The dust has pretty much settled from the failed delivery of large quantities of food and medical aid into Venezuela this past weekend. The ruling Socialists United of Venezuela (PSUV) has opted to dig in their heels. Their mission seems to be to turn the country into Cuba. They have no other attainable long term goal at this point.

From the point of view of PSUV, the humanitarian aid from the U.S. and shipped in from Brazil and Colombia was mainly designed to provoke tensions and make president Nicolas Maduro look bad. Jorge Arreaza, Minister of Foreign Affairs, said images of trucks catching fire over a bridge route into his country was a "CIA false flag."

Univision reporter Jorge Ramos -- who on any given day is more Team Maduro than Team Trump -- was taken into custody by Venezuelan authorities late Monday evening. He was freed shortly after. Ramos reportedly showed Maduro images of locals fishing through garbage for food.

Videos circulating on Whatsapp of a truck carrying aid in Santa Elena in Bolivar state, on the Brazilian border, showed three armored national guard trucks chasing it down the road and shooting at it on Calle Urdaneta, right outside the tiny Hotel La Abuela.

This weekend made it clear that Maduro is officially a member of the anti-Trump #resistance. He has significant numbers in his military, along with PSUV politicians and state employees, believing that they are next in line for Middle East-style regime change.

Senator Marco Rubio was over the top in his comparison of Venezuela to the Middle East on Sunday when he went so far as to tweet out two pictures of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi -- one of him smiling and healthy, and the other of him badly bloodied and bruised before he was murdered in the streets.

Yankee Go Home is the obvious mantra for Maduro and Company. The military has circled the wagons to protect Maduro. The rank-and-file did not desert en masse as people like Rubio had hoped.

Maduro has no choice now but to keep resisting. And to continue promoting the narrative that he is a victim of American imperial overreach, a narrative as easy to sell as the next Star Wars movie.

On Monday, Vice President Mike Pence said on the FOX Business Network's Trish Regan Primetime program that Maduro "must go."

"In the wake of the brutality this weekend, where literally the dictator Maduro was dancing in Caracas at the same time that his henchmen were burning truckloads of food and medicine, I believe has only steeled the resolve of the nations across this hemisphere and around the world to stand strong in our conviction that Nicolas Maduro is a usurper, he has no legitimate claim to power, and Nicolas Maduro must go," he Regan from Bogota.

Pence reiterated his support for offering amnesty to military defectors.

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido met with Pence over the weekend to figure out how to regain democratic control over the country.

There is some dispute that Maduro should not have been president following the death of Hugo Chavez in Havana, Cuba in 2013. The Constitution of 1999 states that when a president becomes incapacitated, as was the cancer-battling Chavez, a new election should be called within 30 days. That literally took three years to happen, and then was postponed until Maduro was able to get the Supreme Court to disqualify every possible leading opposition candidate who wished to run against him.

In May 2018, Maduro was elected to a second six year term.

Maduro was never elected in a competitive race by a fully recognized popular vote.

Guiado declared himself interim president on Jan. 10. Some 50 nations no longer recognize Maduro as Venezuela's leader.

The so-called Lima Group met in Bogota on Monday vowing "to find a peaceful solution" to a political crisis that has the National Assembly usurped by Maduro's Constituents Assembly, a body of political yesmen and yeswomen. The economy is in year three of its Great Depression.

Peru's Foreign Affairs Minister Hugo de Zela came out against Guaido's call for an "any means necessary" approach to resolving the crisis, which was taken to mean U.S. intervention. Colombia's President Ivan Duque called for a "more powerful and effective" way to get Maduro to step down. Guaido warned that "indulging" Maduro "would be a threat to all of America," AFP reported.

Pressure on Maduro and PSUV will continue from Washington. Treasury sanctioned new individuals from the establishment on Monday.

"We assume intimidation tactics with joint military exercises between the U.S. and Venezuelan’s neighbors with Colombia especially motivated and well equipped after years of fighting against narco-terrorism," says Siobhan Morden, head of Latin America fixed income strategy for Nomura Securities.

See: These Women Have The Venezuela Story Down Pat -- Forbes

A more drawn out crisis was always a possibility, but now that Maduro has succeeded in shutting out aid, this possibility seems more probable than it did a week ago.

