During his first stop on a tour of Latin America, Vice President Mike Pence told an audience in Colombia that Washington was “absolutely determined to bring the full measure of American economic and diplomatic power to bear until we see democracy restored in Venezuela.” Radio Sputnik’s Loud and Clear examined the ramifications of Pence’s tour.

"I'm not going to rule out a military option [to quell unrest in Venezuela]," said US President Donald Trump on Friday. "We have many options for Venezuela, this is our neighbor. We're all over the world and we have troops all over the world in places very, very far away. Venezuela is not very far away, and the people are suffering and dying. We have many options for Venezuela including a possible military option if necessary."

There is something unsettling about how President Trump has surrounded himself with generals. From his defense secretary to his national security advisor to his White House chief of staff, Trump looks to senior military officers to fill key positions that have been customarily filled by civilians. He’s surrounded by generals and threatens war at the drop of a hat.

President Trump began last week by threatening “fire and fury” on North Korea. He continued through the week claiming, falsely, that Iran is violating the terms of the nuclear deal. He finally ended the week by threatening a US military attack on Venezuela.

Speaking to reporters during a visit to Colombia, Vice President Mike Pence warned that Venezuela is “collapsing into dictatorship,” and that the country becoming a “failed state” would make it a threat to the security and prosperity of the United States.

President Trump rebuffed the offer of a phone call from the president of Venezuela late Friday night, after Mr. Trump warned that he is considering military options to address civil and political unrest in the South American country.
“President Trump will gladly speak with the leader of Venezuela as soon as democracy is restored in that country,” the White House said.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro requested a phone call with Mr. Trump after Mr. Trump made a surprise statement late Friday that he’s considering unspecified military action to address what the administration is calling a “dictatorship.”

Venezuela is a mess. There are lines to get bread and toilet tissue. There are people starving, people who have no electricity or utilities. Many in Venezuela are without basic necessities. Except for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his family, they are living a luxurious life with all they need and all they want. It has always been the case with Socialism, that the elites prosper while their people starve.

US President Donald Trump’s military threat against Venezuela showed his “resolve” to help the neighboring country amid a political crisis, Vice President Mike Pence says, claiming that Washington was looking for a “peaceable” solution.

CIA Director Mike Pompeo claimed Venezuela is overrun with Iranians, Hezbollah, Cubans and Russians in response to questions about Donald Trump’s statements about US military intervention.

Pompeo appeared on Fox News Sunday where he responded to comments made by President Donald Trump on Friday, in which he said there was “a possible military option” for Venezuela.

The opposition coalition in Venezuela rejected "the military threat by any foreign power," days after US President Donald Trump announced that he was considering such an option against the crisis-hit South American nation.

Threat to Latin American nation "an unprecedented threat to national sovereignty," says top government official in Caracas

Vice-President Mike Pence’s visit Latin America comes amid unrest in Venezuela and concern by its neighbours about a possible American military role.

Pence planned to meet with Colombia’s president, Juan Manuel Santos, later Sunday at the start of a weeklong trip likely to be dominated by conversations about the crisis in Venezuela. The United States accuses Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of a power grab that has sparked deadly protests and condemnation across the region.

President Donald Trump on Friday said he would not rule out a “military option” in response to Maduro’s moves.

It's been revealed the UK has sold military equipment worth millions to Venezuela since 2008, despite Foreign Office "concern" about human rights in the country. The exposure suggests the UK may be more than willing to sell weapons to any state willing to pay - and official concern for human rights in certain countries may not be entirely earnest.

A report in an Arabic newspaper this week cites Hezbollah media outlet al-Manar and unnamed “sources in the Arabic community” as beginning a push to replace embattled dictator Nicolás Maduro with Tareck El Aissami, alleged drug lord and appointed vice president of Venezuela.

The European Union does not recognize the results of the election to the Venezuelan Constituent Assembly as it has deteriorated the situation in the crisis-torn country and escalated the internal conflicts, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said in a statement Wednesday.

The United States has imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, but stopped short of punishing the Latin American country’s oil sector. In an interview with Sputnik, economist Rafael Quiroz Serrano explained why.

Venezuela is exporting 823,000 barrels of crude oil to the US a year, all of which is bought by privately-owned refineries.

