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Venezuela's low case count and death toll from the coronavirus are likely false and could in fact be thousands of times higher than official figures, according to the Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Johns Hopkins University. Nicolás Maduro's regime has reported 10 COVID-19 deaths out of 1,121 cases in a country of 30 million people, numbers a report from the…
The U.S. Navy routinely conducts Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs) throughout the world. FONOPs are operations by U.S. naval and air forces that strengthen internationally recognized rights and freedoms by challenging excessive maritime claims, which according to the U.S. Department of Defense are attempts by coastal nations to unlawfully claim territorial waters and restrict the navigational freedoms and movements of…
While peacefully operating in the Caribbean Sea, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Nitze conducted a freedom of navigation operation on June 23, contesting an excessive maritime claim by Venezuela. The U.S. Navy ship conducted the operation in international waters outside Venezuela’s 12 nautical-mile territorial jurisdiction. During the operation, the ship lawfully navigated an area the illegitimate Nicolás Maduro regime…
The U.S. Air Force will temporarily deploy four aircraft and crews to Curaçao to support enhanced counternarcotics operations with international partners targeting illicit traffickers in the Caribbean. Two patrol aircraft, an E-3 Sentry (AWACS) and E-8 Joint STARS (JSTARS), supported by two KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft, will fly detection and monitoring missions in international airspace to help U.S. and…
The pandemic is the perfect opportunity for cybercrime groups, which take advantage of the increase in people working from home due to the lockdown. The weak digital security measures that many companies and users have create an ideal environment for data theft and fraud. “COVID-19 is causing an unprecedented increase in the number of internet users in the region. Most…
The United States announced a new $200 million aid package for Venezuelans, both inside and outside the country, including $138 million for humanitarian assistance. “The United States continues to be a catalyst for the international response to help the Venezuelan people and the region to respond to the ongoing humanitarian crisis caused by the former [Nicolás] Maduro regime,” said U.S.…
Amid nationwide gasoline shortages that have prompted fuel rationing and protests at gas stations, Venezuela has turned to Iran for help reviving its ailing oil industry. In late May, four of five Iranian tankers carrying fuel to Venezuela arrived to the South American country and docked at ports serving its refineries, defying U.S. sanctions on both countries. The fifth tanker…
The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation held the digital conference “The Cuban Threat in Latin America” on May 14. Among the topics discussed were the influence of Cuba in Venezuela and Nicaragua, and how disinformation campaigns promoted by Havana have been destroying democracies and maintaining military interventions in those countries. Dr. Carlos Ponce, senior fellow and director of Latin American…
Cuba has been placed back on the list of countries that do not cooperate fully with the United States’ efforts to counter terrorism, the U.S. State Department announced on May 13. The move comes after the communist government continues to harbor Colombia’s leftist National Liberation Army (ELN, in Spanish) guerrillas, who traveled to Havana in 2017 to negotiate with the…
It’s been two years since the illegitimate election of Nicolás Maduro, during which time Venezuela has plunged into even greater turmoil and suffering. Within five days of the May 20, 2018, election, 46 countries declared the results illegitimate, according to the Electoral Integrity Project. The Project is an independent academic program based at Harvard University in the United States and…
The Nicolás Maduro regime has lifted the prohibition on river mining, authorizing gold and diamond exploitation in six rivers in the country’s south. The April 8 decree declared the Aro, Caroní, Caura, Cuchivero, Cuyuní, and Yuruari rivers (vital riverine areas in the Amazon) suitable for mining, incorporating them with the Orinoco Mining Arc project — an area that covers 12…
Among the areas where the hospital crisis is particularly notorious in Venezuela are maternity wards. Giving birth in this country puts the lives of women and newborns at risk. The Nicolás Maduro regime is not disclosing childbirth mortality rates, but several nongovernmental organizations, such as Doctors United of Venezuela, have reported multiple health care problems in hospitals. Doctor Jaime Lorenzo,…
