NICOLAS MADURO

A U.N.-backed panel investigating human rights violations in Venezuela says the South American country’s government has intensified efforts to curtail democratic freedoms with use of threats, surveillance and harassment as President Nicolás Maduro faces a re-election contest next year.

Maria Corina Machado has been a longtime foe of Venezuela’s government, and not exactly a unifying figure for its critics.

Donald Trump’s attacks on the justice system after his indictment on federal charges this week are the latest step in a now eight-year campaign by the former president and his allies against the traditions and institutions that have helped maintain American democracy.

In his first visit to Latin America, Iran’s hardline president has met with his Nicaraguan counterpart and railed against a theme both leaders have in common: U.S. sanctions.

Leaders of Venezuela’s fractured opposition are shaking voters’ hands and promising — yet again — that they will defeat President Nicolás Maduro at the ballot box.

Hundreds of people from 11 countries are gathered in Venezuela to participate in boxing, swimming, gymnastics and other events.

President Joe Biden is holding talks at the White House with Colombia's president, Gustavo Petro.

One of the six oil executives with a Texas-based company who was imprisoned five years in Venezuela is suing his company for $100 million.

Venezuela’s opposition has selected an all-female team of exiled former lawmakers to replace the beleaguered Juan Guaidó as the face of its faltering efforts to remove socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

Colombia and Venezuela are opening a key bridge linking the countries that had been closed for almost seven years amid political tensions, launching a new era of improved relations under Colombia’s new leftist president.

For three years, Juan Guaidó has led the Venezuelan opposition’s efforts to bring about new elections and remove socialist President Nicolás Maduro.

A federal judge in Miami has rejected attempts by a close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to shield himself from U.S. criminal charges.

A group of opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is looking to strip Juan Guaidó of his authority as the internationally recognized head of the country's so-called interim government.

Nearly a decade since inheriting Venezuela's leadership, President Nicolás Maduro is working to regain the international recognition he lost when his 2018 re-election was deemed a sham by many.

A former Miami congressman who signed a $50 million consulting contract with Venezuela’s socialist government was arrested Monday on charges of money laundering and representing a foreign government without registering.

A former Venezuelan treasurer and nurse to the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is contesting criminal charges in the U.S. Claudia Diaz is charged with money laundering, accused of taking at least $4.2 million in bribes and gifts in exchange for green lighting lucrative currency transactions.

When Joe Biden was running for the White House, he denounced then-President Donald Trump's immigration policies.

A law enforcement official in Venezuela says the fugitive defense contractor nicknamed “Fat Leonard” has requested asylum in the South American country.

Democrats in Florida are trying to make inroads with Latino voters by focusing on gun safety.

A fugitive defense contractor nicknamed “Fat Leonard” who claims to have incriminating sex photos of top U.S. Navy brass could become the latest bargaining chip in Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s efforts to win official recognition from the Biden administration.

Venezuelans have surpassed Guatemalans and Hondurans to become the second-largest nationality stopped at the U.S. border in August after Mexicans.

Independent experts working with the U.N.‘s human rights body say Venezuelan authorities have failed to hold to account state-backed perpetrators of violations including arbitrary executions, sexual violence and torture of civilians.

A federal judge in Miami has awarded $73 million in damages to the family of a prominent opponent of Venezuela’s socialist government who died while in custody in what he described as a “murder for hire” carried out by a criminal enterprise led by President Nicolás Maduro.

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó has offered a broad accounting of millions of dollars under his control and took credit for social programs benefiting people across the troubled South American country.

About 6.8 million Venezuelans have left their homeland since economic crisis took hold in earnest for the country of some 28 million people.

Thousands of asylum seekers from across Latin America and the Caribbean are getting caught in the political battle over U.S. immigration policy after two Republican governors started sending busloads of migrants to New York City and Washington.

New filings in a civil suit allege that a former Miami congressman who signed a $50 million consulting contract with Venezuela’s socialist government not only did no apparent work, but also channeled a large chunk of the money to a yacht company on behalf of a fugitive billionaire.

