After a year of cancer treatment and facing a tough re-election campaign, President Hugo Chávez is trying to show he is still the dominant figure in Venezuelan politics.

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After Cancer Treatment, Chávez Reclaims Spotlight

The US rejects as “horrific” Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s musings about whether the US might be giving Latin American leaders cancer.

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US rejects Chavez cancer comments

Following the cancer diagnosis of Argentina's president this week, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday wondered if United States could be infecting the region's leaders with the illness.

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Chavez: Is U.S. behind bout of cancer?

2011 was a year of double takes in photo fakery: Did those models really strike exactly the same pose? Are Taylor Swift’s eyelashes really that long? Did President Obama actually lock lips with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez? No, no, and no (the answer should be obvious for that last one, but it fooled a few people nevertheless). This year, digitally altered images made headlines in fashion and world politics. Read full article > >

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Photoshop catastrophes: The year in review

CARACAS, Venezuela — President Barack Obama’s sharp criticisms of Venezuela’s human rights record and its ties to Iran are heightening tensions with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who on Monday responded by calling Obama a “clown” and telling him to mind his own business. Obama appeared to stiffen his stance toward Chavez in his remarks, which were published Monday by the Venezuelan newspaper El Universal. Some of Obama’s Republican opponents have also been strongly critical of Chavez, and analysts expect the Venezuelan president could become a popular target of criticism as American politicians feud over foreign policy ahead of next year’s U.S. presidential election. Read full article > >

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Obama criticizes Venezuela’s rights record, ties to Iran and Cuba; Chavez calls Obama ‘clown’

PARIS — Carlos the Jackal, the flamboyant Venezuelan who symbolized Cold War terrorism, was sentenced to life in prison — again — in a Paris trial that ended late Thursday with him rallying for revolution and weeping for Moammar Gadhafi. Carlos, whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, hasn’t seen freedom since French agents spirited him out of Sudan in a sack in 1994. He’s already serving a life sentence in a French prison for a triple murder in 1975, the worst punishment meted out in a country that does not have the death penalty. Read full article > >

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Paris court sentences Carlos the Jackal to life in prison for 4 deadly attacks in 1980s

PUERTO GAITAN, Colombia — “I don’t have any problems firing everyone I need to fire,” Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez thundered in 2002, as he began purging state oil company executives who had mounted protests against him. Months later, nearly 20,000 oil workers, from petroleum engineers to geologists and managers, had been fired. But with the company under the president’s tight control, production has swiftly fallen and Venezuela has slipped from the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter to the 11th. Read full article > >

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Venezuelan oilmen find opportunities in Colombia

Analysis of internal communications between Colombian rebels shows intricate but also complex ties with the Venezuelan government.

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Venezuela links to Farc detailed

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, was asked to train Venezuelan pro-government cells and serve as a shadow militia for the intelligence apparatus.

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Venezuela Asked Colombian Rebels to Kill Opposition Figures, Analysis Shows

The Venezuelan political activist Lina Ron – one of president Hugo Chavez’s most radical supporters – dies of a heart attack at 53.

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Venezuela radical Lina Ron dies

A Venezuelan trade union leader is jailed for seven years over a strike at the state iron ore mining company in 2009.

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Venezuelan union leader jailed

A blaze at a military arms depot in the Venezuelan city of Maracay injures at least three people, officials say.

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Blaze hits Venezuela arms depot

The body of the former Venezuelan president Carlos Andres Perez is to stay in a funeral home in Miami until a legal dispute over where he should be buried is settled, a judge rules.

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Venezuela funeral limbo continues

Italian police were called to the Greek and Venezuelan embassies in Rome on Monday after suspicious packages were found there, authorities said.

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Suspicious mail at 3 Rome embassies

Italian police were alerted when suspicious packages were found in the Greek, Venezuelan, and Danish embassies in Rome on Monday. While the parcel found at the Greek Embassy contained an explosive device, officials are still investigating whether the…

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Suspicious Packages at Three Embassies in Rome