Venezuelan assembly approves amnesty bill in principle

Venezuela's National Assembly, a body of legislators loyal to the country's socialist regime, voted unanimously on 5 February to approve in principle a political amnesty bill proposed days earlier by the acting president, Delcy Rodríguez. The bill, touted as a gesture of national reconciliation but likely the fruit of pressure from U.S. authorities now involved in running the country, was conditional and had yet to become a law, CNN reported. It was firstly subject to a process of "public consultation" to determine who would be amnestied, before returning to parliament for a second debate. It excluded various offences like "grave human rights violations," murder or drug trafficking. A parliamentary committee of 19 legislators including Nicolás Maduro Guerra, son of the Venezuelan leader currently facing drug charges in the United States, was to prepare the consultation process. Parliamentary Speaker Jorge Rodríguez told its chairman, Jorge Arreaza, to ensure a rigorous consultation process but also move fast, as "we haven't much time." The bill was proposed on 30 January as an Amnesty Law for Democratic Cohabitation (Ley de amnistía para la convivencia democrática), and applicable to the period since 1999 or entire span of of socialist or Chavista rule, CNN reported.

Venezuela elections may take two years, says U.S. official

Venezuela, currently run by a socialist regime under U.S. tutelage, may not hold a general election for between 18 and 24 months, the Wall Street Journal recently reported, citing the U.S. Energy Secretary Christopher Wright. After capturing the country's last leader, Nicolás Maduro, the United States said it was working to stabilize Venezuela's economy and institutions before activating a transition back to democracy. Wright was speaking in an explanatory meeting with lawmakers and oil executives concerned by the opaque nature of relations between the government of Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodríguez and the administration of President Donald J. Trump, which wants U.S. firms invest in Venezuelan oil. Observers were worried the regime would seek to drag out reforms and 'wait out' the Trump administration, Colombia's NTN24 reported on 2 February. The broadcaster separately cited Reuters as reporting a rise in Venezuelan oil production under U.S. control to 800,000 barrels a day, from just under 500,000 in December 2025. The oil was heading to the United States, now acting as Venezuela's paymaster. Delcy Rodríguez said in Caracas on 2 February that the United States had so far paid Venezuela U.S. $300 million for oil exported in January, CNN reported, without specifying if the United States was supervising Venezuelan state expenditures.

Trump administration to cut off Cuba's oil supplies

The administration of U.S. President Donald J. Trump threatened tariffs on 29 January on imports of any country selling oil to Cuba, in a move likely designed to hasten the demise of the island's communist regime. Trump signed an executive order to that effect, though he told reporters in Washington D.C. he was not trying to "choke off" Cuba and its rundown economy, AP reported. Cuba, an ally of all the United States' villain states including Islamic Iran and Russia, was no longer receiving oil aid from Venezuela following U.S. intervention there in early January, while another supplier, Mexico run by a socialist president, may also have to curb shipments sent to Cuba as a lifeline. Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum said on 27 January that her country sent oil for humanitarian reasons, though stopping this was a decision for the state oil firm Pemex, CNN reported. On 29 January, the United States declared Cuba to be "an unusual and extraordinary threat" to its national security.

Venezuelan leader says she's not under Washington's thumb..

Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodríguez appeared in late January to play a double game of talking tough at an overbearing United States while collaborating in private, amid U.S. pressures on her government to serve U.S. commercial and diplomatic interests. The Trump administration briefly bombed the country before capturing its president, Nicolás Maduro, in early January, and was now insisting Rodríguez was being collaborative as interim leader. Yet she has declared several times that it was her government, not the United States, that was running Venezuela. On 25 January, she told a gathering in Caracas that only domestic politics "with a capital P" could resolve differences between Venezuelans, so "that's enough orders from Washington." Days before, she called for a national dialogue but "without foreign orders," according to the broadcaster NTN24. Observers separately told CNN on 27 January that such talk was aimed at a domestic audience, as Rodríguez was "walking a tight rope" between Washington and regime hardliners. The immediate reaction from U.S. President Donald J. Trump was that he hadn't heard her comments. The Reuters news agency reported that day on the skepticism of U.S. intelligence over the Rodríguez presidency's readiness to align itself with U.S. interests, notably in opposing powers like China, Islamic Iran and Russia.

Venezuelan officials, critics differ over release of opponents..