Of these, 550,000 barrels go to four Venezuelan-owned refineries in Texas, Louisiana and other US states.

Venezuela’s opposition-controlled parliament has announced that it will not recognize any decrees issued by the country’s newly formed constitutional assembly.

A new assembly loyal to President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday fired the country's attorney general, Luisa Ortega, one of his most vociferous critics, triggering a firestorm of condemnation from the US and Latin American nations.

More than 3,500 Brazilian soldiers are occupying a series of slum communities in northern Rio de Janeiro as part of efforts to combat a spike in violence.

The troops moved into the Complexo do Lins communities and neighboring Camarista Meier in the early hours of Saturday. Defense Minister Raul Jungmann told Globo TV that the troops would stay there as long as necessary.

Last week 8,500 soldiers were deployed in Rio to fight organized crime gangs, which control many of the city's slums.

Venezuelan authorities have suppressed a military rebellion near the central city of Valencia, a ruling official said on Sunday, days after President Nicolas Maduro formed a legislative superbody internationally condemned as a power grab.

Venezuela's currency, the bolivar, is disintegrating at an incredible pace under the country's political and economic crisis that has left citizens broke, desperate and in many cases, homicidal. The depreciation accelerated this week, after a disputed vote electing an all-powerful "Constituent Assembly" filled with allies of President Nicolas Maduro, which the opposition and dozens of countries have called illegitimate.

Just two days ago, on August 2, we reported that one dollar would buy 14,100 bolivars, up from 11,280 the day before.

China has come out in support of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, defending the country's National Constituent Assembly election as "generally held smoothly," dismissing criticisms from the United States and its junior partners regarding alleged voting irregularities.

On Saturday, March 8, Gisella Rubilar, 47, was shot dead and two other people suffered serious gunshot wounds when they were removing an opposition roadblock which prevented safe passage to their working class and poor neighbourhood of Pie del Tiro, in the Andean capital of Merida, Venezuela. You will not have heard about it in the mass media, but this incident was part of a growing trend of opposition violence against working class and poor neighbourhoods fighting back.

It was after 9 pm on Saturday, March 8. Gisella Rubilar Figueroa came out with a group of people from the working class and poor neighbourhood of Pie del Tiro to clear the road blockade in the intersection of the main Avenida Los Proceres and Lomas de los Vientos in Mérida, Venezuela.

With events in Venezuela now well into the endgame, following US sanctions that named "dictator" Maduro personally and a likely subsequent sanction that will cripple Venezuela's oil industry promptly resulting in the nation's insolvency as it loses its last remaining source of revenue, things are moving fast. So fast, in fact, that according to Reuters, Venezuela's money supply surged 10% in just one week earlier this month, its largest single-week rise in a quarter of a century.

The nation of Venezuela is currently under the control of Venezuelans who derive their support, wealth, and power from Venezuela itself – its people and its natural resource. This political order also receives aid and support from Venezuela’s economic and military partners both in the region and around the globe.

The opposition opposed to the current political order and seeking to supplant it represents foreign interests and more specifically, the United States and its European allies.

The Opposition is Pro-Washington, Not “Pro-Democracy”

As early as 2002, US-backed regime change targeting then Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, sought to violently overthrow Venezuela’s political order and replace it with one obedient to Washington. Current leaders of the opposition were not only involved in the 2002 failed coup, many are documented to have received political and financial support from the United States government ever since.

The priority of this U.S. oil company to topple Venezuela is geopolitical and geo-economic, as a fundamental pillar of a new political, economic and financial configuration of the continent (with Russia and China as alternative strategic partners), which poses a threat to the strategic advantages and the almost absolute control of the energy resources of the region that these corporations boasted throughout the 20th century. Securing that source of supply not only enabled it to carry out its arms race and military campaigns in the Middle East, but to maintain a global superpower status which is challenged today by emerging rivals.

In the demarcation reinforced by this second round of contracts in the Liza-1 and Liza-2 fields, there is an implicit interest in appropriating an energy corridor as an Exxon exclusive exploitation zone that runs from the Orinoco Oil Belt, through the Essequibo, reaching the mouth of its Atlantic front.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called the Venezuelan election to the Constituent Assembly a "step toward dictatorship" adding that the United States would not recognize the results of the vote.

