CARACAS, Venezuela — The latest on the political crisis in Venezuela (all times local):

The French Foreign Ministry says it has demanded that Venezuelan authorities release two French journalists working for television channel TMC.

The journalists were arrested on Tuesday.

In a press statement Thursday, the Quai d'Orsay said it has been in contact with officials in Caracas "since the moment our compatriots were arrested."

It did not suggest a motive for the arrests or provide further information.

Jorge Arreaza, the foreign minister of embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, has blamed foreign journalists for entering the country without work permits.

The European Parliament meanwhile has called on the European Union's member states to recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president as Venezuela's political crisis deepens.

An independent U.N. human rights monitor says economic sanctions are compounding a "grave crisis" in Venezuela.

Idriss Jazairy, a special rapporteur focusing on the negative impact of sanctions, expressed concern about "reports" that the U.S. sanctions were "aimed at changing the government of Venezuela." He did not specify the reports.

He added: "The use of sanctions by outside powers to overthrow an elected government is in violation of all norms of international law."

U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to use the "full weight of United States economic and diplomatic power to press for the restoration of Venezuelan democracy." The Trump administration slapped sanctions on Venezuela that could starve the country of billions in oil revenue.

Jazairy's office has taken funds from donors including Russia, one of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's staunchest supporters.

Special rapporteurs do not speak for the United Nations, but are appointed by the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council.

The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry says there are no plans underway for evacuation of the country's diplomats or other citizens from Venezuela, but is declining to comment on why a Russian airliner showed up in the Venezuelan capital's airport.

The arrival of the Boeing 777 belonging to Russian airline Nordwind on Monday has led to widespread speculation, including that Venezuelan officials might be aiming to spirit tons of gold reserves out of the country as a political crisis deepens.

The Associated Press was unable to verify the authenticity of that claim.

Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters Thursday that she could not comment on the airliner, "which was not sent for official goals."

"I can say that this is not about evacuation of Russian diplomats, or their family members or Russian citizens that are employees of overseas agencies or companies," she said.

The European Parliament is calling on the European Union's member states to recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president.

The 28-member bloc is still defining its position on the crisis there.

The EU legislature approved by a 439-104 margin a resolution that also condemned the continued violence and the detention of journalists who sought to cover events there.

"All of Venezuela is watching us," said Esteban Gonzalez Pons of the Christian Democrat EPP group. "Let's make Venezuelan history today by recognizing the democratic and legitimate power of Venezuela."

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called on the South American country to release journalists who were arrested covering the crisis.

"We expect them to be released immediately," she said in Bucharest where EU foreign ministers are set to discuss the crisis later Thursday.

The Spanish government has condemned the detention of three reporters and a driver working for Spain's state-run EFE news agency in Venezuela's capital.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's office issued a statement Thursday calling for their immediate release.

EFE has reported that Colombian photographer Leonardo Munoz disappeared on Wednesday morning in Caracas and that two more reporters, Spaniard Gonzalo Dominguez and Colombian Mauren Barriga, were later taken away from their office by members of Venezuelan intelligence service Sebin. Spain's government says a Venezuelan driver working for the news agency was also taken into custody. He wasn't identified.

Sanchez has said that Spain's government will endorse Juan Guaido as interim president of Venezuela if embattled President Nicolas Maduro doesn't call a presidential election by Sunday.</s>CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - The latest on the political crisis in Venezuela (all times local):

The French Foreign Ministry says it has demanded that Venezuelan authorities release two French journalists working for television channel TMC.

The journalists were arrested on Tuesday.

In a press statement Thursday, the Quai d'Orsay said it has been in contact with officials in Caracas "since the moment our compatriots were arrested."

It did not suggest a motive for the arrests or provide further information.

Jorge Arreaza, the foreign minister of embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, has blamed foreign journalists for entering the country without work permits.

The European Parliament meanwhile has called on the European Union's member states to recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president as Venezuela's political crisis deepens.

An independent U.N. human rights monitor says economic sanctions are compounding a "grave crisis" in Venezuela.

Idriss Jazairy, a special rapporteur focusing on the negative impact of sanctions, expressed concern about "reports" that the U.S. sanctions were "aimed at changing the government of Venezuela." He did not specify the reports.

He added: "The use of sanctions by outside powers to overthrow an elected government is in violation of all norms of international law."

U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to use the "full weight of United States economic and diplomatic power to press for the restoration of Venezuelan democracy." The Trump administration slapped sanctions on Venezuela that could starve the country of billions in oil revenue.

Jazairy's office has taken funds from donors including Russia, one of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's staunchest supporters.

