Isaías Rodríguez says US sanctions against Caracas means he cannot afford to carry out his duties

The Venezuelan ambassador to Italy has resigned, saying his government’s financial difficulties have made his job impossible.

In a letter addressed directly to President Nicolás Maduro and posted on Twitter, Ambassador Isaías Rodríguez reiterated his “immense respect for Maduro’s battle” but insisted the sanctions imposed by the US mean he cannot carry out his duties.

Last week, at a press conference in Rome, Rodríguez said that – due to the sanctions adopted against Caracas – he no longer has the money to pay his employees’ salaries and the rent of his office in Rome, whose debt amounted to €9m.

Venezuelan opposition and government to hold crisis talks Read more

The US government imposed financial sanctions on Venezuela’s president after the election of a new legislative body to redraft the country’s constitution in a vote described by Washington as a “sham”, as the Trump administration put its full backing behind the opposition leader Juan Guaidó.

Rodríguez explained that the sanctions had heavy repercussions on the embassy’s financial budget and that they were no longer able to bear the expenses of the diplomatic headquarters in Italy. Rodriguez, 77, explained that he wanted to dedicate himself to “being a grandfather”.

“I leave without rancour and without money,” Rodriguez said, “my wife has just sold the clothes her previous husband gave her in order to survive in the face of the US embargo. I’m trying to sell the car I bought when I arrived at the embassy and as you know I do not have a bank account because the gringos have sanctioned me and the Italian bank has closed its doors to me.

“I want the president to know that I am and will be by his side”, said Rodríguez, who took office in Rome in 2011. “I wanted to be a faithful companion and not a fearful amateur flatterer. I clung to chavismo with absolute faith, but I have come to understand that I cannot turn water into wine, or raise the dead.”

The Venezuelan crisis has reignited tensions between Washington and Moscow. Two weeks ago, Russia’s foreign minister urged the US to abandon its “irresponsible” plan to depose Maduro. Any US attempt to topple Maduro through force would bring “grave consequences”, Lavrov reportedly warned on 5 May during a visit to Moscow by Venezuela’s foreign minister, Jorge Arreaza. </s> Venezuela’s ambassador to Italy has resigned his post, saying US sanctions have reduced him to penury and have made it impossible to keep running the diplomatic mission.

Isaías Rodriguez lamented that his financial situation is now so dire that his wife has started selling off the designer clothes that were given to her “by her ex-husband”.

His bank account in Italy has been frozen and he is trying to sell off his car, he said in a long letter addressed to Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s president.

Flogging off their possessions was the couple’s only hope of “surviving the North American embargo”, he said, blaming the situation on the “gringos” in Washington.

Mr Rodriguez, who has previously held posts as attorney general and, briefly, vice-president in Venezuela, no longer has the cash to pay the embassy’s staff or the rent on the building, he said in the letter, which was posted on Twitter. </s> Venezuela’s opposition is engaging in a blitz of diplomacy in the aftermath of last month’s abortive uprising, even as it stokes the prospect of more aggressive tactics taken in conjunction with the United States to achieve their goal: the ouster of President Nicolás Maduro.

The opposition has been reluctant to engage in direct talks with Maduro’s emissaries, citing failed efforts in 2017 and 2018. Yet in an interview with The Washington Post after the failure of the April 30 uprising, opposition leader Juan Guaidó said he was open to talks with anyone, except Maduro himself.

Last week, the opposition put that to the test, sending its own emissaries to Oslo for talks brokered by the Norwegian government with two senior Maduro loyalists, including Jorge Rodríguez, the government’s communications minister. Three people familiar with the Oslo talks said the two sides did not meet directly — they exchanged points of view and proposals through diplomatic intermediaries.

No agreements emerged, but further talks between the two sides could take place in the days and weeks ahead, the people said.

Publicly, at least, the two sides remain far apart.

President Maduro this week floated a proposal that the opposition sees as a nonstarter: early elections for the National Assembly, now headed by Guaidó, controlled by the opposition and recognized internationally as the nation’s only democratic institution. Maduro’s government stripped the assembly of its power in 2017, and opposition critics say a new election to would serve only to strengthen Maduro’s grip on power.