A veteran Afro-Colombian politician who studied in the Soviet Union and fled his country after being kidnapped by a paramilitary group has been named Colombia’s next ambassador to the United States.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center says a storm that has hurled rain on the southern Caribbean and the northern shoulder of South America is expected to hit Central America as a tropical storm over the weekend and eventually develop into a hurricane over the Pacific.

Senior Biden administration officials have quietly traveled to Caracas in the latest bid to rebuild relations with the South American oil giant as the war in Ukraine drags on, driving higher gas prices and forcing the U.S. to recalibrate other foreign policy objectives.

It’s one of the United States’ few enduring alliances in an often-turbulent Latin America, one built around a decades-long partnership combating the nation’s drug cartels.

The Venezuelan opposition group backed by the United States will file a formal complaint with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for the physical attack its leader suffered over the weekend during a visit to a rural community.

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has been welcomed in the Turkish capital one the same day as the foreign minister of Russia, a key ally of the ostracized Latin American regime, was also visiting the city.

The Biden administration has renewed a license partially exempting Chevron from sanctions on Venezuela so it can keep operating in the oil-rich, socialist-run nation.

Venezuela’s government is seeking private investors to pump funds into vital but crippled state-run companies, decades after seizing them in the name of socialism.

Mexico’s president says he won't attend next month’s Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles if the Biden administration excludes Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

A federal appeals panel has thwarted an ally of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s attempts to be recognized as a foreign diplomat.

A Venezuelan political strategist allegedly threatened to shoot a gun through the door of his luxury Miami condo to avoid being served a lawsuit by a former U.S. Green Beret he hired as part of a plan to oust President Nicolas Maduro.

Pressure is building on the Biden administration to begin unwinding sanctions on Venezuela after President Nicolas Maduro freed two American prisoners and promised to resume negotiations with opponents.

Senior U.S. officials secretly traveled to Venezuela over the weekend in a risky bid to unfreeze hostile relations with Vladimir Putin’s top ally in Latin America, a top oil exporter whose re-entry into U.S. energy markets could mitigate the fallout at the pump from a possible oil embargo on Russia.

Families of American hostages and detainees say they're frustrated with the Justice Department over what they see as the agency's refusal to consider prisoner exchanges that could get their loved ones home.

Newly unsealed court records show that a Colombian businessman linked to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was secretly signed up by the Drug Enforcement Administration as a cooperating source in 2018 and gave agents information about bribes he paid to Venezuelan officials.

The Venezuelan opposition was re-energized recently by an unexpected gubernatorial victory in the home state of the late President Hugo Chavez.

For nationalities that don’t need a visa, Mexico can be the ticket to seeking asylum in the United States.

A retired Venezuelan army general says U.S. officials at the highest levels of the CIA and other federal agencies were aware of his efforts to oust Nicolás Maduro — a role he says should immediately debunk criminal charges that he worked alongside the socialist leader to flood the U.S. with cocaine.

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council says an opposition petition drive seeking to force a recall referendum against President Nicolás Maduro fell far short of the signatures needed.

Venezuelans are getting a chance on to demand a recall of President Nicolás Maduro.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro says he has spoken by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin about cooperation between the two countries.

Twice in less than two months, Venezuela’s opposition has prevailed in the gubernatorial race in the home state of the late President Hugo Chávez, with the results giving hope to that faction while shocking the ruling party.

Voters in the home state of Venezuela’s late President Hugo Chávez have picked an opposition candidate for governor in a closely watched special election called after the contender representing that faction in November’s regular contest was retroactively disqualified as he was ahead in the vote count.

The Associated Press has learned that a senior U.S. diplomat quietly traveled to Venezuela this week and met with imprisoned Americans in an ongoing effort to secure their release.

A recently revealed identification card shows that the German-born father of Chilean presidential candidate José Antonio Kast belonged to Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party.

Federal prosecutors have unveiled criminal charges against an alleged corruption ring accused of paying millions of dollars in bribes to a top ally of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to profit from lucrative contracts to import food and medicine at a time of widespread hardship in the South American country.

A businessman who prosecutors say was a major conduit for corruption by Nicolás Maduro’s inner circle has appeared for the first time in Miami federal court after an extradition that has further strained relations between the U.S. and Venezuela’s socialist government.

A Rome court has rejected a request by Venezuela to extradite its former oil czar to face corruption charges, citing the country’s record in violating human rights.