One of the leaders of a youth opposition party in Venezuela has been killed during widespread violence that marred Sunday's (30 July) controversial election for a new constituent assembly.

President Nicolás Maduro hailed the election result, with the government claiming that more than 8 million people – or 41% of the country's electorate – voted in favour of a new assembly that can rewrite the country's constitution and override the opposition-controlled congress.

With opposition parties boycotting what they call a rigged election, Reuters reports the streets of Caracas were deserted on Sunday as a minority of Venezuelans trickled to the polls to elect a constitutional super-body that unpopular leftist President Maduro vowed would begin a new era of combat in the crisis-stricken nation. That is good news as, following the death of two people yesterday, shortly after a large group of motorbikes sped through the city, and explosion hit, reportedly injuring a number of police officers.

The Peruvian government will not recognize the results of the ongoing Constituent Assembly election in Venezuela, Peru's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Tuesday officials will investigate whether the directors of U.S. food company Kraft Heinz are deliberately “sabotaging” the country’s economy.

“Tomorrow they are going first thing, and they will look into what’s happening at the Heinz company and if the directors are sabotaging (the economy),” Maduro said on his weekly television program, according to the EFE news agency.

The order came after three Heinz employees reportedly claimed the company’s factories are capable of operating at full capacity to meet the country’s shortage of certain food items—but that the owners do not want that to happen.

Venezuela is hurtling toward a high-stakes political confrontation this week pitting an increasingly isolated President Nicolas Maduro against an opposition scenting blood.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the opposition is staging its second nationwide strike in a week, then another mass protest on Friday, upping the pressure on the leftist leader.

Venezuelans are stockpiling scarce food and water as tensions mount ahead of a widely criticized Sunday vote that President Nicolas Maduro has called to elect an assembly of supporters to rewrite the constitution and strengthen his grip on power.

As discussed over the weekend, the endgame in Venezuela is accelerating and it is now only a matter of time before the Maduro regime exits, stage left, the only question is whether he does so peacefully or with the sound of gunfire in the background. And, as we also noted last week, the collapse of the Maduro regime, will "one way or another, send oil prices up."

But while a regime change will certainly lead to violent swings in oil prices (mostly higher), even less volatile events could have a significant impact on the price of crude. According to an overnight report by Barclays' Warren Russell, "even limited new US-imposed sanctions or discussion of broader sanctions could be a catalyst for Venezuela defaulting on its upcoming debt payments, which would put upward pressure on oil prices and help tighten light-heavy spreads."

You may recall this bizarre incident that occurred last month in Venezuela. A rogue police officer by the name of Oscar Perez, who is also well known in Venezuela for starring in several B-rated action movies, commandeered a helicopter, before dropping grenades on the nation’s Supreme Court building and strafing the Interior Ministry with gunfire. It was without a doubt, the strangest moment to come out of that nation’s ongoing civil unrest.

But this brazen attack isn’t just odd. In fact, it may portend something much more serious that is simmering under the surface of Venezuela’s slow motion social collapse.

US Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo has admitted the US is working to change the elected government of Venezuela, and collaborating with Colombia and Mexico to do so. While it's the first public acknowledgement of US meddling in the embattled country, Latin American political analysts likely won’t be surprized.

You may recall this bizarre incident that occurred last month in Venezuela. A rogue police officer by the name of Oscar Perez, who is also well known in Venezuela for starring in several B-rated action movies, commandeered a helicopter, before dropping grenades on the nation’s Supreme Court building and strafing the Interior Ministry with gunfire. It was without a doubt, the strangest moment to come out of that nation’s ongoing civil unrest.

But this brazen attack isn’t just odd. In fact, it may portend something much more serious that is simmering under the surface of Venezuela’s slow motion social collapse. It’s a sign that Venezuela is very close to erupting into a full-blown civil war.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has made it clear: Nothing short of the invasion threatened by President Donald Trump will stop him from holding a vote on a new constituent assembly that will officially replace the country’s legislature and likely allow the embattled president to rewrite the country’s Constitution, cementing his grip on power.

According to Bloomberg, Maduro has said the vote will be held next week in defiance of threats of US sanctions, and calls by his opponents for a two-day general strike. If approved, the new assembly will replace the country’s previous opposition-controlled assembly, which was annulled by the Maduro-controlled Supreme Court in March.