Special rapporteurs do not speak for the United Nations, but are appointed by the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council.

The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry says there are no plans underway for evacuation of the country's diplomats or other citizens from Venezuela, but is declining to comment on why a Russian airliner showed up in the Venezuelan capital's airport.

The arrival of the Boeing 777 belonging to Russian airline Nordwind on Monday has led to widespread speculation, including that Venezuelan officials might be aiming to spirit tons of gold reserves out of the country as a political crisis deepens.

The Associated Press was unable to verify the authenticity of that claim.

Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters Thursday that she could not comment on the airliner, "which was not sent for official goals."

"I can say that this is not about evacuation of Russian diplomats, or their family members or Russian citizens that are employees of overseas agencies or companies," she said.

The European Parliament is calling on the European Union's member states to recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president.

The 28-member bloc is still defining its position on the crisis there.

The EU legislature approved by a 439-104 margin a resolution that also condemned the continued violence and the detention of journalists who sought to cover events there.

"All of Venezuela is watching us," said Esteban Gonzalez Pons of the Christian Democrat EPP group. "Let's make Venezuelan history today by recognizing the democratic and legitimate power of Venezuela."

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called on the South American country to release journalists who were arrested covering the crisis.

"We expect them to be released immediately," she said in Bucharest where EU foreign ministers are set to discuss the crisis later Thursday.

The Spanish government has condemned the detention of three reporters and a driver working for Spain's state-run EFE news agency in Venezuela's capital.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's office issued a statement Thursday calling for their immediate release.

EFE has reported that Colombian photographer Leonardo Munoz disappeared on Wednesday morning in Caracas and that two more reporters, Spaniard Gonzalo Dominguez and Colombian Mauren Barriga, were later taken away from their office by members of Venezuelan intelligence service Sebin. Spain's government says a Venezuelan driver working for the news agency was also taken into custody. He wasn't identified.

Sanchez has said that Spain's government will endorse Juan Guaido as interim president of Venezuela if embattled President Nicolas Maduro doesn't call a presidential election by Sunday.</s>CARACAS/MADRID (Reuters) - Venezuela freed on Thursday two French, two Colombian and one Spanish journalist detained in recent days while covering the political turmoil engulfing President Nicolas Maduro.

The socialist government has long had a spiky relationship with Western media, which it largely considers hostile and in league with “imperialist” interests.

Short detentions and deportations have become common, especially as reporters facing lengthy bureaucracy for official permissions seek shortcuts to report in Venezuela.

French TV show Quotidien, which is part of the TF1 network, said its journalists Baptiste des Monstiers and Pierre Caille were released and heading back to Paris.

Spain’s government confirmed that three detained journalists working for EFE news agency - Colombian photographer Leonardo Muñoz, Spanish reporter Gonzalo Domínguez Loeda and Colombian TV producer Mauren Barriga Vargas - had also been freed.

A Venezuelan driver with the EFE team was also released.

Maduro, the 56-year-old successor to Hugo Chavez, is facing the biggest challenge of his rule since opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president and received the backing of numerous nations including the United States.

The journalists’ arrests had brought diplomatic protests.

“We firmly believe that all journalists should be able to exercise their duties, responsibilities and rights in their work,” European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told reporters in Bucharest.

There was no immediate confirmation from Venezuelan officials.</s>CARACAS/MADRID (REUTERS) - Venezuelan authorities detained three foreign journalists and a driver working for the Spanish news agency EFE on Wednesday (Jan 30), the company said, in the latest arrests of reporters covering US-backed efforts to oust President Nicolas Maduro.

Colombian photographer Leonardo Muñoz was arrested with his Venezuelan driver Jose Salas while reporting on protests against the government.

Hours later intelligence officers detained Spanish reporter Gonzalo Domínguez Loeda and Colombian TV producer Mauren Barriga Vargas at their hotel, EFE's bureau chief in Caracas, Ms Nelida Fernandez said.

The entire team had travelled from Bogota earlier in the month.

The Spanish government condemned the detentions and called on Caracas to release the journalists and the driver immediately. All four work for Spanish state-owned EFE, the fourth largest news agency in the world.

"(Spain's) government demands their immediate liberation ... The government again requires that Venezuela's authorities respect the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms, of which freedom of the press is a central element," it said in a statement on Thursday.

The arrests followed the deportation of two Chilean reporters detained this week. A French diplomatic source said on Wednesday that two French reporters covering the turmoil had been arrested and that the French Embassy was seeking their release.

"Our Embassy has requested consular protection in accordance with the Vienna Convention and in particular the right of access," the source said.

