to be filled by the main opposition leader and her allies. The “precision” operation, as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described it, to extricate the opposition members is now known as “Operation Guacamaya.” It had been in the works for some time and, according to Machado herself in an interview with an online television channel Thursday night, is proof — in her opinion — of the vulnerability of Nicolás Maduro’s government.

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]]>Maxwell Briceno<![CDATA[Rubio warns Venezuela of the consequences of attacking Guyana: ‘It would be a very bad day for them’]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-03-28/rubio-warns-venezuela-of-the-consequences-of-attacking-guyana-it-would-be-a-very-bad-day-for-them.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-03-28/rubio-warns-venezuela-of-the-consequences-of-attacking-guyana-it-would-be-a-very-bad-day-for-them.htmlFri, 28 Mar 2025 09:46:29 +0000Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to Guyana has rekindled tensions with Venezuela. The senior U.S. official warned Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro on Thursday that a military attack on the small but oil-rich neighboring country would be a big mistake and would have “consequences” for Caracas. The Donald Trump administration is showing Guyana its full support in its territorial dispute with Venezuela. “It would be a very bad day, a very bad week for them,” he said in reply to a question about a hypothetical attack against ExxonMobil projects in Guyana. The remarks were delivered at a press conference in the capital, Georgetown, alongside Guyanese President Irfaan Ali.

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]]>Nathan Howard<![CDATA[Venezuela calls Trump’s secondary tariffs ‘illegal and desperate’]]>https://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2025-03-25/venezuela-calls-trumps-secondary-tariffs-illegal-and-desperate.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2025-03-25/venezuela-calls-trumps-secondary-tariffs-illegal-and-desperate.htmlTue, 25 Mar 2025 15:33:55 +0000The Venezuelan government responded to the new U.S. crackdown on Monday with a message directed at Donald Trump. In a statement from the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, it rejected the 25% secondary tariffs on Venezuelan oil and gas announced by the U.S. president, calling the measure “arbitrary, illegal, and desperate.” For the Venezuelan government, this move only confirms “the failure of all sanctions imposed against our country.”

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]]>Michael Robinson Chavez<![CDATA[Arturo and Frizgeralth, convicted for being Venezuelans: Trump takes another step in his racist drift]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-03-24/arturo-and-frizgeralth-convicted-for-being-venezuelans-trump-takes-another-step-in-his-racist-drift.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-03-24/arturo-and-frizgeralth-convicted-for-being-venezuelans-trump-takes-another-step-in-his-racist-drift.htmlMon, 24 Mar 2025 09:26:12 +0000Dart Martins, a Peruvian reggaeton artist in a hurry to record his song TXTEO, can’t believe he has to delay it because SuarezVzla isn’t there. They’ve been making music together for a long time. Last time they were on a stage was at the Urban Fresh Festival in Santiago, Chile, in front of a young, loud audience. A video captures the memory of that April night: Dart Martins at the front of the stage, singing; SuarezVzla in the back, the audience in front, doing perreo. Earlier this year, when SuarezVzla had already left Chile to settle in the United States, they exchanged a few messages. Donald Trump had not yet returned to the White House.

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]]><![CDATA[Maduro warns he is preparing with Cuba and Nicaragua to ‘take up arms’ in the event of an intervention]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-01-13/maduro-warns-he-is-preparing-with-cuba-and-nicaragua-to-take-up-arms-in-the-event-of-an-intervention.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-01-13/maduro-warns-he-is-preparing-with-cuba-and-nicaragua-to-take-up-arms-in-the-event-of-an-intervention.htmlMon, 13 Jan 2025 13:50:11 +0000On the first day of his third term, Nicolás Maduro has warned that he is preparing an armed offensive with Cuba and Nicaragua in response to alleged foreign interventions. “We are preparing ourselves together with Cuba and Nicaragua and together with our older brothers in the world so that if one day we have to take up arms and defend the right to peace and sovereignty, we will fight in an armed struggle and win again. We are not lukewarm leaders, we are the Bolivarian revolution,” he said during the closing of the second meeting of the World Festival of the Antifascist International, whose international delegates filled the seats of many representatives of democratic countries that turned their backs on him during the swearing-in ceremony.