“Venezuela has a humanitarian crisis with no precedent,” Guaidó said at a National Assembly session on Tuesday. “What is the regime’s response? To make fun of the people by talking about parliamentary elections, while our proposal has been clear: end of usurpation; transitional government; and free elections. Truly free elections. That’s what they fear. . . . Because there is no doubt that a free election would open the doors for change in Venezuela.”

Guaidó streamed the session on social media, because national guards surrounding the legislative palace blocked the press from going in.

[Inside the secret plot to turn senior Venezuelan officials against Maduro]

The international contact group, which includes Italy, Spain, France, Uruguay and Ecuador, dispatched a delegation to Caracas last week to speak with both sides. There were no specific signs of progress.

“It seems as if Maduro is still stuck on the idea that he is constitutional and legitimate, and that hasn’t changed, and until there is a change of tone, there won’t be a breakthrough,” said one person briefed on the talks.

Luis Vicente León, director of the Datanálisis polling agency in Caracas, called the fact that both sides are agreeing to explore talks a significant step toward a possible negotiated solution to the crisis. He said the first meetings were part of a “longer process.”

“It means both sides are starting to feel exhausted,” he said. The government is isolated, divided and barely able to govern, he said, while the opposition has realized that its strategy to oust Maduro by wooing the military and his loyalists has thus far fallen short.

“For now, the talks haven’t been very successful, but they’re just starting,” León said. “The demands of both sides are still too far apart. If I would have to place the probability of success between 1 and 10, I would still say less than 5.”

The international mediation efforts come weeks after the failed uprising led by Guaidó and his mentor, Leopoldo López.

López, the country’s most popular political prisoner, escaped house arrest with the help of Maduro’s intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Manuel Ricardo Cristopher Figuera. That was part of a negotiated plot in which a litany of Maduro loyalists, including the head of Venezuela’s supreme court and senior military commanders, were supposed to stand up and press for Maduro’s ouster.

For reasons that remain unclear, those moves never materialized. The outcome — with a gaggle of military men and Maduro’s spy chief turning against him but well short of the mass defections expected — showed both the opposition and the government to be not quite as strong as either of them thought.

In the days since, the opposition scrambled to stay united while the startled international community strengthened calls for a negotiated solution. Even the Lima Group, a regional collective of nations that largely backs Guaidó’s agenda, announced its intention to approach both the contact group and Cuba, which backs Maduro.

[Venezuela’s opposition debates new tactics as diplomats race to defuse crisis]

Both Maduro and the opposition, meanwhile, are sending mixed signals. Maduro has pledged to ease tensions and agreed to talk to the countries hoping to mediate a deal. Yet his government has also imprisoned the National Assembly’s vice president, Edgar Zambrano, and charged 10 lawmakers with treason in connection with the April 30 plot.

“I will focus all my efforts for Venezuela, to sooner rather than later, reach an agreement with the Venezuelan opposition,” Maduro said in a televised speech on Monday.

The Guaidó side has also become more aggressive in considering the option of a foreign military intervention to oust Maduro. Guaidó told The Washington Post this month that he would take a hypothetical offer of U.S. military assistance to the National Assembly. And on Monday, his representative to the United States, Carlos Vecchio, met with the U.S. State Department and Department of Defense to “evaluate joint mechanisms of cooperation and strategic planning to advance in a solution,” Vecchio said on Twitter. He said he was “satisfied with the progress made.”

Maduro claimed victory last year in elections widely viewed as fraudulent. Guaidó declared himself interim president in January, and has been recognized as Venezuela’s rightful leader by the United States and more than 50 other countries.

As time passes, both sides have much to lose. Maduro has shown himself unable to halt Venezuela’s economic free fall into the unprecedented humanitarian crisis that has sparked a mass exodus from the oil-rich nation. As conditions deteriorate, he risks more internal divisions, especially in the military. Signs of those rifts have already been made evident.

Most recently, his ambassador to Italy, Julián Isaías Rodríguez, resigned Tuesday, saying he leaves his post “without regrets and without money. My wife just sold jewelry her ex-husband gave her to maintain us in front of the U.S. blockade.” He said the “gringos” sanctioned him and he doesn’t have a bank account.