The French reporters were working for daily television programme Quotidien, part of the TF1 television network. TF1 declined to comment.

Accused of election fraud, and overseeing a deep economic collapse that has led millions of Venezuelans to migrate, Mr Maduro is facing the biggest challenge to his rule since replacing Mr Hugo Chavez six years ago.

Opposition leader Juan Guaido has won the backing of most countries in the Western Hemisphere since declaring himself interim president last week and calling for fresh elections.

Mr Maduro says the strategy to topple him is a coup, led by hawks in the Trump administration such as Special Envoy to Venezuela Elliott Abrams, a veteran diplomat involved in the armed interventions in Central America in the 1980s.

France said on Wednesday that Mr Maduro appeared not to be heeding calls for new presidential elections and that European foreign ministers would discuss next steps at a meeting in Bucharest on Thursday.</s>Colombian photojournalist Leonardo Munoz, working for Spain's international news agency EFE, who went missing on Wednesday in Caracas was detained by Venezuelan authorities along with two other colleagues, one Spaniard and one Colombian.

Munoz along with the two others arrived in Caracas from Bogota and were on assignment for EFE to cover the Venezuelan crisis.</s>Two French television reporters arrested in Venezuela on Wednesday have been freed, according to the country's ministry for foreign affairs.

The Venezuelan government also released the three journalists working for the Spanish news agency EFE, said the agency itself. All of them will be deported to Colombia.

The journalists were arrested in Caracas on Wednesday by members of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin).

It is still unknown whether the driver, who has Venezuelan nationality, was also freed.

The French reporters — named as Pierre Caillé and Baptiste des Monstiers — work for the "Quotidien" programme broadcast on the TV channel TMC. They were detained on Tuesday evening as they filmed the presidential palace in Caracas.

Their producer in the country, Rolando Rodriquez, was also held, the main Venezuelan journalists' union the SNTP added.

The Spanish branch of Reporters without borders confirmed the news on Twitter and said it was "following the situation very closely."

The French foreign affairs ministry on Thursday, said Paris "demands the release" of the two French journalists arrested in Venezuela.

It previously asked for the right to "consular protection" according to the Vienna convention and the right to visit. "Quotidien" tweeted that to say more risked aggravating the journalists' plight.

The Spanish said in a statement on Thursday that it "wholeheartedly" rejected the arrests of the Spanish journalists in Caracas. "Through the Embassy in Caracas, all necessary steps are being taken to secure their release as soon as possible," it added.

Two Colombian journalists, Mauren Barriga and Leonardo Muñoz and a Spanish journalist Gonzalo Domínguez were the ones detained.

The three journalists are part of a team that travelled from Bogotá, Colombia to cover the crisis in Venezuela.

The lack of accreditation by the Venezuelan government was Sebin's argument for arresting the journalists.

EFE's Editorial Board demanded the immediate release of its "three comrades" in a tweet, adding: "There is no democracy without freedom of information."

The SNTP also said that two television journalists from Chile, arrested on Tuesday night, had been expelled from the country. The Chilean foreign minister Roberto Ampuero accused Venezuela of trampling on press freedom.

Venezuela's foreign minister Jorge Areaza has blamed foreign journalists for entering the country without having secured work permits. The organisation Reporters Without Borders has denounced "violence by security forces against journalists" from Venezuela and abroad.

It comes as the US envoy to Venezuela, Elliott Abrams has cautioned socialist President Nicolas Maduro for acting against the self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaidó.

Abrams said the US will keep the pressure on Maduro to step down by applying further sanctions and search globally for assets.

"The security of interim president Guaidó is a concern," Abrams told a group of reporters.</s>CARACAS: Venezuelan authorities detained three foreign journalists and a driver working for the Spanish news agency EFE on Wednesday, the company said, in the latest arrests of reporters covering US-backed efforts to oust President Nicolas Maduro.

Colombian photographer Leonardo Muñoz was arrested with his Venezuelan driver Jose Salas while reporting on protests against the government.

Hours later intelligence officers detained Spanish reporter Gonzalo Domínguez Loeda and Colombian TV producer Mauren Barriga Vargas at their hotel, EFE`s bureau chief in Caracas, Nelida Fernandez said.

The entire team had travelled from Bogota earlier in the month. The arrests follow the deportation of two Chilean reporters detained this week. A French diplomatic source said on Wednesday that two French reporters covering the turmoil had been arrested and that the French Embassy was seeking their release.

