Trump: People of Venezuela being treated badly, they don't have water or food
President Donald Trump meets with Colombian President Ivan Duque Marquez to discusses the situation in Venezuela, the coronavirus outbreak.
Five additional members of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido’s team have been kidnapped, according to local reports on Monday – bringing the total to 10 who are now languishing behind bars.
A source in Caracas confirmed to Fox News that five officials were abducted over the past week, and a further five were taken by security last year. As of the most recent seizures, two were allegedly charged with marijuana possession at the National Police headquarters, known by its Spanish acronym FAES. Two more were taken this morning on unclear charges.
“Authorities said they were looking for COVID-19 cases and took them away,” the insider said. “That was the excuse, anyway.”
Opposition leader Juan Guaido waves to supporters during a rally at Bolivar Plaza in Chacao, a municipality of Caracas, Venezuela, on Tuesday. (AP)
Of those kidnapped last year, at least one – Guaido’s Chief of Staff Robert Marroe, who was arrested last March – faces charges that include acts of terrorism.
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The National Police remains under the control of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, who for more than a year has not been recognized as the country’s legitimate leader by the United States and more than 100 other countries.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro holds up a copy of his country's case taken to the International Criminal Court regarding U.S. sanctions during a press conference at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, on Friday.
The seizures come just a week after the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed a searing criminal indictment against Maduro and several "co-conspirators," accusing them of an array of narcotics and trafficking-related crimes, including efforts to smuggle drugs into the United States, and putting multimillion-dollar bounties beside their names.
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Despite the latest indictment, coupled with a laundry list of economic sanctions, Maduro has maintained his position at the helm in the capital Caracas, overseeing the struggling socialist regime and commanding the security forces.
The indictment of a functioning head of state was highly unusual and bound to ratchet up tensions between Washington and Caracas. However, the U.S. has long accused Maduro and his government of human rights abuses, torture, corruption, and paving the way for cartels, terrorist groups and traffickers to exploit the oil-swathed nation, once the wealthiest in Latin America.
Zoraida Silva, 26, feeds her six month baby Jhon Angel, at a soup kitchen in The Cemetery slum, in Caracas, Venezuela. Silva said that she can not afford to have 3 meals a day, and she has been eating at the soup kitchen for two years ago. According to a survey recently published by the U.N. World Food Program, one of every three Venezuelans cope with food insecurity, unable to get enough food to meet their basic dietary needs. (AP)
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As it stands, Venezuela is considered to be one of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
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