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]]>Ronald Peña R.<![CDATA[Maduro’s six-month scramble to hold onto power]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-01-07/maduros-six-month-scramble-to-hold-onto-power.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-01-07/maduros-six-month-scramble-to-hold-onto-power.htmlTue, 07 Jan 2025 10:19:58 +0000The faces are filled with astonishment. As the voting records from across Venezuela begin to arrive after the July 28 elections, those inside the building realize something serious is unfolding — something that needs to be reported to the president. Throughout the electoral campaign, Nicolás Maduro had been presented with countless dossiers filled with studies, polls, focus groups, and other sophisticated methods backed by prestigious universities. All of them predicted he would be victorious. Among his advisers, one even pledged to resign if proven wrong.

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]]>Fernando Vergara<![CDATA[Chavismo on high alert to protect Nicolás Maduro’s inauguration]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-01-03/chavismo-on-high-alert-to-protect-nicolas-maduros-inauguration.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2025-01-03/chavismo-on-high-alert-to-protect-nicolas-maduros-inauguration.htmlFri, 03 Jan 2025 18:46:58 +0000Chavismo has learned to live in a constant state of combustion, particularly after last July’s presidential election. Nicolás Maduro, upset by the erroneous information he received during the campaign — that his victory was “assured” thanks to the mobilization of his faithful followers, government workers and their families — has placed the government on high alert and is unwilling to leave anything to chance. Especially when it comes to January 10, the day he is scheduled to be sworn in as president for another six years, in spite of well-founded suspicions that he committed electoral fraud. Maduro and his team are analyzing all possible scenarios: a military insurrection, an invasion, even the return to Venezuela of Edmundo González Urrutia, the true winner of the presidential election according to voter tallies collected by the opposition and which the current regime has refused to make public.

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]]>Leonardo Fernandez Viloria<![CDATA[Venezuelan opposition figures at Argentine embassy request global assistance amid Maduro’s siege]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-12-16/venezuelan-opposition-figures-at-argentine-embassy-request-global-assistance-amid-maduros-siege.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2024-12-16/venezuelan-opposition-figures-at-argentine-embassy-request-global-assistance-amid-maduros-siege.htmlMon, 16 Dec 2024 11:17:24 +0000Nearly nine months after taking refuge in the Argentine embassy in Caracas, members of the Venezuelan opposition campaign led by María Corina Machado spoke to the press for the first time on Saturday. They did so via video conference, as Venezuelan police kept watch on the building. In the call, the opposition members reiterated their urgent need for safe-conduct passes to leave Venezuela, where they are facing political persecution.

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]]>Henry Chirinos<![CDATA[Long after revealing the true outcome of Venezuela’s presidential election, an exile dreams of returning ]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-12-15/long-after-revealing-the-true-outcome-of-venezuelas-presidential-election-an-exile-dreams-of-returning.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2024-12-15/long-after-revealing-the-true-outcome-of-venezuelas-presidential-election-an-exile-dreams-of-returning.htmlSun, 15 Dec 2024 04:30:00 +0000Andrés Villavicencio, a 31-year-old lawyer, had just a minute to think about the decision that changed his life. As in the last eight elections that have taken place since he came of age, on July 28, 2024, he was an electoral observer for the opposition coalition at the Paraguaná Institute, in the municipality of Carirubana. This is an impoverished area between the Caja de Agua and Antiguo Aeropuerto sectors of the oil-producing state of Falcón, on Venezuela’s west coast.

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]]>Andrea Comas<![CDATA[In attempt to ease pressure, Maduro announces release of over 100 protesters detained after contested election]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-12-13/in-attempt-to-ease-pressure-maduro-announces-release-of-over-100-protesters-detained-after-contested-election.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2024-12-13/in-attempt-to-ease-pressure-maduro-announces-release-of-over-100-protesters-detained-after-contested-election.htmlFri, 13 Dec 2024 14:50:35 +0000Venezuela reached a peak of more than 2,000 arrested protesters after the presidential elections. Four months later, the government is beginning to release some of these people from prison. According to a statement from the Vice Presidency of Citizen Security and Peace — headed by Diosdado Cabello, who serves as the interior minister and is also the Chavista movement’s second-highest leader — there have been 103 releases since Tuesday, although human rights organizations that defend political prisoners have only been able to confirm 25 as of Thursday. According to the authorities, these measures are in addition to another 225 releases granted in November, but which have not been fully implemented either.