Alejandro Arreaza of Barclays Capital predicted last week that Maduro would no longer be in power by June, or within 90-days.

What Venezuela post-Maduro looks like is the pre-requisite for the next phase of economic recovery and negotiations with bondholders. Venezuela needs to settle the score on its defaulted debt before the big multilateral institutions can come in with financial muscle to build the country up again.

PdVSA bondholders are in limbo. There are increasing concerns about a de-indexation of Venezuela/PdVSA bonds on the JP Morgan EMBI. Such a move would force funds to sell those securities and lock in a steep loss.

Morden says that Treasury could reconsider trading restrictions under the context of a longer than expected Maduro government.

Following last night's detainment of Mexican journalist Ramos, Venezuela could lose the support of that country's new president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. If he does, it would mean Maduro only has Bolivia, Cuba and Nicaragua on his side in Latin America. Some smaller nations have remained neutral. All of the economic powers in South America have called on Maduro to step down in favor of new elections.</s>Venezuela president Nicolas Maduro vowed to defend the nation’s independence with his life during a speech before thousands of supporters Saturday in Caracas, calling the opposition against him a “small group of dummies” who “can’t think for themselves.”

Maduro continues to accuse the United States of a coup to overthrow him, of trying to colonize Venezuela and seeking ways to confiscate its oil. He said those opposed to him are letting U.S. President Donald Trump call the shots, but the Venezuelan people don’t know it.

“It’s time for our people to tell Donald Trump, ‘Donald Trump, Yankee, go home, Donald Trump,” Maduro said to throngs of supporters.

Maduro also mocked the country’s self-declared interim president, Juan Guaido, and asked why Guaido hasn’t called for an election if he truly holds power.

Maduro also called Guaido a puppet of the White House.

Guaido promised to overthrow Maduro a month ago, on January 23, and restore democracy.

The U.S., Canada, the Lima Group and many Latin American countries – more than 50 – recognize Guaido as the legitimate leader of an embattled nation that faces food and medicine shortages and hyperinflation.

Guaido has launched efforts to bring humanitarian aid into Venezuela from neighboring Colombia and Brazil.

On Saturday, five were killed and 285 injured in clashes at the Colombia – Venezuela border, as tensions rise over the delivery of the aid amassed in Colombia.

For his part, Maduro has denied there is a humanitarian crisis and has refused, with the support of the powerful army, accept international aid, particularly from the U.S.

On Saturday, Maduro announced Venezuela’s break of diplomatic relations with Colombia and ordered its diplomats to leave within 24 hours.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Article originally appeared on Today Venezuela and is republished here with permission.</s>Nikolai Patrushev claimed the US were showing “sarcasm and arrogance towards the Venezuelan people”, according state-owned RIA news agency. He said: ”By showing sarcasm and arrogance towards the Venezuelan people, the United States is preparing a military invasion on an independent state. The transfer of American special forces to Puerto Rico, the landing of US forces in Colombia and other facts clearly indicate that the Pentagon is reinforcing the grouping of troops in the region in order to overthrow the lawfully elected incumbent president Nicolas Maduro.”

Mr Patrushev was also cited by the Interfax news agency as saying Russia had agreed to a proposal from Washington to hold consultations on Venezuela, a close ally of Moscow, but the United States had repeatedly postponed them on invented pretexts. The news comes after military sources told CNN that US military has increasingly deployed reconnaissance flights in international airspace off the coast of Venezuela. However, several US military officials have stressed there are no military options actively being considered for Venezuela. Tensions have continued to mount between the US and Venezuela after Donald Trump announced his support for Juan Guaido as interim leader of the nation.