Venezuela's interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, said in Caracas on 26 January that 808 detainees - presumably including regime opponents - had been freed since December 2025 as a conciliatory gesture toward society, amid skepticism over how many and which detainees were really being released. The regime said it would free a considerable number on 8 January, though the process has been laborious and conditional. The country's interim presidency has insisted opponents were not being freed under pressure from the United States but on the orders of the last president, Nicolás Maduro, given in December before his capture in January by U.S. forces. The rights group Foro Penal believed the regime had so far freed just 266 politicial detainees since January 8, according to CNN. Cabello insisted UN officials could come and check, as "we have nothing to hide." One hundred or 104 dissidents were reportedly freed on 25 January.

Honduran army says stands by election results

The head of the Honduran armed forces confirmed on 12 January that the army had already recognized the results of presidential elections on 30 November and would help assure a transfer of presidential powers this month, regardless of any bid for another recount of votes. The ruling party of President Xiomara Castro whose candidate was roundly defeated, earlier appeared to have engineered a recount. But the head of the armed forces joint chiefs of staff, Héctor Valerio, said the army obeyed the constitution and "we are still backing" the electoral authority's December verdict, which declared the conservative Nasry Asfura president-elect, Spain's EFE news agency reported. The president, he stated, had "at no time given me instructions" to hand over ballots for a recount, referring to the army's role in guarding the premises of the electoral authoritiy. Asfura is to begin a four-year term on 27 January, and travelled to the United States on 13 January to meet with U.S. officials, EFE reported. 

Venezuelan regime says it is freeing opponents

Venezuela's interim presidency announced on 8 January that it would release an "important number" of political detainees in a gesture of appeasement it insisted was unrelated to any U.S. pressure. The announcement was made by the Speaker of parliament Jorge Rodríguez (the interim president's brother), who also thanked three intermediaries - Brazil's president, a former Spanish prime minister and the state of Qatar - presumably for their role in the release of foreign detainees. Numbers however were scarce nor was there any loosening of the regime's police-state tactics on the streets. The rights group Foro Penal had counted 806 such prisoners as of 5 January, CNN reported on 8 January, while the few released early on appeared to be foreigners and some politicians. U.S. President Donald J. Trump wrote online on 9 January that the regime was freeing "large numbers of political prisoners," with a collaborative attitude that had avoided further U.S. strikes on the country. 

Mexican authorities see steady drop in daily murders, nationwide

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo declared in Mexico City on 8 January that criminal killings or murders (homicidios dolosos) dropped 40% in daily average terms between September 2024 and December 2025. Sheinbaum told her morning press conference that this was due to better security policies and coordination between national and local authorities through the SNSP or National System of Public Security, Once Noticias reported. "This means 34 homicides less a day, and that is the lowest figure since 2016," she said, adding, "it is the result of a security strategy that is giving results and very tight coordination in all areas of security, justice and with state governors." The head of the SNSP, Marcela Figueroa Franco, also spoke, saying Mexico saw an average of 86.9 homicides a day in September 2024 drop to 52.4 in December 2025. That month, she said, the country had a murder rate of 17.5/100,000 residents, compared to "a peak" of 29.1/100,000 in 2018. The announcements broadly coincided with threats by the U.S. President Donald J. Trump to start striking the drug cartels that "are running Mexico."

Conservative declared president-elect in Honduras

The candidate of the conservative National Party of Honduras, Nasry Asfura Zablah, was on 24 December declared winner of the presidential elections held on 30 November, after a prolonged vote count. His rival, the liberal Salvador Nasralla, said he would challenge Asfura's tiny victory margin in the courts, without calling for protests, while the outgoing administration of President Xiomara Castro also voiced doubts about the results. Asfura, formerly mayor of Tegucicalpa from 2014 to 2022, was immediately congratulated by the Trump administration, and soon after by several international actors including eight, conservative-run Latin American states, the United Kingdom, the European Union and the Organization of American States. He was expected, in line with his stated positions, to focus on the economy, government transparency and tackling corruption, CNN reported. Asfura is to take office on 27 January, 2026. 

Trump administration to blockade Venezuelan oil

U.S. President Donald J. Trump ordered a "total blockade" of Venezuelan oil exports using "sanctioned oil tankers" on 16 December, further tightening the screws on the already sanctioned regime of the socialist President Nicolás Maduro. Trump accused "the illegitimate Maduro regime" of stealing "oil, land and other assets" belonging to the United States to finance a range of criminal activities, and declared the regime "a foreign terrorist organization." The United States had in recent months undertaken selective strikes on boats identified as drug-trafficking vessels, but the latest decision, which Venezuela denounced as a "grotesque threat," was being seen as intended to topple Maduro. Practically no Western state recognized his controversial reelection in 2024, and the European Union recently prolonged its own sanctions on the regime over its rights violations and suspected hijacking of the 2024 presidential elections.