Once approved, it’s widely believed that Maduro will stock the assembly with political allies who will enable the re-drafting of the country’s constitution, allowing Maduro to consolidate power and officially marginalize anyone who opposes his regime.

Venezuela’s socialist government opposition called for a two-day national strike against President Nicolas Maduro after another day of violent clashes on Saturday where the injured included a violinist famous for his musical protests.

Wuilly Arteaga, the 23-year-old has become famous for playing the national anthem on his violin in front of security lines as battles rage around him, has been injured in the fight for freedom against Venezuela’s socialist regime. Paramedics attended Arteaga in the street as blood poured down his face. He later tweeted a video from the hospital with a bandaged face and clutching his violin. “Neither rubber bullets nor pellets will stop our fight,” said Arteaga. “Tomorrow I will be back in the streets.”

Venezuela’s anti-government protests are growing increasingly violent, with the death toll from clashes between protesters and government forces that began in May topping 100. Despite the country’s increasing political instability, and US President Donald Trump’s half-serious threats of an invasion, President Nicolas Maduro has decided to press ahead with his vote to create a rubberstamp constituent assembly that will allow him to amend the country’s constitution.

With the country’s finances looking ever more precarious, Bloomberg warns that that this decision could bring about the first collapse of a sovereign oil producer. Venezuela has the largest natural oil reserves of any country on Earth, yet the decline in oil prices that began in 2014, coupled with years of economic mismanagement, have been enough to bring the country’s economy to its knees.

Venezuela’s socialist government opposition called for a two-day national strike against President Nicolas Maduro after another day of violent clashes on Saturday where the injured included a violinist famous for his musical protests.

Wuilly Arteaga, the 23-year-old has become famous for playing the national anthem on his violin in front of security lines as battles rage around him, has been injured in the fight for freedom against Venezuela’s socialist regime. Paramedics attended Arteaga in the street as blood poured down his face. He later tweeted a video from the hospital with a bandaged face and clutching his violin. “Neither rubber bullets nor pellets will stop our fight,” said Arteaga. “Tomorrow I will be back in the streets.”

Bolivia's President Evo Morales has been highlighting his government's independence from international money lending organizations and their detrimental impact the nation.

Venezuela’s anti-government protests are growing increasingly violent, with the death toll from clashes between protesters and government forces that began in May topping 100. Despite the country’s increasing political instability, and US President Donald Trump’s half-serious threats of an invasion, President Nicolas Maduro has decided to press ahead with his vote to create a rubber stamp constituent assembly that will allow him to amend the country’s constitution.

With the country’s finances looking ever more precarious, Bloomberg warns that that this decision could bring about the first collapse of a sovereign oil producer. Venezuela has the largest natural oil reserves of any country on Earth, yet the decline in oil prices that began in 2014, coupled with years of economic mismanagement, have been enough to bring the country’s economy to its knees.

The Trump administration is mulling over sanctions against senior Venezuelan government officials, and additional measures could include sanctions against the country’s oil industry, such as halting imports into the U.S., according to senior Washington officials who spoke to media.

A Brazilian judge has ordered assets of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to be frozen and sold.

Judge Sergio Moro put the value of the assets of Lula, as he is widely known, at $4.3 million, according to court papers released Wednesday.

Lula's assets include three apartments, a plot of land, two vehicles and two bank accounts with more than the equivalent of $190,000.

The government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has vowed to go ahead with its plans for a new congress despite the US’ "brutal interventionist" threats of economic sanctions.

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to take "strong and swift economic actions" if Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro goes ahead with plans to create a super-legislature known as a Constituent Assembly in a July 30 vote.

"Yesterday, the Venezuelan people again made clear that they stand for democracy, freedom and rule of law. Yet their strong and courageous actions continue to be ignored by a bad leader who dreams of becoming a dictator," Trump said in a statement issued by the White House.

"The United States will not stand by as Venezuela crumbles. If the Maduro regime imposes its Constituent Assembly on July 30, the United States will take strong and swift economic actions," Trump said.

Maduro's foes are demanding a presidential election and want to stop the leftist leader's plan to create the Constituent Assembly, which would have the power to rewrite the constitution and annul the opposition-led legislature.