Mr Maduro replaced Hugo Chavez six years ago and following a controversial election dozens of countries including the US have thrown their support behind Mr Guaido. Yesterday US television network Univision said Venezuela was deporting a news team led by anchor Jorge Ramos after they were briefly detained at the presidential palace because their line of questioning reportedly upset Mr Maduro. The six-person team was held for more than two hours in the Miraflores palace, Mr Ramos told reporters after arriving back at his Caracas hotel which was surrounded by armed intelligence agents. Venezuela's socialist government has long had a tense 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 delays for official permissions seek shortcuts to report in Venezuela. Washington earlier on Monday targeted Venezuela with new sanctions and called on allies to freeze assets of its state-owned oil company PDVSA. The moves came after Venezuelan security forces violently drove back opposition attempts at the weekend to bring humanitarian aid, including US supplies, into the country against the will of Maduro. Mr Maduro denies there is a humanitarian crisis despite overseeing a hyperinflationary economic meltdown that has spawned widespread food and medicine shortages and prompted the exodus of around 10 percent of the population. This is an emerging story, refresh the page for updates.</s>Nikolai Patrushev claimed the US were showing “sarcasm and arrogance towards the Venezuelan people”, according state-owned RIA news agency. He said: ”By showing sarcasm and arrogance towards the Venezuelan people, the United States is preparing a military invasion on an independent state. The transfer of American special forces to Puerto Rico, the landing of US forces in Colombia and other facts clearly indicate that the Pentagon is reinforcing the grouping of troops in the region in order to overthrow the lawfully elected incumbent president Nicolas Maduro.”

Mr Patrushev was also cited by the Interfax news agency as saying Russia had agreed to a proposal from Washington to hold consultations on Venezuela, a close ally of Moscow, but the United States had repeatedly postponed them on invented pretexts. The news comes after military sources told CNN that US military has increasingly deployed reconnaissance flights in international airspace off the coast of Venezuela. However, several US military officials have stressed there are no military options actively being considered for Venezuela. Tensions have continued to mount between the US and Venezuela after Donald Trump announced his support for Juan Guaido as interim leader of the nation.

Mr Maduro replaced Hugo Chavez six years ago and following a controversial election dozens of countries including the US have thrown their support behind Mr Guaido. Yesterday US television network Univision said Venezuela was deporting a news team led by anchor Jorge Ramos after they were briefly detained at the presidential palace because their line of questioning reportedly upset Mr Maduro. The six-person team was held for more than two hours in the Miraflores palace, Mr Ramos told reporters after arriving back at his Caracas hotel which was surrounded by armed intelligence agents. Venezuela's socialist government has long had a tense 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 delays for official permissions seek shortcuts to report in Venezuela. Washington earlier on Monday targeted Venezuela with new sanctions and called on allies to freeze assets of its state-owned oil company PDVSA. The moves came after Venezuelan security forces violently drove back opposition attempts at the weekend to bring humanitarian aid, including US supplies, into the country against the will of Maduro. Mr Maduro denies there is a humanitarian crisis despite overseeing a hyperinflationary economic meltdown that has spawned widespread food and medicine shortages and prompted the exodus of around 10 percent of the population. This is an emerging story, refresh the page for updates.</s>Univision said on Monday that a news team led by its anchor Jorge Ramos was detained at the presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, while interviewing President Nicolas Maduro.

'They were interviewing @NicolasMaduro but he didn't like the questions. Their technical equipment was also confiscated,' the Spanish-language US television network tweeted.

Univision and the US Department of State had called on Maduro to release the journalists.

According to CNN, executives at Univision were able to find out what happened because 'Jorge managed to call us'.

But in the middle of their conversation, 'they took his phone away'.

'We insist on their immediate release; the world is watching,' tweeted Kimberly Breier, assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs.

In response to Univision's claims, Venezuela's information minister Jorge Rodriguez tweeted that the government had in the past welcomed hundreds of journalists to the Miraflores presidential palace, but it did not support 'cheap shows'.

Univision later said their team had been released, but the Venezuelan government kept their camera equipment. The crew also lost the recording from the interview.

'Jorge Ramos and his team have been released and are on route to their hotel,' a tweet from Daniel Coronell, Univision's president of news, read.

Univision also shared a photo of Ramos on the phone in his hotel room.

Ramos' daughter, Paola, tweeted shortly after the incident that she had spoken to her father.

'He is safe. He told me that 15 mins into his interview, Maduro stopped him & then forced him & his team into a dark room for 2.5 hours,' her tweet read.

The incident unfolded on the same day that US Vice President Mike Pence met with Juan Guaido in Bogota, Colombia.

Pence arrived in the Colombian capital for an emergency summit of regional leaders to discuss the deepening crisis and immediately met with Guaido, who the US and 50 other nations recognize as Venezuela's rightful leader.