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]]>Gaby Oraa<![CDATA[Chavismo hardens stance as Venezuela’s opposition resolves to assume presidency]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-12-02/chavismo-hardens-stance-as-venezuelas-opposition-resolves-to-assume-presidency.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2024-12-02/chavismo-hardens-stance-as-venezuelas-opposition-resolves-to-assume-presidency.htmlMon, 02 Dec 2024 15:24:25 +0000Venezuela is preparing for a potential turning point in its political landscape, with a significant date marked on the calendar. Opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia have both emphasized that González will be sworn in as president on January 10, 2025, when the current presidential term ends. “There is an absolute conviction that this will be the case, we are now more convinced than ever,” an opposition source confirmed, though they did not clarify how or under what circumstances González might assume the presidency in the Capitol in Caracas.

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]]>Alfredo Lasry R<![CDATA[The solitude of Nicolás Maduro]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-10-28/the-solitude-of-nicolas-maduro.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2024-10-28/the-solitude-of-nicolas-maduro.htmlMon, 28 Oct 2024 20:51:31 +0000Delegitimized in the eyes of the majority of the international community by the electoral fraud that many suspect his regime has carried out, and barred from entering the BRICS group of nations due to Brazil’s veto, Nicolás Maduro finds himself in solitude. Since he was given the task by Hugo Chávez to, after his death, guide the destiny of the Bolivarian revolution, he has rarely found himself in such a precarious situation. The outcome of the presidential election on July 28, which Chavismo hoped to win with some ease against the opposition, has provided a significant setback for a president who has not managed to receive even a modicum of the treatment that was afforded to Chávez on the world stage. At times he seemed disoriented in Kazan, Russia, where the summit of the club of countries calling for a less Eurocentric and more multipolar world was being held; he greeted Vladimir Putin and was about to walk behind him, but the Russian president asked him to take another path, away from one that led to the BRICS plenary. For now, that door remains closed to Maduro.

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]]>Alexander Vilf/BRICS-RUSSIA2024.<![CDATA[María Corina Machado denies Maduro’s claims she has ‘fled’ Venezuela: ‘They know I am here’]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-10-17/maria-corina-machado-denies-maduros-claims-she-has-fled-venezuela-they-know-i-am-here.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2024-10-17/maria-corina-machado-denies-maduros-claims-she-has-fled-venezuela-they-know-i-am-here.htmlThu, 17 Oct 2024 09:43:32 +0000Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has in recent days been promoting the theory that María Corina Machado has left the country, but on Wednesday the opposition leader flatly denied it. Maduro has stated, looking to score yet another victory, that Machado had gone into exile in Spain, supposedly following in the footsteps of presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia. “The old man,” Maduro said in reference to the veteran diplomat, “left a month ago and now the sayona — the derogatory terms he uses to refer to Machado, taken from a Venezuelan folk tale — has also left, left, left. She fled,” he said during a television appearance. Maduro is mired in a political crisis sparked by accusations of fraud surrounding the results of the July 28 presidential election, after which the government apparatus has opted to dismantle its adversaries.

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]]>Fausto Torrealba<![CDATA[It’s Christmas in Venezuela as Maduro tries to turn page on political and economic crisis]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-10-08/its-christmas-in-venezuela-as-maduro-tries-to-turn-page-on-political-and-economic-crisis.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2024-10-08/its-christmas-in-venezuela-as-maduro-tries-to-turn-page-on-political-and-economic-crisis.htmlTue, 08 Oct 2024 11:52:25 +0000October has just begun, and there’s a huge Christmas tree in front of the Navy Headquarters in downtown Caracas.

