CARACAS, Jan 04, 2015 (AFP) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro begins a trip to China and OPEC member countries late Sunday in search of financial support as his country reels from falling oil prices and a tattered economy.
A US congressional panel passed a bill Friday that would impose sanctions on those responsible for human rights abuses against anti-government protesters in Venezuela.
Protests broke out in Caracas Friday after Venezuela's attorney general charged jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez with responsibility for anti-government demonstrations that have shaken the country for two months.
Venezuela on Sunday alleged that the United States was trying to "promote and legitimize efforts to destabilize" the country's democracy, after almost two weeks of anti-government protests.
Supporters and opponents of Venezuela's leftist government staged rival rallies Saturday in Caracas that took place amid protests and spiraling discontent at the country's stubborn inflation and basic goods shortages.
Tehran, YJC. -- Hopes have risen that Edward Snowden may finally be able to leave Moscow, after three Latin American countries offered the fugitive US intelligence leaker asylum.
Tehran, YJC. -- Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro signed a gun control bill into law Friday in a bid to rein in the country's runaway violent crime.