The government of Venezuela and its opposition are scheduled to begin a new dialogue this week, marking the third effort in four years.

Iranian state TV says that an Iranian destroyer and support vessel are now sailing in the Atlantic Ocean in a rare mission far from the Islamic Republic, without offering the vessels’ final destination.

A Colombian rebel group says government troops killed its leader, who had abandoned the 2016 peace deal with Colombia’s government and had been at large for three years.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government is intensifying efforts to court the Biden administration as the new U.S. president weighs whether to risk a political backlash in Florida and ease up on sanctions seeking to isolate the socialist leader.

For a second time this month, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has reached an agreement with the sort of global aid agencies he has often shunned to bring help to his country’s people.

AdA senior Biden administration official portrayed that as a failed strategy. “The United States is in no rush to lift sanctions," the official said, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss the policy. Any easing of sanctions would likely face opposition in Congress, but the granting of temporary protected status for Venezuelans has bipartisan support. Temporary protected status is a more formal status that cannot be as easily reversed. Citizens of 10 countries, totaling about 400,000 people, are in the United States now with temporary protected status.

(AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)MIAMI – Newly filed lobbying records show Venezuela’s socialist government previously hired a longtime Democratic Party donor for $6 million at the same time it was lobbying to discourage the U.S. from imposing sanctions on the oil-rich nation. Federal prosecutors in Miami are also investigating whether the Republican broke foreign lobbying rules. Payments came from a little-known, Delaware-registered subsidiary, PDV USA, which provided shareholder services to PDVSA independent of Citgo's oil operations. “Wiss was engaged to provide PDV USA and its affiliates with legal services only,” she wrote in an e-mailed response to questions. PDV USA said Wiss provided updates on disputes involving PDVSA and advice on immigration, insurance, and cryptocurrency.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a ceremony marking the start of the judicial year at the Supreme Court in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. “Ten drops under the tongue every four hours and the miracle is done,” Maduro said in a televised appearance on Sunday. Other leaders too have embraced solutions dismissed by scientific studies. Maduro said the treatment, which he called carvativir, has been under testing for nine months among Venezuelans ill with the coronavirus. She said colleagues at a local health center and some neighbors have died from COVID-19.

Trump signed an executive order deferring for 18 months the removal of more than 145,000 Venezuelans who were at risk of being sent back to their crisis-wracked homeland. He cited the “deteriorative condition” within Venezuela that constitutes a national security threat as the basis for his decision. The Trump administration was the first of now more than 50 countries in the world to recognize Guaidó as Venezuela’s president shortly after the young lawmaker rose up to challenge Maduro’s rule two years ago. More than 700 Venezuelans have been removed from the U.S. since 2018, while 11,000 more are under deportation proceedings, according to the TRAC immigration data base of Syracuse University. All are accused of helping the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA evade earlier U.S. sanctions designed to stop the president from profiting from crude sales.

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration on Monday re-designated Cuba as a “state sponsor of terrorism,” hitting the country with new sanctions that could hamstring President-elect Joe Biden's promise to renew relations with the communist-governed island. Since Trump took office, after a campaign that attacked Obama's moves to normalize relations with Cuba, ties have been increasingly strained. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez condemned the U.S. action. The latest sanctions put Cuba alongside North Korea, Syria and Iran as the only foreign nations deemed state sponsors of terrorism. Obama’s removal of Cuba from the “state sponsors of terrorism” list had been a major target of Trump, Pompeo and other Cuba hawks in the current administration.

(Saul Loeb/Pool Photo via AP, File)WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced that he will designate Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels as a “foreign terrorist organization” as time runs down on the Trump administration. In addition to the Houthi designation, Pompeo in coming days is also expected to likely re-designate Cuba as a “state sponsor of terrorism," according to several admininstration officials. On Saturday Pompeo angered China when he declared restrictions on U.S. diplomatic contacts with Taiwanese officials to be null and void. The administration had been weighing the formal designation of the Houthi rebels as a “foreign terrorist organization” for months. On Saturday, Pompeo announced that he was rescinding all restrictions on contacts between U.S. diplomats and Taiwanese officials.