Guaidó risks losing domestic support as his efforts to push out Maduro have faltered. His approval rating slipped five percentage points from February to April, according to León’s polling firm. The fall is not dramatic, but could worsen if Venezuelans fail to see him achieving tangible results, León said.

During last week’s negotiations in Oslo, Guaidó said they were only part of his team’s larger strategy to oust Maduro.

“We repeat it: we are working in all options to end the dictatorship and are advancing in each of them: mediation of countries that approach a solution in Venezuela, international cooperation, and encouraging constitutional backing from our Armed Forces,” he tweeted.

How a plot filled with intrigue and betrayal failed to oust Venezuela’s president

Despite setbacks, Venezuela’s opposition wary of U.S. intervention

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news </s> Venezuelan state media attacked President Juan Guaidó on Monday after he called for an investigation into claims two of his subordinates embezzled money meant for the housing and feeding of Venezuelan military defectors.

Guaidó legally became president of Venezuela in January. Dictator Nicolás Maduro remains in control of the military, however, as well as the presidential palace and state media.

The allegations broke last week after the Latin American news outlet the PanAm Post reported that two of Guaidó’s government officials, Rossana Barrera and Kevin Rojas, had allegedly used funds intended to cover the cost of the troops’ hotels in the Colombian border city of Cúcuta for personal purchases.

Both of the accused are senior members of Popular Will, the socialist political party to which Guaidó belongs, whom Guaidó personally appointed to control funds meant to aid soldiers who ceased to take orders from Maduro and fled to Cúcuta. The Post cited unnamed Colombian intelligence officials as the sources for their claim.

“We will investigate this deeply,” Guaido said during a speech to supporters in the state of Mérida this weekend. “Every cent of public funds should be sacred, and that is something we have to learn as a society.”

The Maduro regime quickly weaponized the scandal. Maduro Communication Minister Jorge Rodríguez accused Guaidó’s camp of spending an additional $800,000 on private aircraft in February as they were trying to organize the entry of humanitarian aid into the country.

“This is the photo of Camilo Daza airport in Cúcuta on the afternoon of February 22nd. On plane hire alone, the far-right spent more than $800,000 that day,” he wrote. “Where did the money come from? From the money Venezuela needs to operate our children.”

Rodríguez did not corroborate his claim with any evidence, save for a photo of the alleged plane.

On Monday, Rodríguez also suggested that the U.S. Department of Justice should open a probe into the board of the U.S.-based Venezuelan oil refinery Citgo for its role in allowing Guaidó’s government to take control of the company. Last month, Maduro personally accused Juan Guaidó of stealing the company’s profits for personal use.

“Mr. Juan Guaidó, acting together with imperialism [the United States], has stolen Citgo from us,” Maduro said during a live Periscope broadcast last month. “And I am asking, what have they done with the money? Where is the Citgo money? They have stolen the Citgo money from us. And the products meant for our oil refineries were stolen from us, too,” Maduro said.

The range of allegations against Guaidó’s entourage will likely further disappoint the Venezuelan people, many of whom believed that he was the man to remove the Maduro from power and begin a transition to democracy. Since his appointment in January by the National Assembly as the country’s interim president, Guaidó has failed to wrench control of the military from the socialist regime.

Guaidó’s team has recently engaged in several rounds of negotiations with the regime in Sweden and Norway, despite widespread opposition to them doing so. However, such talks have ended without agreement after the Maduro regime repeatedly refused to hold any free elections in the near future. </s> One by one, cable providers started dropping CNN Español's signal off their air in Venezuela as millions flipped through the channels, bewildered.

The decision to ax CNNE came swiftly in the form of an administrative order from CONATEL, the national telecommunications commission.

"The procedure is done in light of the content that the mentioned news station has systematically been broadcasting, which presents a clear aggression against the Venezuelan homeland," said CONATEL, which also silenced a national TV broadcaster a decade ago.

This time, the catalyst was CNN's investigation that allegedly uncovered "serious irregularities in the issuing of Venezuelan passports and visas, including allegations that passports were given to people with ties to terrorism." The accusations came from Misael Lopez, the former legal adviser to the Venezuelan Embassy in Iraq.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez said CNN aired fake, manipulated information in its passport investigation. And she alleged that the report's main source was "a delinquent who tried to steal Venezuela's money."