New York State bans plastic grocery bags from 2020

The state of New York has banned the distribution of single-use plastic bags after 1 March 2020, media reported on 31 March, becoming the second U.S. state with California, to impose a state-wide ban. The measure passed by its legislature that day was part of the state budget for 2020, and includes other environmental measures like making cars pay to enter mid-town Manhattan. The ban would presumably supercede the bag fee New York city imposed in 2016. A third U.S. state, Hawaii, and a number of districts restrict bags through local legislation.

New York shops to charge for plastic bags

New York joined the ranks of 150 U.S. cities by approving on 5 May an initiative against shops handing out free plastic bags, in a bid reduce massive plastic pollution on land and sea, the Associated Press reported. The city council voted in a resolution asking most shops to charge at least five cents per bag - and they can keep the money - to curb demand. Local authorities were cited as putting the number of plastic bags thrown out annually at 10 billion, or 19,000 a minute, though the report did not immediately specify if that was in New York or nationwide. The law is to enter into force on 1 October once promulgated by the mayor, Bill de Blasio. Mr de Blasio has reportedly pledged to eliminate the city's trash by 2030.

Venezuelan President says "plot" against him hatched in United States

Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro insisted on 26 August that the arrest of two Colombians allegedly sent to assassinate him indicated that a plot was being hatched in the United States, and asked President Barack Obama whether he was ignorant of such machinations or involved. Mr Maduro made his remarks after a children's sporting event in Caracas; he said the Government had "coherently" reported on the plot's origins and President Obama would be "the first" not to know about it if he did not, the official AVN news agency reported. "Is President Obama so weak that they take decisions for him...to kill a Latin American head of state without his knowing?" he asked. Or was he too weak to prevent them he asked again, or "has he decided to physically eliminate me?" Officials earlier cited former US diplomats or officials of past Republican administrations, as well as Colombia's former president Álvaro Uribe, as elements allegedly involved in this and previous "plots." Mr Uribe rejected the latest, "infamous" charges; he said "the Venezuelan dictatorship should permit that country to recover democracy and repeat the elections as the last ones were a fraud," Europa Press reported on 27 August, citing comments he made on television. He was referring to Venezuela's April presidential elections. Mr Maduro said killing him would provoke a civil war and that he had observed "extreme nervousness" among the opposition in spite of its bid to "trivialise" the affair. "I have no doubt the main leaders of the fascist Right agree with this type of incident," he said. The country's leading opponent and former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles dismissed the allegations as a "tale," speaking in public on 26 August. He also wrote on the website Twitter that this was another "distraction" intended to "cover up for insecurity, the hospital crisis, shortages, inflation, corruption." The President he wrote had a "record" number of such plots; "of the 11 conspiracies Maduro has denounced, four were to assassinate personalities. He does not know how to cover his incompetence," El Universal reported, citing Mr Capriles's comments on Twitter.

Los Angeles mayor signs in ban on plastic bags

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed into law on 27 June a Los Angeles city council vote to end the distribution and use of plastic bags in Los Angeles, making it the largest city so far in the United States to banish plastic bags, agencies and press reported. The ban would take effect in a six-month period from 1 January to June 2014, while the city was to hand out a million reusable bags to residents of poorer districts, the Associated Press reported. Those not taking their own bags to shops would have to buy paper bags for 10 cents, and shops would have to compile quarterly reports on the number of bags sold, AP reported. Antonio Villaraigosa's term as mayor was to end on 1 July.

Los Angeles council votes against plastic bags

The city council of Los Angeles voted to ban shops from handing out plastic bags to shoppers, following the lead taken by several cities in California to restrict a useful accessory that has become one of the major pollutants of the land and oceans, press and agencies reported on 19 June. The ordinance, once confirmed and signed by the mayor, was to gradually take effect between 1 January and 1 July 2014, applying first to the largest supermarkets, Los Angeles Times reported. It would require shoppers to bring their own bags or buy paper bags for 10 cents, while businesses that failed to comply would be fined 100 USD after the first violation, 200 USD after the second and 500 USD after the third, this continuing for every day the shop persisted in handing out plastic bags, the daily reported. Jobs were likely to be lost in the plastic sector, but the move was expected to cut the pollution caused by bags, many of which were thought to end up in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch or Plastic Soup that mostly consists of plastic fragments and is reported to have increased in size 100 fold in the last 40 years. EFE news agency cited Los Angeles authorities as estimating that presently some 2,000 million plastic bags were given out in Los Angeles annually; 60 Californian communities or districts it added had banned the distribution of free or of all plastic bags, including San Francisco in 2007 and Santa Monica in 2011.