The Trump administration on Monday announced new sanctions on allies of Maduro's as it struggles to find new ways to boost his opponent Guaido after an effort to deliver humanitarian aid to the economically devastated nation faltered amid strong resistance from security forces who remain loyal to the socialist leader.

In a speech to the group, Pence urged regional partners to freeze oil assets controlled by Maduro, transfer the proceeds to Guaido and restrict visas for Maduro's inner circle.

He said the US was imposing more sanctions on four pro-government governors, including a close Maduro ally who negotiated the release of an American in jail more than two years.

'It's time to do more,' said Pence. 'The day is coming soon when Venezuela's long nightmare will end, when Venezuela will once more be free, when her people will see a new birth of freedom, in a nation reborn to liberated.'

Pence's appearance before the Lima Group comes at an important crossroads for the coalition of 14 mostly conservative Latin American nations and Canada that has joined forces to pressure Maduro.

A month after Guaido declared himself interim president at an outdoor rally, hopes that support for Maduro inside the military would quickly crumble have faded.

Venezuela was marred by clashes this weekend after the National Guard and police forces loyal to Maduro blocked trucks from crossing near the Brazilian and Colombian borders.

Security forces on the borders with Colombia and Brazil fired tear gas and buckshot on activists waving Venezuelan flags while escorting trucks with emergency medical and food kits.

Four people have been reported killed and at least 300 wounded, although only a few were hospitalized.

While Colombian authorities said more than 160 soldiers deserted their posts and sought refuge across the border over the weekend, the highest-ranking among them was a National Guard major.

No battalion or division commanders have come forward to challenge Maduro despite almost-daily calls by Guaido and the US to do so.

That's left many asking what Guaido and the US can do to break the stalemate.

For now, the US is showing no signs it is considering a military intervention to remove Maduro.</s>A six-person team of journalists will be deported from Venezuela after upsetting President Nicolas Maduro during an interview at the presidential palace in Caracas, Reuters reports.

The journalists, who work for American Spanish-language television network Univision, were briefly detained at the presidential palace on Monday after Maduro said he did not like their questions, anchor Jorge Ramos said.

Maduro reportedly stopped the team’s interview after Ramos showed footage of Venezuelan youths eating from a garbage truck and questioned the president about the country’s spiraling humanitarian crisis.

The journalists They were later told that they needed to be at the airport early Tuesday morning for a flight to Miami.

In response to the incident, Venezuela’s Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez Tweeted that Venezuela had previously welcomed hundreds of journalists to the palace, but did not support “cheap shows.”

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere Kimberly Breier said, “News of their detention & confiscation of their equipment by Maduro’s henchmen are the latest reminder that press freedom in #Venezuela applies only to those who are willing to spread the regime’s lies.”

It is not the first time that foreign journalists have faced trouble in Venezuela. At least seven journalists in the country to cover the presidential contest were detained in January, according to Reuters.

Venezuela has been in locked in a political standoff since Juan Guaido, head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, declared himself the interim president of Venezuela in late January. Although several countries, including the U.S., have recognized Guaido as the country’s interim president, Maduro refuses to step down.

Venezuela’s government has accused Washington of attempting to orchestrate a coup.</s>New York (CNN Business) The Univision network said six of its staffers, including veteran anchorman Jorge Ramos, were briefly detained at the presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, on Monday.

Ramos and the crew members were released a little less than three hours after the episode began.

Daniel Coronell, Univision's president of news, tweeted that "Jorge Ramos and his team have been released and are on route to their hotel."

In Caracas, the Venezuelan National Union of the Press Workers also confirmed that "the Univision team has been freed."

The network said Ramos was in Caracas to interview embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Univision spokesman Jose Zamora said Maduro objected to Ramos' questions.

Read More</s>A Russian security official said on Tuesday he believed Washington was planning to intervene militarily in Venezuela.

Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, said Moscow had agreed to a US proposal to hold talks in Venezuela — a Russian ally — however the US had postponed them on "false pretenses."

"...The United States is preparing a military invasion of an independent state," Patrushev said in an interview with Russian weekly newspaper Argumenty i Fakty.

"The transfer of American special operations forces to Puerto Rico, the landing of US forces in Colombia and other facts indicate the Pentagon is reinforcing its troops in the region in order to use them in an operation to remove ... Maduro from power."