The announcement comes as Pompeo and his top aides rush to complete actions they believe will cement their legacy and the president’s. In addition to the Houthi designation, Pompeo in coming days is also expected to likely re-designate Cuba as a “state sponsor of terrorism," according to several admininstration officials. On Saturday Pompeo angered China when he declared restrictions on U.S. diplomatic contacts with Taiwanese officials to be null and void. “The United States recognizes concerns that these designations will have an impact on the humanitarian situation in Yemen,” Pompeo said in his statement. On Saturday, Pompeo announced that he was rescinding all restrictions on contacts between U.S. diplomats and Taiwanese officials.

The ruling socialist party assumed the leadership of Venezuela's congress on Tuesday, the last institution in the country it didn't already control. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)CARACAS – Parading giant portraits of Hugo Chavez and independence hero Simon Bolivar, allies of President Nicolas Maduro retook control of Venezuela's congress Tuesday, the last institution in the country it didn’t already control. “They are trying to annihilate Venezuela’s democratic force,” Guaidó said in his online address, which was overshadowed by the government’s celebratory session in the legislature downtown. Rodriguez emphasized that urgent work would be needed to mitigate the fallout from U.S. sanctions, which have exacerbated Venezuela's many homespun economic problems. He also reiterated a desire for dialogue with the opposition at the same time that Maduro and others have threatened arrest for Guaidó.

That includes the 5 million Venezuelans who have fled the nation’s hyperinflation and lack of basic services such as reliable running water, electricity and gasoline, they said. The Trump administration took the lead, imposing sanctions on Maduro, dozens of his political allies and the state-run oil firm PDVSA. On Jan. 5, the term of the current opposition-dominated National Assembly ends and Maduro’s political allies take over the last governmental body not controlled by the president’s socialist party. Guaidó and his political allies vow to continue fighting. Democracy must return to Venezuela.”Support among Venezuelans for the opposition has waned amid growing frustrations over Maduro remaining in power.

“We must review these mechanisms at the international level to exert pressure on this dictatorship and find a solution,” Guaidó said. Maduro said taking the National Assembly back will help him end opposition-led violence in Venezuela’s streets fomented by Guaidó as well deflect crushing international sanctions. “One thing I can guarantee is that I’m staying in Caracas,” Guaidó said. Guaidó declined to say whether he's made contact with Biden's incoming administration, but he said there's a need to revise U.S. financial sanctions and support from world leaders. But Guaidó said it is time to revisit the sanctions, which have not forced out Maduro.

(AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)CARACAS – President Nicolás Maduro has cemented formal control over all major institutions of power in Venezuela with authorities reporting Monday that his political alliance easily won a majority in congress. Yet he remains a pariah to much of the world following an election critics called deeply undemocratic. “The results of the election show a discouraged, tired people, the vast majority doing everything possible to survive,” Shifter said. The U.S., Panama, Canada and Germany have repeated their condemnation of the the election by Maduro's government following announcement of the results. "The international community now has to decide whether it wants to live with that or restore the democratic path for Venezuela.

The vote, championed by President Nicolas Maduro, is rejected as fraud by the nation's most influential opposition politicians. Critics say he's guaranteed that by rigging the system to smother the last remnants of democracy in Venezuela. The European Union, the U.S. and several other nations have already declared the vote a sham. “I came to vote, and in less than half a second I have voted, quickly,” Caracas resident Rafael Espinoza said. “I don’t feel like wasting my time, giving these people the opportunity, so I simply don’t vote,” she said.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks to supporters during a closing campaign rally for the upcoming National Assembly elections in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020. Venezuelans will vote for a new National Assembly this Sunday, Dec 6. Opposition leader Juan Guaidó, 37, rose to head the National Assembly in early 2019, declaring presidential powers and vowing to oust the 58-year-old Maduro. Abrams said he also expects broad international support for Venezuela's opposition to remain firm, even as Maduro's government tries to push them out of Venezuela's political landscape. "We’re getting instead an election that doesn’t deserve to be called an election."