Colombian President delighted with results of year in trade pact with US

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said in the northern port of Cartagena on 15 May that a year after the application of a free-trade pact with the United States, Colombian exportation to the United States had risen and 775 firms made the United States their first export market. These firms "exported to the United States for the first time," a year after the United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (CTPA) began, when they "had not exported any product between 2010 and 2012," the Presidential website reported on 15 May. Mr Santos observed on an 18-per-cent rise in exports of farming products excluding coffee and flowers - two of Colombia's best known and established exports - while 200 products arrived in the United States for the first time, most notably he observed, exotic fruit, but also ceramic tiles, packaging machines, stainless steel sinks and sowing machines. "Behind this are more jobs for Colombians...if this is how we did in a year of global contraction, imagine what we can achieve in a stabilised global economy." He said agro-industrial exports to the United States rose 5.7 per cent that year and industrial exports 6.2 per cent, providing "many motives for us to feel optimistic."

Venezuela's Maduro says Colombian statesman involved in murder plot

Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro said in Caracas on 3 May that plans were being made in the United States and Colombia "to destabilize Venezuela and make me physically disappear," naming Colombia's former conservative president Álvaro Uribe Vélez as one of those plotting to have him killed. There was "evidence and sufficient elements to think there are plans guided from Miami...by Roger Noriega and from Bogotá by Álvaro Uribe to make me physically disappear. Uribe is behind a plan to assassinate me," he told a gathering of subway employees in Caracas. In March, Maduro alleged that Noriega, a senior diplomat of the administration of President George W. Bush, was planning to assassinate the opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles. Maduro said Uribe is "a murderer and we also know that sectors of the Venezuelan Right are in touch with him. They say if they get me out of the way, chaos will reign in Venezuela, but they will not succeed, this won't happen," the AVN agency reported.  The opposition formally rejected the results of the 14 April elections and Maduro's election as president, also accusing his government of starting to suppress dissent and opposition. Uribe said in Colombia that the only response to Maduro's "immature" charges was to repeat Venezuela's elections, EFE and other agencies reported on 3 May. Maduro, he wrote on Twitter, was heading a "dictatorship headed by fraud and violence." Maduro's statements followed reports of some opposition legislators travelling to Colombia for talks and to denounce an apparent assault on opposition lawmakers in Venezuela's parliament on 30 April. Those attacked included María Corina Machado, foreign affairs spokeswoman in the Capriles campaign team, Colombia's Caracol radio reported on 1 May. The scuffle erupted after socialist members obstructed opponents from speaking at the podium.

Venezuelan President fears "plot" against rival

Venezuela's Acting President Nicolás Maduro said on 13 March that the state would assure the security of his electoral rival Henrique Capriles Radonsky ahead of 14 April presidential elections, against unspecified plots being hatched against him by the "extreme Right" or the "Roger Noriega and Otto Reich group in the United States," the government news agency AVN reported. Noriega and Reich are conservative diplomats and were Assistant secretaries of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs between 2002 and 2005, under President George W. Bush. He said "we want him to have all his absolute guarantee and we alert our people and...the world about conspiracies...against the peace and stability" of Venezuela. Maduro said police and security services had been given pertinent instructions, but was not reported to have elaborated about the alleged plot. On 11 March the United States expelled two Venezuelan diplomats, apparently in retaliation for the expulsion on 5 March of two US military attachés from Caracas accused of "engaging in destabilizing manoeuvres" against the regime, Globovisión reported on 12 March. The two states do not have ambassadors with each other. The opposition candidate Capriles in turn apologized on a radio programme on 14 March for any earlier comments he said may have been misinterpreted and offended relatives of the late president Hugo Chávez. He insisted however that "Nicolás has been campaigning since President Hugo Chávez went for treatment." Capriles has repeatedly urged the government not to seek political capital in Venezuelans' grief. He said that meanwhile Venezuelans' problems had "taken a back seat," and urged Maduro to debate about "insecurity, the economy, electricity, water, jobs, transport, health. About problems," El Nacional reported. Maduro he said was "Raul Castro's candidate," and wondered aloud if Venezuelans wanted their resources sent to Cuba, El Universal reported. Cuba has been a recipient of aid from Venezuela under Chávez. Capriles said that Venezuela was being governed by elements Chávez had deemed "incompetent," adding "we have had 100 days of Nicolas's government and look where our country is going."