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]]>MIGUEL GUTIERREZ<![CDATA[Mothers of minors imprisoned by Nicolás Maduro: ‘They lost teeth and were given electric shocks’]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-10-04/mothers-of-minors-imprisoned-by-nicolas-maduro-they-lost-teeth-and-were-given-electric-shocks.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2024-10-04/mothers-of-minors-imprisoned-by-nicolas-maduro-they-lost-teeth-and-were-given-electric-shocks.htmlFri, 04 Oct 2024 11:32:10 +0000Seven teenagers arrested in the context of post-election protests in Venezuela have been sent to trial accused of terrorism and inciting hatred, crimes for which they could be sentenced to 10 years in prison. This group, detained in the state of Carabobo, in the central region of the country, forms part of the 67 minors who remain in prison since the days following the presidential election in which Chavismo declared Nicolás Maduro the winner without providing evidence in the form of the paper ballot tallies from voting stations. In the protests that spread throughout the country after the disputed July 28 vote, a total of 160 children were arrested.

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]]>Miguel Gutierrez<![CDATA[Edmundo González: ‘I have not been coerced by the Spanish government or by the ambassador’]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-09-20/edmundo-gonzalez-i-have-not-been-coerced-by-the-spanish-government-or-by-the-ambassador.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2024-09-20/edmundo-gonzalez-i-have-not-been-coerced-by-the-spanish-government-or-by-the-ambassador.htmlFri, 20 Sep 2024 10:46:09 +0000Edmundo González, the Venezuelan opposition’s presidential candidate who has been living in exile in Spain since early September, issued a statement on Thursday in which he said he had not been pressured by the Spanish government to leave Venezuela: “I have not been coerced by the Spanish government or by the Spanish ambassador in Venezuela, Ramón Santos. The diplomatic efforts carried out had the sole purpose of facilitating my departure from the country, without exerting any kind of pressure on me,” says the statement issued by González, who is widely considered the winner of the presidential election of July 28 after the opposition published vote tallies showing he secured nearly 70% of votes. President Nicolás Maduro has claimed victory but failed to produce any vote tallies to prove it, and he has tightened his grip on power despite evidence that he committed fraud.

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]]>David Mudarra<![CDATA[The plight of Colombians fighting for Ukraine detained in Russia after disappearing in Caracas: ‘They are not mercenaries’]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-09-09/the-plight-of-colombians-fighting-for-ukraine-detained-in-russia-after-disappearing-in-caracas-they-are-not-mercenaries.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2024-09-09/the-plight-of-colombians-fighting-for-ukraine-detained-in-russia-after-disappearing-in-caracas-they-are-not-mercenaries.htmlMon, 09 Sep 2024 14:21:47 +0000“Darling, we are here in Caracas.” A map with the geolocation pin of the Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, Venezuela, where he was stopping over on his way back to Colombia after having fought for several months in Ukraine, that brief WhatsApp message, and a three-minute video call that ended abruptly on July 18 at 5:30 p.m. was the last Cielo Paz heard from her husband, José Arón Medina, during the six long weeks he was missing. It was not until August 30 that she received news of him, when she identified him in a video released by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the former KGB. Together with his comrade Alexander Ante, another Colombian ex-military officer who had fought in the Ukrainian army, they were arrested and accused of being mercenaries by a Moscow court, a charge that could lead to 15 years in prison.

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]]>ANDRÉS GALEANO<![CDATA[Venezuelan prosecutors close in on Edmundo González Urrutia and issue warrant for his arrest]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-09-03/venezuelan-prosecutors-close-in-on-edmundo-gonzalez-urrutia-and-issue-warrant-for-his-arrest.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2024-09-03/venezuelan-prosecutors-close-in-on-edmundo-gonzalez-urrutia-and-issue-warrant-for-his-arrest.htmlTue, 03 Sep 2024 11:04:48 +0000The Venezuelan Prosecutor’s Office has carried out its threat to issue an arrest warrant against Edmundo González Urrutia, after three summons to testify that the opposition presidential candidate did not attend. Urrutia is accused of the crimes of usurpation of functions, forgery of public documents, instigation to disobey laws, conspiracy, and “sabotage to damage systems” amid of an investigation centered on the publication of 83.5% of the voting records collected by witnesses on July 28. With these data, the opposition has denounced that Nicolás Maduro committed fraud by proclaiming himself the winner of the elections, a victory that was later ratified by the Chavismo-subordinated National Electoral Council. The arrest warrant for Urrutia, signed Monday, was sent to a court that specializes in terrorism charges.

