About: Venezuela
Cubans fear return to 90s austerity amid cuts
Havana awoke Thursday (12 September) to long lines at gas stations and public transportation stops after President Miguel Díaz-Canel warned fellow Cubans to expect fuel shortages and blackouts that he blamed on US sanctions.
EU calls on Venezuela rivals to resume talks
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini urged the Venezuelan government and opposition Wednesday (11 September) to return to the negotiating table to seek a way out of the South American country's protracted crisis.
Trump fires foreign policy hawk Bolton, citing strong disagreements
US President Donald Trump abruptly fired his national security adviser John Bolton amid disagreements with his hard-line aide over how to handle foreign policy challenges such as North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan and Russia.
US warns off Venezuela allies at Lima Group meeting
Washington warned China and Russia on Tuesday (6 August) to avoid doing business with the Venezuelan regime of Nicolas Maduro, as delegates from some 60 countries met in Lima to discuss ways of ending the crisis in the South American nation.
Pompeo to hold talks on Iran in Brussels on way to Russia
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will cancel the Moscow leg of his Russia trip, but will meet President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the Black Sea resort of Sochi as planned on Tuesday (14 May), a State Department official said.
Pompeo: Russia is ‘aggressive’ in Arctic, China’s work there also needs watching
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday (6 May) that Russia is behaving aggressively in the Arctic and China’s actions there had to be watched closely as well, amid growing divisions in the polar region over global warming and access to minerals.
Tension grows between US and Russia over Venezuela standoff
The United States and Russia traded warnings against interfering in Venezuela on Wednesday (1 May), a day after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Moscow of stopping President Nicolas Maduro from leaving the country.
Mogherini’s tarnished legacy
Paradoxically it was the EU’s closest partner, the United States, that has done most to damage Federica Mogherini's legacy as High Representative with a full-scale assault on the EU’s commitment to multilateralism, writes Fraser Cameron.
EU threatens WTO action after US paves way for Cuban property lawsuits
The EU has reacted angrily to a Trump administration announcement that Americans to sue foreign firms over seized Cuban property, threatening to take a case to the World Trade Organisation.
Russia cashes in as European oil refiners pay for US sanctions
European refiners are paying the price for US oil sanctions on Venezuela and Iran as they scramble to replace the sour crude Washington has blocked from the global market with increasingly expensive Russian oil, trading sources said and data showed.
Spain calls on EU partners to step up diplomacy on Venezuela crisis
EU and Latin American efforts to resolve the Venezuela crisis peacefully are too slow and must be accelerated, Spain's foreign minister Josep Borrell said Monday (8 April).
EU frowns, US roars as Russian troops start arriving in Venezuela
Russia said on Thursday (28 March) it had sent “specialists” to Venezuela under a military cooperation deal but said they posed no threat to regional stability, brushing aside a call from US President Donald Trump to remove all military personnel from the country.
US calls Russia deployment of planes to Venezuela ‘reckless escalation’
The United States on Monday accused Russia of “reckless escalation” of the situation in Venezuela by deploying military planes and personnel to the crisis-stricken South American nation that Washington has hit with crippling sanctions.
EU says military intervention in Venezuela must be avoided
The European Union on Monday (25 February) urged countries to avoid any military intervention in Venezuela.
France, Spain condemn Venezuela’s expulsion of EU fact-finding team
The foreign ministers of France and Spain condemned on Monday (18 February) the Venezuelan government's decision to expel a group of EU lawmakers who had travelled there on a fact-finding mission and wanted to meet with the self-appointed but widely recognised interim president. EURACTIV’s partner EFE reports.
MEPs invited by Venezuela’s Guaidó barred from entering
Venezuela's government on Sunday (17 February) blocked five European lawmakers from entering the country, triggering an angry response by opposition leader Juan Guaidó who had invited the delegation.
Italy’s Conte calls for European populism, battles hostile MEPs
Europe has lost touch with its people, Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday (12 February), amid heavy criticism from MEPs.
Engine trouble: EU struggles to attune diplomacy in Brussels
The rise to power of anti-EU populists in some member states is making it harder for the European Union to agree common statements on fast-moving foreign crises, diplomats say, raising a threat to the bloc's prized "soft power" status.
Slovakia declines to back Venezuela’s Guaidó as diplomats gather in Montevideo
Slovakia declined to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's legitimate head of state on Wednesday (6 February), joining Italy in breaking the coordinated action of European Union nations and the United States.
World Bank’s Georgieva: Venezuela needs tens of billions of dollars
As the Venezuelan crisis unfolds, the World Bank is ready to act as soon as its members give the green light, said the institution's new interim president, Kristalina Georgieva. In an interview with EURACTIV.com, she estimated that the financial needs to cover would be around tens of billions of dollars.
Who backs whom in Venezuela crisis, in EU and beyond
World powers are taking sides in the struggle between the rivals to lead Venezuela, which has ranged some Western nations against Russia, China and others.
EU leaders recognise Guaido in Venezuela
A dozen EU countries formally recognised Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the country's interim president on Monday (1 February), after their ultimatum for calling elections in the Latin American country expired.
Trump says US military intervention in Venezuela ‘an option’, Russia objects
US President Donald Trump said military intervention in Venezuela was “an option” as Western nations boost pressure on socialist leader Nicolás Maduro to step down, while the troubled OPEC nation’s ally Russia warned against “destructive meddling.”