Visits to Peruvian citadel fall after travel warning

Visits to the 15th century Inca citadel at Machu Picchu reportedly plummeted after the US embassy in Lima warned US nationals on 13 February not to travel there for a "potential kidnapping threat" in the area. Peruvian officials said the warning was baseless and the local mayor asked the embassy to retract its communiqué, as it was "killing" local livelihoods. The embassy's Security Message, accessible also on the US State Department website, cited the "credible" threat of a "criminal organization" kidnapping US tourists in the Cusco and Machu Picchu area; its warning was valid at least for February. The identity of the criminal organization was not immediately clear. President Ollanta Humala was reported as saying on 15 February that there was "no substance" to the claim, while his prime minister, Juan Jiménez Mayor, told the press on 14 or 15 February that the rumoured threat was not "corroborated by the security forces," Europa Press reported. The government he said strove to protect Peru's historical sites and "of course" tourists visiting them. The foreign trade and tourism minister, José Luis Silva Martinot also said "we have referred to our sources and there is no information in that sense, so we ask for calm and that tourism continue as normal." The district mayor of Machu Picchu Elvis La Torre said in turn that visits to the citadel were almost halved after the warning, Correo reported on 18 February. He said the citadel would usually receive 1,500-2,000 visits a day this time of the year but now receives 700-800 visits. "Almost half have cancelled their tour packages," he said. Peru was overall expecting a record number of tourists in 2013, perhaps more than three million. Tourism Minister Silva said Peru hoped tourism would become its second source of foreign exchange earnings by 2016, after mining; it was currently its third source of foreign exchange, El Peruano reported on 18 February. He said American Airlines would within weeks begin "seven flights" between Houston and Lima - presumably one a day - and become an air link to Peru for travellers from Japan and South Korea. These flights could bring in 70,000-80,000 more travellers to Peru annually, he said.

Mexican, Honduran cities top homicides ranking

The Citizens' Council for Public Security and Penal Justice (Consejo Ciudadano para la Seguridad Pública y Justicia Penal), an independent crime-and-rights observer body in Mexico, published its 2012 list of cities with the highest murder rates; as in previous years, Latin American cities retained their preeminence in spite of "jostling" among them. San Pedro Sula in northern Honduras remained, according to figures obtained, the most murderous city in the world in 2012 with a homicide rate of 169.3 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. Acapulco on Mexico's western coast was the second city for homicides, with a rate of just under 143/100,000 inhabitants, the Council found. Its ranking for 2012 included:

3 - Caracas, Venezuela with 118.89 homicides/100,000 inhabitants,
4 - Tegucicalpa/capital district of Honduras, 101.99/100,000
5 - Torreón in northern Mexico 94.72
6 - Maceió in Brazil 85.88
7 - Cali, Colombia 79.27
8 - Nuevo Laredo in north-eastern Mexico 72.85
9 - Barquisimeto, Venezuela 71.74
12 - Guatemala City, 67.36
15 - Culiacán in north-western Mexico, 62.06
18 - Cuernavaca, central Mexico, 56.08
19 - Ciudad Juárez, northern Mexico, 55.91
20 - Ciudad Guyana, Venezuela, 55.03
21 - Detroit, United States, 54.63
22 - Cúcuta, north-eastern Colombia, 54.29
24 - Medellín, Colombia, 49.1
32 - Chihuahua in northern Mexico, 43.49
33 - San Juan, Puerto Rico, 43.25
35 - Port au Prince, Haiti, 40.1
36 - Ciudad Victoria in north-eastern Mexico, 37.78
44 - San Salvador, El Salvador, 32.48
47 - Monterrey, northern Mexico, 30.85
50 - Barranquilla, northern Colombia, 29.41.

The Consejo observed that several cities had lowered murder rates enough to drop out of the top 50, including Tijuana in northern Mexico and the eastern Mexican port of Veracruz, but also Panama City. Ciudad Juárez dropped almost 20 positions from its position near the top in 2011, and San Salvador had also improved from a rate of 59/100,000 in 2011 to a little over 32 - all these based on official or available figures used to compile the table as the Consejo cautioned. Its website stated that authorities in San Pedro Sula had complained about the negative image the ranking was giving the city and alleged the figures cited were mistaken, but it responded that the ranking was based "on official figures and regarding the effect of the ranking, which merely recognize reality, that is not what harms the city's image but its violence and rulers' inability to contain and reduce it. Hiding problems never solves them." The mayor of Acapulco, which came second in 2012, said "it is quite deplorable that we should be in this stituation...I've seen the note. It pains me that it should be so," Proceso reported on 7 February.