The U.S. supports the right-wing opposition in Venezuela against the socialist government of President Maduro.

Since April the opposition tries to dislodge the government by instigating a regime change by force. Its protests and street fights with the police are led by violent, militarized gangs:

Venezuela’s ongoing street protests are increasingly looking like outright warfare. As security forces shoot rubber bullets, tear-gas canisters and sometimes live rounds at the churning crowds, increasingly restive mobs are responding with lethal slingshots, homemade mortars and Molotov cocktails.
This week, seven National Guard members were injured in Caracas when a roadside bomb exploded as they drove by on motorcycles.

Leading the opposition shock-troops are loose-knit groups of young men and women that have names like The Templars, The Warriors and The Arcadias. Collectively, they’re known as the Chamos de la Resistencia or, roughly, the Youth Resistance.

The cataclysmic devaluation of the bolivar in Venezuela and the brutal repression in the South American country now go hand in hand; state security agencies are increasingly demanding bribes in relatively strong Colombian pesos to release unjustly detained protesters.

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been found guilty of corruption and money laundering and sentenced to almost 10 years in prison.

Silva, who ran Brazil from 2003 until 2010 and is still known affectionately as Lula, was handed nine and a half years for accepting a bribe of a luxury seaside apartment and $1.1 million.

The decision was expected but still shocked many in the country as Silva left office with soaring popularity ratings having lifted millions of Brazilians out of poverty.

While Silicon Valley seems obsessed by 'blood boys', its another part of the world that appears to have gone full Mad Max. As the following clip shows a gang of bikers chase down and attack a truck (with molotov cocktails) to steal its sugar payload...

Venezuela celebrated 206 years of independence in a manner uniquely befitting Latin America’s socialist paradise: A gang of armed Maduro supporters broke into the National Assembly and viciously assaulted opposition lawmakers, nearly killing one.

Pipe-wielding government supporters burst into Venezuela's opposition-controlled congress on Wednesday, witnesses said, attacking and besieging lawmakers in the latest flare-up of violence during a political crisis.

The melee, which injured seven opposition politicians, was another worrying flashpoint in a traumatic last three months for the South American OPEC nation, shaken by opposition protests against socialist President Nicolas Maduro.”

The myth of human rights playing a decisive role in the diplomacy of the United States is an important façade to be broken before touching the current political crisis in Venezuela. A noble crusade for democracy and promotion of human rights are applied by the State Department only in times when these enlightening qualities serve the interests of Washington.

Thus, the regime change is conveyed to the public as liberal intervention, while the predominantly authoritarian outcomes of such liberal interventions are rarely discussed in the corporate press. This goes without plunging deep into describing the Western protectionism of the most repressive regimes in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Afghanistan, Egypt and Turkmenistan.

With such resume of hypocrisy, human rights and democracy were used to formally glorify the overthrow of Ukrainian government in 2014, replacing one corrupt regime with a right-wing, marionette and fascist-leaning oligarchy.

Lucas Koerner of Venezuelanalysis.com says the death toll and violence are on the rise but according to the Attorney General's reports more of these deaths are being instigated and attributed to opposition supporters

Violent protests are growing, the economy is spiraling further out of control and Venezuelans are suffering through shortages of food and medicine. And the bolivar, already worth next to nothing, keeps losing value.

At the beginning of the year, it took about 3,000 bolivars to buy one U.S. dollar. By Wednesday, it took almost 8,000. That's according to dolartoday.com, which tracks the unofficial exchange rate used by most Venezuelans because official rates are considered overvalued.

"I'd describe it as the result of a government that prints money like it's confetti," says Raul Gallegos, senior analyst at Control Risks, an international consulting firm. "The government has simply employed the wrong policies to stay in power."

Drawing inspiration from Ukraine's 2013-14 revolt, Venezuela's young protesters are donning Viking-like shields in battles with security forces and eagerly watching a film on the Kiev uprising.

Foes of Venezuelan socialist President Nicolas Maduro are holding public showings of Netflix's "Winter on Fire" documentary about the three-month standoff in Ukraine that led to 100 deaths and the exit of then-president Viktor Yanukovich.

In Venezuela's anti-government unrest, where 80 people have died since April, youths bear colourfully decorated homemade shields akin to those used in Kiev's Maidan Square.