Other leaders who supported Trump including President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines congratulated Biden, indicating they rejected Trump’s claim the election wasn’t over. Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia told reporters he looked forward to a “great partnership” with Washington. Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan said he looked forward to working together to end illegal tax havens and on peacemaking in Afghanistan. Others expressed hope Biden will help to heal divisions in American society and global politics. Prime Minister Janez Jansa was the only leader who congratulated Trump even before all votes were counted and showed support after Biden’s win was announced.

FILE - In this May 19, 2018 file photo, Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, right, and then Vice President Tareck El Aissami tour the construction site of La Rinconada baseball stadium on the outskirts of Caracas, Venezuela. The prosecution of El Aissami, Venezuelas Oil Minister, for violating U.S. sanctions has run into another snag after a federal judge on Monday, Nov. 2, 2020, allowed one of his co-defendants to withdraw a guilty plea over allegations U.S. attorneys withheld evidence in the case. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan, File)The prosecution of Venezuela’s Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami for violating U.S. sanctions has run into another snag after a federal judge allowed one of his co-defendants to withdraw a guilty plea over allegations that U.S. attorneys withheld evidence in the case. Like Mones, Marin owns a flight charter company that allegedly arranged flights for El Aissami and Lopez. The same unit is prosecuting El Aissami, who has celebrated the prosecutorial setbacks.

The experts delved into nearly 3,000 cases, looked at more than 5,000 killings and concluded that Maduro and his defense and interior ministers were aware of the crimes committed by Venezuelan security forces and intelligence agencies. They further alleged that high-level authorities had both power and oversight over the forces and agencies, making the top officials responsible. Critics have already accused Maduro’s government of crimes against humanity. Maduro’s government has come under increasing political pressure from the United States and dozens of other countries which consider politician Juan Guaidó the legitimate leader of Venezuela. Venezuela was once wealthy, sitting atop the world’s largest oil reserves, but it has tumbled into economic and political crisis.

FILE - In this March 12, 2020 file photo, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela. Restoring constitutional rights that were illegally taken away should not be applauded," the U.S. State Department said in a statement. Maduro in a Tuesday address on state TV accused President Donald Trump of leading a campaign to topple and even kill him. Maduro defended his pardons, saying he assumed full responsibility for the decision done in the spirit of peace and dialogue. The State Department described the pardons as token actions" and said conditions required for free and fair elections are clear.

A man wearing a face mask amid the COVID-19 pandemic passes a mural of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, July 22, 2020. Analysts say that in recent months the pandemic has helped suck away the oppositions scanty momentum and bolster Maduros already strong hand. The Venezuelan opposition hoped that 2020 could bring new momentum after several failed pushes to overthrow Maduro. “Maduro has had an opportunity to show his territorial control,” said Luis Vicente León, a Venezuelan political analyst. The court also took over three leading opposition parties, appointing new leaders the opposition accuses of conspiring to support Maduro.

FILE - In this March 12, 2020 file photo, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a press conference at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, Venezuela. The political battle over control of Venezuela has turned to a $1 .8 billion stack of gold bars sitting in the Bank of England's vault in London, where a judge is expected to decide soon on who has the rightful claim to the bullion. Maduro says he needs the gold to help his cash-starved nation fight the coronavirus pandemic. But the central bank for the United Kingdom, whose government recognizes opposition leader Juan Guaido as his country's legitimate leader, has refused to hand it over to Maduro's socialist administration. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)

Venezuela has become the latest accused human rights abuser to win a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council. It also presented evidence of human rights violations including torture and extrajudicial killings by Venezuelan security forces. The UN Human Rights CouncilThe UN's 47-nation human rights group gets to point the finger at countries for their human rights violations. And Human Rights Watch, deputy director for global advocacy, Philippe Bolopion said that Venezuela's election "betrays the fundamental principles (the UN) set out when it created the Human Rights Council." On Thursday, US Ambassador Craft said the Venezuela's ascent to the council "provides ironclad proof that the Human Rights Council is broken and reinforces why the United States withdrew."