"CNNE started a psychological war, an operation of war propaganda, based on falsehoods," Rodríguez said.

As the CNN decision was coming down in Venezuela, President Donald Trump was meeting at the White House with Lilian Tintori, the wife of imprisoned Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. Trump tweeted asking for the release of Lopez, who has been detained since February 2014 by the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

Tintori met with Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, who has been pushing for sanctions against Venezuelan officials. With a discredited and divided opposition at home, Tintori — a mother of two — has become one of the leading figures opposing Maduro.

Meanwhile, Venezuelans are left with one fewer news channel on their limited airwaves.

"Venezuela's decision to take CNN en Español off the air is yet another serious blow to freedom of expression in the country and clearly indicates that the government of President Maduro is willing to widen its censorship power to restrict any critical coverage," said Carlos Lauría, senior program director for the Americas for the Committee to Protect Journalists.

With fewer and fewer options, Venezuelans have turned to alternative sites and social media for information.

"People are going crazy about the blockage, they urgently need an alternative. CNN was a glimmer of hope. It can't be taken from people," Gustavo Díaz, head of the website DolarToday, told NBC News.

The CNN report pointed to Vice President Tareck El Aissami as one of those responsible.

This week he was also in Washington's crosshairs. After accusing El Aissami of drug trafficking, the Trump administration imposed sanctions that block U.S. entities from doing business with him.

Maduro responded to what he called "defamation" by saying the Foreign Ministry would send a "protest letter" to the U.S. business attaché in Venezuela demanding a retraction.

The U.S. sanctions against El Aissami and his right-hand man, businessman Samark Lopez, target 13 companies, including five in the United States. Properties in Miami were worth tens of millions of dollars.

"Personally, I view this dreadful and miserable aggression as a recognition of my condition as an anti-imperialist revolutionary…WE WILL BE VICTORIOUS"

"They won't be able to handle our unwavering resolution to be FREE. Long live Chavez," he also tweeted, referring to Hugo Chavez, the revolutionary leader who founded the United Socialist Party of Venezuela and died of cancer in 2013.

Maduro's government is under increased pressure because of a crumbling economy, one of the highest inflation rates in the world and a nationwide shortage of food and medicine. </s> Blackout In Venezuela Leaves Its Leaders Casting Blame In The Dark

A massive power outage has swept across Venezuela, leaving its two leaders at odds over who is to blame for plunging the country into darkness at a time of deep political unrest.

The outage began Thursday evening at rush hour, bringing the subway system in Caracas to a halt. Thousands of commuters returned home on foot, their walks lit only by mobile phones and the stars.

President Nicolás Maduro was quick to blame the "electricity war" on the United States, which has supported Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaidó after he declared himself interim president in January and received endorsements from dozens of countries.

"The electricity war declared and directed by U.S. imperialism against our people will be defeated," Maduro said. "Nothing and nobody will vanquish the people of Bolívar and Chávez."

Minister of Communication and Information Jorge Rodríguez described the outage as an attack on Venezuela's electric system — "a criminal action" driven by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has been an outspoken critic of Maduro.

Guaidó said that 22 states were without electricity for hours, breaking a record for Caracas.

"Chaos, concern and indignation," he said.

"This blackout is evidence of the usurper's inefficiency," Guaidó said, referring to Maduro. "The recovery of the electric sector and the country comes by stopping the usurpation."

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo echoed Guaidó's stance, faulting Maduro's regime for the energy shortage. "The power outage and the devastation hurting ordinary Venezuelans is not because of the USA," he said. "It's not because of Colombia. It's not Ecuador or Brazil, Europe or anywhere else. Power shortages and starvation are the result of the Maduro regime's incompetence."

He added, "No food. No medicine. Now, no power. Next, no Maduro."

Pompeo's remark follows a humanitarian operation that went awry in February. Truckloads of food and medicine were turned away at the border and Maduro's government celebrated it as a victory against regime change.

Over the years, food and medicine shortages have sent millions of citizens fleeing for a better life. Hyperinflation is estimated to hit 10 million percent in 2019, according to the International Monetary Fund, and sanctions imposed by the Trump administration are likely to increase the country's economic plight.