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]]>Gaby Oraa<![CDATA[Chavismo intensifies its judicial persecution against Edmundo González Urrutia]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-08-30/chavismo-intensifies-its-judicial-persecution-against-edmundo-gonzalez-urrutia.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2024-08-30/chavismo-intensifies-its-judicial-persecution-against-edmundo-gonzalez-urrutia.htmlFri, 30 Aug 2024 13:07:15 +0000On Friday, the Venezuelan government’s persecution of the opposition reached a new stage. At 10 a.m. Edmundo González Urrutia was summoned, for the third and final time, to appear before the Chavismo-controlled Prosecutor’s Office as a suspect for crimes of conspiracy, usurpation of functions and instigation to disobedience, among others. The summons states that if he does not attend the scheduled appearance, an arrest warrant will be issued, under the presumption of risk of flight and obstruction of justice. Chavismo has entrenched itself in its most repressive facet to corner the opposition following the disputed presidential election of July 28, as it has done on other occasions. The political climate in Venezuela continues to be one of maximum tension.

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]]>Ariana Cubillos<![CDATA[Maduro hails triumph of ‘truth and love’ and accuses Machado of a ‘satanic pact’ with Elon Musk]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-08-29/maduro-hails-triumph-of-truth-and-love-and-accuses-machado-of-a-satanic-pact-with-elon-musk.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2024-08-29/maduro-hails-triumph-of-truth-and-love-and-accuses-machado-of-a-satanic-pact-with-elon-musk.htmlThu, 29 Aug 2024 13:34:35 +0000Chavismo on Wednesday celebrated one month since the National Electoral Council (CNE) proclaimed Nicolás Maduro the winner of the presidential election in Venezuela. Since that announcement nothing has changed: the authorities have not yet presented the vote tallies from July 28 amid growing suspicions of fraud that have led a large part of the international community not to recognize the announced victory of the incumbent president. “Today we can say that the truth and the love of the immense majority of the people have triumphed,” Maduro affirmed. “What would have happened if violence had prevailed on those days of July 29, 30, and 31 or if the criminals had won? How many hundreds of wounded and dead would there have been? That is why the common man and woman are grateful that we have triumphed.”

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]]>Fausto Torrealba<![CDATA[Proposals from Brazil and Colombia for new elections or a coalition in Venezuela rejected]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-08-16/proposals-from-brazil-and-colombia-for-new-elections-or-a-coalition-in-venezuela-rejected.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2024-08-16/proposals-from-brazil-and-colombia-for-new-elections-or-a-coalition-in-venezuela-rejected.htmlFri, 16 Aug 2024 10:54:40 +0000The political crisis in Venezuela has been intensifying since the country’s presidential elections on July 28 when the National Electoral Council (CNE) proclaimed Nicolás Maduro the winner. Almost three weeks later, Chavismo has still failed to provide evidence to back the claim.

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]]>Matias Delacroix<![CDATA[Venezuela’s political crisis enters uncharted territory]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-08-05/venezuelas-political-crisis-enters-uncharted-territory.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2024-08-05/venezuelas-political-crisis-enters-uncharted-territory.htmlMon, 05 Aug 2024 07:59:50 +0000The Venezuelan crisis is entering uncharted territory. A week after the high turnout of the July 28 presidential elections, there are still no verifiable results, and Chavismo — the political movement led by President Nicolás Maduro based on the ideas of the late Hugo Chávez — is showing its most repressive side amid the growing suspicions of election fraud.

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]]>Matias Delacroix<![CDATA[Those who will leave Venezuela if Chavismo wins the election: ‘I’ll start selling my things’]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-07-27/those-who-will-leave-venezuela-if-chavismo-wins-the-election-ill-start-selling-my-things.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2024-07-27/those-who-will-leave-venezuela-if-chavismo-wins-the-election-ill-start-selling-my-things.htmlSat, 27 Jul 2024 04:00:00 +0000For years, Venezuelans’ migration plans have been determined by electoral cycles. After 25 years of Chavismo, they have become part of daily conversation each time an election nears, as one will on July 28. You can hear such exchanges in the street, constantly, and they’re not just talk: various polls indicate that around a quarter of the Venezuela’s population — between 18% and 22% — plan to leave the country this year. Of this group, the majority will base their decision on the result of Sunday’s election, saying they will emigrate if President Nicolás Maduro is elected for a third term.