Ecuador TV via CNN(CNN) - Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno has announced that his government will leave the capital city of Quito amid violent protests over his move to end state fuel subsidies. The military stepped in to rescue dozens of personnel held by indigenous groups protesting the end to fuel subsidies, Ministry of Defense officials said Monday. On Monday, Ecuador's Secretary of State Juan Sebastian Roldan asked indigenous groups leading the protests to put an end to the ongoing looting and violence. Moreno blamed foreign influences such as Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and leftist former president Rafael Correa for the unrest engulfing the nation. The president enjoys support from businesspeople and the military, and has moved Ecuador towards the political center after taking over from Correa.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The US is making a push for new international sanctions against Venezuela, a senior State Department official said Monday, as Latin American states voted to pursue and possibly extradite regime leaders. "We want to make sure the issue of a transition in Venezuela remains very high on the international agenda," a State Department official said Monday. A Wednesday meeting of heads of government will also focus on Venezuela, the State Department official said. The State Department official emphasized that the battle against Maduro is broader than a US-Venezuela standoff. "Then we would like to see sanctions that affect broader targets in the regime," said the State Department official.

1933: The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game is played in Chicago's Comiskey Park. Babe Ruth hit the first home run in All-Star game history as the American League defeated the National League 4-2. (CNN) - Major League Baseball will not allow its players to play in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League this coming winter while determining how to follow the Trump administration's new economic sanctions on Venezuela, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing several people familiar with the matter. It will not impact Venezuelan players traveling back to the country during the off-season, and was communicated by MLB to teams starting on Thursday, the paper reported. The Venezuelan state-owned oil company heavily sponsors the nation's baseball league, which has taken a hit from the recent political instability, the Journal reported.

A woman walks out from a building during a power outage in Caracas, Venezuela. (CNN) - Large swathes of Venezuela remained without power on Tuesday, the day after the country suffered its fourth nationwide blackout this year. The blackout, which officials blamed on a hostile "electromagnetic attack," affected almost the entire country, including the capital Caracas. A government statement called the blackout "an electromagnetic attack," though stopped short of providing details about who might have been responsible or how it was carried out. Then, as now, Maduro blamed the blackout on hostile attacks, accusing the United States of sabotaging power plants and the electricity grid.

(CNN) - A Venezuelan fighter aircraft recently made an "unsafe approach" to a US Navy aircraft flying in international airspace, "endangering the safety of the crew and jeopardizing" the aircraft's mission, the US military said Sunday. In a Sunday tweet, the Southern Command said the incident happened in international airspace over the Caribbean Sea. As the US aircraft did not comply with such protocols, it was forced to vacate (the Venezuelan airspace)." According to Venezuela, more than 76 US aircraft have attempted to enter Venezuelan airspace in 2019. Last month, a Russian aircraft intercepted a US aircraft flying in international airspace over the Mediterranean Sea three times in just under three hours.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - Negotiations are set to resume Monday between the Venezuelan government and the opposition group calling for its ouster in a bid to end months of political instability, the two sides announced. Talks will be held in Barbados and mediated by Norway, which hosted a Oslo meeting in May that failed to reach an agreement between President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido. Guaido declared himself acting president of Venezuela in January, challenging Maduro's claim to have won a 2018 election that international observers said lacked legitimacy. Maduro has accused Guaido, his allies and international backers -- most notably the United States -- of attempting to organize a coup. Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, have for years been accused of triggering a humanitarian catastrophe through their hardline socialist economic policies.

In the middle-class streets of Eastern Caracas, protesters gathered in large numbers at the call of opposition leader Juan Guaido. UN High Commissioner on Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, who oversaw the report, they said, had simply been following a script written by Washington. The OHCHR reportIssued one day earlier, the 16-page report has renewed longstanding criticisms of the embattled Maduro regime. It was created by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), a group Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has repeatedly criticized as "biased." In 2018 alone, 5,287 Venezuelans were killed while "resisting authority," the report said, citing the Maduro administration's own figures.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (center) speaks at the Balcn del Pueblo of the Miraflores Government Palace on Jan. 23, 2019, in Caracas, Venezuela. CARACAS, Venezuela (CNN) - A week before he died, a Venezuelan navy captain was arrested and accused of plotting to remove embattled President Nicolas Maduro from power. Rafael Ramon Acosta Arevalo's death Saturday remain a mystery in a country marred by political and humanitarian crises. In recent months, dozens of active and retired military officers have been detained by Venezuelan counterintelligence officers on treason charges. But Acosta is the first known military officer to die in custody amid allegations he was tortured.