South America

CARACAS, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Technical teams have managed to restore electricity service in almost entire Venezuela, which has suffered a massive blackout since Thursday, said Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez on Tuesday.

"After today's noon, Tuesday, March 12, we must say that the victory of the people of Venezuela against this attack (on the electrical system) is on track to consolidate," said Rodriguez.

CARACAS, March 9. /TASS/. The Venezuelan government will delpoy the army in ensuring the security of electricity grids, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said on Friday.

CARACAS, March 9. /TASS/. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza criticized the opposition on Saturday’s anti-imperialist rally in Caracas, labeling opposition leader Juan Guaido as US President Donald Trump’s envoy.

"They do their utmost and even more. They make visits to foreign ministries to the most remote from Venezuela countries. Then, US ambassadors begin blackmailing those governments so that they will stop recognizing Venezuela’s legitimate authorities," Arreaza said aired by the Union Radio station.

CARACAS, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Saturday that the country was the victim of yet another cybernetic attack on the national electrical system, which was affecting the progress achieved in restoring power outage.

"We received another cybernetic attack at noon to one of the generation sources that was working perfectly, but the fresh attack knocked out all that had been achieved by noon," Maduro said during a speech marking the Bolivarian Day of Anti-imperialism.

09 Mar 2019; DW: A federal court in New York has charged former Venezuelan vice president Tareck El Aissami with violating US sanctions. The US had imposed sanctions on El Aissami and other Venezuelan officials for their alleged role in drug trafficking in 2017.

The move comes as tensions between the US and Venezuela are at their highest point, with Washington backing self-declared interim President Juan Guaido in the opposition's struggle against acting President Nicolas Maduro.

LIMA, March 8 (Xinhua) -- The Peruvian government on Friday confirmed the resignation of Prime Minister Cesar Villanueva.

In a statement, the president's office said the prime minister "has presented his resignation letter to the President of the Republic."

It said that Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra "deeply appreciates the work carried out with commitment and dedication (by Villanueva) during his tenure."

Villanueva served as prime minister in 2013-2014 and became prime minister for a second time in 2018.

07 Mar 2019; DW: US journalist Cody Weddle was held for more than 12 hours by Venezuela's security services, Miami-based Local 10 news broadcaster reported on Wednesday. Venezuela's National Union of Press Workers (SNTP) confirmed the detention and said Weddle would be deported.

06 Mar 2019; DW: A statement from Venezuela's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said German Ambassador Daniel Kriener had repeatedly "interfered in the country's internal affairs, in clear contravention of the norms that govern diplomatic relations."

The government of acting President Nicolas Maduro said he had 48 hours to leave Venezuela.

CARACAS, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday called for mass demonstrations on Saturday to protest U.S. imperialism.

Maduro said he chose the date because on March 9, 2015, then U.S. President Barack Obama signed an executive order that labeled Venezuela as "an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security" of the United States and declared a "state of emergency."

"I have decreed it as the day of Venezuelan anti-imperialism and we are going into the streets," Maduro said, calling on supporters to take part in the demonstrations.

MONTEVIDEO, March 5 (Xinhua) -- In southern Uruguay's Canelones Department, a leading transport company is relying on Chinese technology to renovate and upgrade its bus fleet.

With the help of Chinese bus manufacturer Yutong and its hybrid vehicles, the Pando Omnibus Company S.A. (COPSA) is looking to modernize its service.

"After a period of economic difficulty, we began a fleet renovation plan that we had postponed for four years," COPSA General Manager Javier Cardoso told Xinhua.