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]]>Nayeli Cruz<![CDATA[Venezuelans who have turned their backs on Chavismo: ‘The revolution was lost time, years of misery’]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-07-24/venezuelans-who-have-turned-their-backs-on-chavismo-the-revolution-was-lost-time-years-of-misery.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2024-07-24/venezuelans-who-have-turned-their-backs-on-chavismo-the-revolution-was-lost-time-years-of-misery.htmlWed, 24 Jul 2024 17:36:25 +0000Tamara Almeida is surprised that there are only three posters of Nicolás Maduro in her neighborhood in Petare. Not long ago, she used to put them up herself, and there were many. This is how she measures what the polls say. In order for the opposition candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, to have 59% of voting intent, a good number of Chavistas have had to switch sides. Tamara, 54, controlled several community councils in the huge neighborhood located east of Petare (in the Caracas metropolitan area), was a spokeswoman, ran a government feeding house, was part of the Chavista machinery that mobilized votes, and coordinated voting centers in the long Venezuelan electoral nights. Today, she has neighbors who do not even want to look at her when they cross her path, those who will not be able to count on her in the crusade to seek votes once again for Nicolás Maduro.

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]]>Lexi Parra<![CDATA[Over 70 people linked to Venezuelan opposition arrested in 10 days of election campaigning]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-07-16/over-70-people-linked-to-venezuelan-opposition-arrested-in-10-days-of-election-campaigning.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2024-07-16/over-70-people-linked-to-venezuelan-opposition-arrested-in-10-days-of-election-campaigning.htmlTue, 16 Jul 2024 11:21:56 +0000Ten days ago, the candidates began to tour Venezuela to mark the official start of the electoral campaign for the presidential elections. The security forces have also reinforced their persecution and, in the course of those 10 days, 71 arbitrary arrests have been registered among supporters and members of opposition parties supporting the candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who is running as the second option following the judicial blockade imposed by Chavismo on the candidacy of opposition leader María Corina Machado.

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]]>Leonardo Fernandez Viloria<![CDATA[The sad story of Jeison, the man with the biggest feet in the world]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-07-15/the-sad-story-of-jeison-the-man-with-the-biggest-feet-in-the-world.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2024-07-15/the-sad-story-of-jeison-the-man-with-the-biggest-feet-in-the-world.htmlMon, 15 Jul 2024 15:42:12 +0000When Jeison Rodríguez has a headache, he knows that it’s because he’s growing. Not being able to fit into shoes or having to bend down to walk through a door is the least of his troubles. Rodríguez has acrogigantism: his pituitary gland produces too much growth hormone. Finding the money every two months to pay for a very expensive treatment — which costs about $1,500 — to control his chronic endocrinological disease is his biggest concern. When he doesn’t take it, he gets headaches, convulsions that make him lose his memory, and he finds it hard to stand up and walk because of his body’s unstoppable growth.

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]]>Lexi Parra<![CDATA[The US and Colombia join forces against criminal mega-gang Tren de Aragua ]]>https://english.elpais.com/usa/2024-07-12/the-us-and-colombia-join-forces-against-criminal-mega-gang-tren-de-aragua.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/usa/2024-07-12/the-us-and-colombia-join-forces-against-criminal-mega-gang-tren-de-aragua.htmlFri, 12 Jul 2024 10:30:11 +0000The U.S. Embassy in Colombia and the Colombian Police on Thursday announced a reward program totaling up to $12 million for “information leading to the arrests and/or convictions in any country” of three leaders of the criminal organization Tren de Aragua, which was founded in Venezuela and has expanded throughout the region in recent years. “Criminals always look for a place to take shelter, and the Latin American police have international cooperation operations to capture the subjects wherever they are, but we still do not have information about whether these ringleaders are in Colombia,” said the director of the Colombian Police, General William Salamanca, during a press conference together with Francisco Palmieri, head of the U.S. Embassy to Colombia. Palmieri said that “the Tren de Aragua has become an organization that contributes to fear and confusion, and it is an obstacle for the Colombian and American population.”

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