"Our Embassy has requested consular protection in accordance with the Vienna Convention and in particular the right of access," the source said. The French reporters were working for daily television programme Quotidien, part of the TF1 television network. TF1 declined to comment.

Accused of election fraud, and overseeing a deep economic collapse that has led millions of Venezuelans to migrate, Maduro is facing the biggest challenge to his rule since replacing Hugo Chavez six years ago.

Opposition leader Juan Guaido has won the backing of the most countries in the Western Hemisphere since declaring himself interim president last week and calling for fresh elections.

Maduro says the strategy to topple him is a coup, led by hawks in the Trump administration such as Special Envoy to Venezuela Elliott Abrams, a veteran diplomat involved in the armed interventions in Central America in the 1980s.

France said on Wednesday that Maduro appeared not to be heeding calls for new presidential elections and that European foreign ministers would discuss next steps at a meeting in Bucharest on Thursday.</s>Spanish news agency EFE said Wednesday that three of its reporters in Caracas, two of whom Colombian, were taken from the office by Venezuela’s intelligence agency.

According to the news agency, Colombian photojournalist Leonardo Muñoz disappeared on Wednesday morning and is allegedly detained by the country’s Military Counterintelligence Directorate (DGCIM).

The journalist and his Venezuelan driver were on their way to cover protest demanding the resignation of President Nicolas Maduro when they lost contact with the newsroom.

In the evening, agents of the Venezuelan intelligence agency SEBIN raided EFE’s office in Caracas and arrested Colombian reporter Mauren Barriga and her Spanish colleague Gonzalo Dominguez, said the news agency.

Following their arrest, the journalists reportedly were first taken to their hotel to pick up their belongings and then taken in for interrogation.

EFE’s bureau chief in Caracas, Nelida Fernandez, and the journalists’ attorney followed their colleagues in an attempt to seek clarification about why they were taken and demand their liberation.

The three journalists traveled from Colombia to Venezuela earlier this month to cover the ongoing crisis in the neighboring country.

Venezuela’s journalist syndicate SNTP announced on Thursday that the EFE journalists will be deported to their native countries.

According to Reporters Without Borders, four more foreign reporters, two from Chile and two from France, are also being held by Venezuelan authorities. They were allegedly arrested on Tuesday.

Venezuela arrests two Colombian and five other foreign correspondents was last modified: by</s>The Spanish government on Thursday demanded the immediate release of journalists working for the Spanish news agency EFE who were arrested in Venezuela. Madrid “strongly condemns” the detention in Caracas of four members of a team from Spanish news agency EFE by Venezuela’s state intelligence agency Sebin, the Foreign Ministry said. Spain demands that “the competent authorities release them immediately,” it said, adding that Madrid “again asks the Venezuelan authorities to respect the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms.” The three EFE journalists – a Spanish reporter, a Colombian videographer and a Colombian photographer – were arrested along with their Venezuelan driver on Wednesday, Reuters reports. Two French journalists from the TV channel TMC were detained on Tuesday as they filmed the presidential palace in Caracas and have not been heard from since, Venezuela’s main journalists’ union, the SNTP, said. Two Chilean journalists who were also arrested on Tuesday near the presidential palace “were kicked out of Venezuela” on Wednesday, it added.</s>Madrid on Thursday demanded the immediate release of journalists working for the Spanish news agency EFE who were arrested in Venezuela as part of a crackdown by Caracas on foreign media.

The Spanish government "strongly condemns" the detention in Caracas of four members of a team from Spanish news agency EFE by Venezuela's state intelligence agency Sebin, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"The government demands that the competent authorities release them immediately. The government again asks the Venezuelan authorities to respect the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms, of which freedom of the press is a central element," it added.

The three EFE journalists -- a Spanish reporter, a Colombian videographer and a Colombian photographer -- were arrested along with their Venezuelan driver on Wednesday, according to the Spanish news agency.

Two French journalists from the TV channel TMC were detained on Tuesday as they filmed the presidential palace in Caracas and have not been heard from since, according to Venezuela's main journalists' union, the SNTP.

Two Chilean journalists who were also arrested on Tuesday near the presidential palace were kicked out of Venezuela on Wednesday, the union added.

The arrests come shortly after Venezuela's opposition, which is challenging President Nicolas Maduro's legitimacy as the country's leader, appealed for fresh street protests to demand a transition government and new elections.

"They can not prevent the world from knowing what is happening in Venezuela," opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself interim president last week, wrote on Twitter.
Colombian, Spanish and French journalists are arrested and detained by SEBIN agents in Caracas. All four work for Spanish news agency EFE. The arrests follow the deportation of two Chilean journalists yesterday.