A helicopter has attacked Venezuela's Supreme Court in what President Nicolás Maduro called a "terrorist" incident.

Four grenades were dropped on the court and 15 shots fired at the interior ministry on Tuesday, officials said.

Rogue policeman Oscar Pérez said he had piloted the stolen helicopter to attack what he called a "criminal government". His whereabouts are unknown.

Venezuela is in the midst of a political and economic crisis that has sparked mass protests.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley on Thursday called for international action to address the crisis in Venezuela, after a US-backed proposal for regional mediation failed to win support at the Organization of American States.

The Latest on a helicopter attack on Venezuela's Supreme Court. (all times local):

11:40 p.m.

Venezuelan Information Minister Ernesto Villegas says that a stolen helicopter fired 15 shots against the Interior Ministry as a reception was taking place for 80 people. It then flew a short distance to the pro-government Supreme Court and launched what he said were four Israeli-made grenades of "Colombian origin," two of them against national guardsmen protecting the building.

Authorities said there were no injuries from Tuesday's attack and that the area was still being surveyed for damages. Villegas said security forces were being deployed to apprehend Perez, who the government of President Nicolas Maduro accused of working under the instructions of the CIA and the U.S. Embassy in Caracas.

Just over a month after O Globo newspaper first brought the world's attention to the fact that Brazil's President Michel Temer was 'allegedly' involved in "hush money" payments, then vehemently denied by him; and just a week after the police confirmed it had evidence that Temer received bribes, O Globo, reports citing court documents, that President Michel Temer was formally charged with corruption by Prosecutor-General Rodrigo Janot.

A driver indiscriminately rammed through crowds of skateboarders who packed the city streets on Sunday at an event in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
"Lots of people were running, some guys tried to smash the car, of course. But a lot of people just ran trying to protect themselves while the guy zigzagged trying to hit the crowd," eyewitness Ezequiel Magalhães told El Globo.

We’ve repeatedly warned our readers that a collapse of life as we know it in America would quickly devolve into violence, looting and outright anarchy. As the economic landscape in America deteriorates it is likely only a matter of time before millions of starving Americans make their way to the streets in protest. When that happens they’ll be met with a heavily armed response. It’ll start with tear gas and rubber bullets, but that won’t be enough to stave off the starving and hopeless masses, so we can fully expect real bullets to start flying in short order.

To see a real-world example of this one need only turn their attention to Venezuela, where the collapse of their currency has led to hyperinflation to the point that supplies of bare essentials like flour, meat, medicine and toilet paper are unavailable to the general population. The situation has been playing out for several years and it appears to be coming to a head.

Almost exactly one month after Brazil's stock market crashed, and the Real plunged after the country's never-ending political drama made a triumphal return following accusations that president Michel Temer had encouraged a "hush money" bribe to former House Speaker Eduardo Cunha in return for not getting dragged into the Carwash scandal, on Tuesday afternoon, Brazil’s federal police force said it has found evidence that the embattled president received bribes to help businesses, Brazil's O Globo reported.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Monday that BRICS cooperation would be more productive and usher in a new "golden decade."

Xi made the remarks when meeting with the heads of delegations from Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa, who are in Beijing to attend the BRICS foreign ministers' meeting.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi chaired the meeting, which also included Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Brazilian Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes, South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane and India's Minister of State for External Affairs Vijay Kumar Singh.

Xi extended congratulations on the success of the meeting and thanked other BRICS members for their support.

He said that BRICS countries faced the common task of safeguarding domestic stability and development, creating a favorable international environment and working to make the international order more just and equitable.

GM crops in Argentina are approved by people from the same companies that produce and market them, a new investigation by the journalist Dario Aranda reveals.

The agency in which these people are collected is called the National Advisory Committee on Agricultural Biotechnology (Conabia). According to Aranda, it is composed of representatives of Monsanto, Bayer, Syngenta, Indear/Bioceres, Pioneer/DuPont, Don Mario, ASA (Seed Companies’ Association), Aapresid (Association of No-Till Producers – farmers who grow GM crops and use herbicide applications to control weeds), Argenbio and INTA (National Institute of Agricultural Technology). Out of 34 members, 26 belong to the same companies that produce seeds or are scientists with conflicts of interest.