Electricity shortages are not uncommon in the once rich country. Despite having vast oil reserves, the government exports its oil and Venezuelans rely on hydropower for their energy. Years of scant investment in hydroelectric infrastructure, combined with drought, have crippled the energy grid.

A decade after the nationalization of the energy sector in 2007, the government started switching off the power grid in cities and towns across the country. Because of the rolling blackouts, Venezuelans have seen their food decompose, their appliances ruined and even their health care suffer, with doctors saying they sometimes perform surgeries under the light of mobile phones. Last year, one outage resulted in the deaths of three people, including a newborn.

On Thursday, nurses at a wealthy Caracas health clinic held candles to monitor the vital signs of premature babies because backup generators had shut off, The Associated Press reported. Maduro ordered schools, businesses and government entities to shutter while crews tried to restore power.

Rubio reminded his followers on Twitter that Maduro's regime has gone so far as to blame iguanas for its electrical woes. And he hit back at Communications Minister Jorge Rodríguez, who accused him of fomenting the massive outage."My apologies to people of Venezuela," Rubio said. "I must have pressed the wrong thing on the 'electronic attack' app I downloaded from Apple. My bad." </s> Former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu was a guest of embattled President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela on Monday.

Orji, now a senator-elect in his state met Maduro at the Miraflores Palace, Caracas.

Globovision.com reported that Orji discussed with his host, strengthening relations between Nigeria and Venezuela, both members of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC).

They also discussed matters of mutual interest in the gas and oil area, as well as the existing alliances through the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries to strengthen the Diplomacy of Peace with the peoples of the world, especially with Africa.

The executive vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, wife of Maduro, Cilia Flores and the deputy minister for Africa, Yuri Pimentel, were all present at the meeting.

Some reports said Orji sealed some deals for his Slok Holding, a conglomerate with interests in shipping, banking, oil trading. </s> Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Armed men kidnapped a newly elected congresswoman Wednesday after forcing her vehicle to crash on a highway in Hidalgo state, Mexican security forces said.

Norma Azucena Rodríguez Zamora, 32, was riding in her car with her driver and assistant when the gunmen opened fire. The car flipped over and crashed, injuring Rodríguez's companions.

BBC reported the gunmen pulled Rodríguez from the wreckage of her vehicle and forced her into their vehicle, which Britain's The Telegraph said was a black Volkswagen Bora.

Members of Rodríguez's party, the Party of the Democratic Revolution, called on security officials to quickly find her alive.

Rodríguez was elected July 1 to represent the state of Veracruz in Mexico's lower house of Congress. She was due to take her seat Sept. 1. </s> Image copyright Facebook/Rodriguez Image caption The 32-year-old was a mayor before successfully running for Congress

A newly elected Mexican Congresswoman, Norma Azucena Rodríguez Zamora, has been kidnapped at gunpoint on a highway in central Hidalgo state.

Two men shot at Ms Rodríguez's car, injuring an assistant and the driver and causing the vehicle to flip over.

The gunmen pulled Ms Rodríguez from the car and forced her into their vehicle.

The kidnapping comes little more than a month after the mayor of the town of Naupan was seized and killed in the same area.

Ms Rodríguez was elected on 1 July to represent eastern Veracruz state in the lower house of Congress for the centre-left Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).

The 32-year-old was due to take up office on 1 September. The state she will represent is one of the most violent in Mexico.

Before running for Congress, Ms Rodríguez served as mayor of the town of Tihuatlán in Veracruz.

Her kidnapping happened as she was travelling along a highway in neighbouring Hidalgo, the same on which the mayor of Naupan, Genaro Negrete Urbano, had been kidnapped last month.

Mr Negrete's body was found earlier this month. He had been shot dead.

The motive for his killing is not known but local politicians often become targets for criminal gangs if they are seen to interfere with the gang's business.

The campaign for the 2018 general election saw a spike in violence against political candidates.

Members of Ms Rodríguez's party have demanded that she be released safe and sound.
Venezuela's Ambassador to Italy, Isaías Rodríguez, resigns, citing the government's lack of finances amid international sanctions on the Nicolás Maduro government. Rodríguez says, due to the sanctions, he has been unable to pay his staff or the rent for his office in Rome.