As Bloomberg notes, the country’s cash hoard has fallen $326 million this week to $10.2 billion, near the 15-year low reached last month before the windfall.

Investors follow the level intently, trying to gauge how much time Venezuela has left before its dollar shortage results in a default.

Lithium is the hottest commodity on the planet right now, and investors trying to profit from it don’t understand how to invest in it.

MOST ARE MAKING A CRITICAL MISTAKE and investing in the wrong companies.

That’s because, in this game, lithium GRADE is the key to profitability.

Why? First, lithium...

Lithium is the most important component of electric vehicles, high-energy batteries, power storage, a vast menu of consumer electronics—and even Nirvana-reaching drugs.

Even today’s hyper-growth EV industry is just the tip of the iceberg compared with where it's headed to. Bloomberg New Energy Finance predicts that 35% of all new vehicle sales by 2040 will be EVs, equivalent to 100 million units every year.

Tesla’s “halo effect” will make astute investors lifetime riches because that's 100 times greater than current production.

Crisis-hit Venezuela devalued its currency by 64 percent in a dollar auction that aimed to stabilize its foreign exchange market, officials said Wednesday.

Under an overhauled official exchange system, the government let investors bid for the dollars at a new higher rate in what President Nicolas Maduro said was an effort to undermine the black market.

It was the latest in a series of moves to ease a crisis in a country stricken by soaring inflation and shortages of food and medicine.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has announced that elections to the Constituent Assembly will take place in July. In the meantime, the country’s opposition is becoming more and more violent, denying each and every initiative presented by the contested president.

After over a year of deliberation and an independent satellite analysis commissioned by the RSPO, the Complaints Panel concurred with the complaint filed in December 2015 by the Shipibo community of Santa Clara de Uchunya that PdP had deforested over 5000 hectares of forests, including primary forests.

In so doing, it had failed to comply with RSPO’s restrictions on the conversion of primary forests to plantations, measures to address risks to forests considered of High Conservation Value (HCV) and requirements to disclose all information about planting and conversion plans to the RSPO and affected communities.

A-tisket, A-tasket. You can tell a lot from a basket. Especially if it comes from the ruins of an ancient civilization inhabited by humans nearly 15,000 years ago during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene ages.

An archeologist from Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute is among a team of scientists who made a groundbreaking discovery in Huaca Prieta in coastal Peru—home to one of the earliest and largest pyramids in South America. Hundreds of thousands of artifacts, including intricate and elaborate hand-woven baskets excavated between 2007 and 2013 in Huaca Prieta, reveal that early humans in that region were a lot more advanced than originally thought and had very complex social networks.

- Protesters demanding the resignation of Brazilian President Michel Temer staged running battles with police and set fire to a ministry building in Brasilia on Wednesday, prompting the scandal-hit leader to order the army onto the streets.

Police unleashed volleys of tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets to halt tens of thousands of protesters as they marched towards Congress to call for Temer's ouster and an end to his austerity program.

Masked protesters fired powerful fireworks at police, set ablaze furniture in the Agriculture Ministry, and sprayed anti-Temer graffiti on government buildings.

It was the most violent protest in Brasilia since anti-government demonstrations in 2013 and fueled a political crisis sparked by allegations Temer condoned paying off a potential witness in a massive corruption probe.

The scandal has raised chances Brazil could see a second president fall in less than a year.

Venezuela, a country increasingly on the precipice of anarchy, has a cache of 5,000 Russian-made surface to air missiles — a fact that has U.S. officials concerned.

The South American country acquired most of the stockpile of SA-24 Man-Portable Air-Defense System (MANPADS) missiles during the reign of late President Hugo Chavez, according to documents reviewed by Reuters.

The missiles are fired from shoulder-mounted launchers by one person, and can be used to shoot down commercial and military aircraft. More than 40 civilian aircraft have been hit by MANPADS since the 1970’s, according to the Small Arms Survey, leading to at least 28 crashes and 800 deaths.

The weapons are popular with insurgent groups because of their portability, effectiveness, and ease of operation. More than 84 non-state groups are believed to have the missiles, or similar light-weight systems.

Physical confrontation erupts in Brazil's Congress between Temer's supporters & opponents after he deploys the military against protesters.