Read more: Venezuela crisis: US military intervention becoming more likely

Patrushev's comments come on the heels of accusations that the Venezuelan government held a reporting team from a Spanish-language US television network against their will for more than two hours.

Univision anchor Jorge Ramos was interviewing President Nicolas Maduro when an altercation took place that he says led to their brief detention.

Ramos claims that he and his team were locked up in a security room where the lights were turned off and that their cellphones were confiscated.

"He did not like the things we were asking him, about the lack of democracy in Venezuela, about torture, political prisoners, about the humanitarian crisis that is going on," Ramos recounted, saying that he showed Maduro a photo of young men eating out of the garbage.

According to Ramos, the photo prompted Venezuela's acting president to abruptly leave the interview and shortly after, the team was stripped of their equipment and personal items.

The anchor spoke by phone with Univision news and the network aired the footage that allegedly drew Maduro's ire.

US State Department official, Kimberly Breier, announced the team's detention on Twitter. "The State Department has received word the journalist Jorge Ramos and his team are being held against their will at Miraflores Palace by Nicolas Maduro. We insist on their immediate release; the world is watching," Breier said.

Venezuela's Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez denounced Univision on Twitter, arguing that the government has welcomed hundreds of journalists at the Miraflores presidential palace. But Rodrgiuez said Caracas did not support "cheap shows," orchestrated with the help of the US Department of State.

Read more: Reporting in Venezuela: 'The fear has become real'

Venezuela's Press Workers Union said on Twitter that members of Venezuela's security services had surrounded the hotel where the journalists were staying and had notified the team that they would be taken to the airport in the morning, as part of deportation procedures

Univision is one of the largest Spanish-language broadcasters in the US. Ramos, of Mexican origin, is one of the network's most prominent anchors and is known for his tough and confrontational style during his interviews.

In 2015, he was ejected from a press conference of then-candidate Donald Trump, after he refused to sit down and continued to press Trump over his pledge to deport undocumented immigrants from the US.

The United Nations Security Council was expected to discuss Venezuela later on Monday at Washington's request.

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.</s>Univision anchor Jorge Ramos was briefly detained in Venezuela after an interview Monday, according to the network.Ramos and his crew were interviewing President Nicolas Maduro at the Miraflores Palace in Caracas, when they were detained because Maduro didn't like the questions, the network said.Daniel Coronell, who serves as president of the news for Univision in the United States, said on Twitter that his employees were being held against their will and had their technical equipment confiscated.Ramos and the crew members were eventually released.</s>
• A team of six Univision journalists, including veteran newsman Jorge Ramos, have reportedly been released from the Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela, after being detained, Univision News reported via Twitter.
• The news organization’s initial tweet alleged that the team was interviewing embattled leader Nicolás Maduro, but “he did not like the questions,” Univision said.
• They were released “unharmed,” Univision said in a report.

A team of six Univision journalists, including veteran newsman Jorge Ramos, have reportedly been released from the Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela, after being detained, Univision News reported via Twitter.

The news organization’s initial tweet alleged that the team was interviewing embattled leader Nicolás Maduro, but “he did not like the questions,” Univsion said. They were briefly detained and had their video equipment and phones taken away.

They were released “unharmed,” Univision said in a report.

“UPDATE from president of Univision News says anchor @jorgeramosnews and team have been released from the presidential palace in Caracas, after reportedly being detained by Maduro’s government over interview,” CBS News Manuel Bojorquez reported on Twitter.

Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Kimberly Breier tweeted that the the US State Department was aware of the detainment.

A spokeswoman from Univision pointed INSIDER to their Twitter feed, and a spokeswoman from the State Department declined to comment on the record but noted that Breier tweeted about the incident.

Univision tweeted a photo of Ramos with the caption, “Happy to report @jorgeramosnews and the @univison team have been released. Here he is on his phone in his hotel after he was released this evening.”

Venezuela is currently undergoing political upheaval. Maduro is the authoritarian leader clinging to power in the country, while many countries including the United States, recognize Juan Guaidó as the interim president.

Over the weekend the fight between the two leaders intersected with the severe humanitarian crisis in the country, with militias supporting Maduro sending food and humanitarian aid to address food and medical supply shortages on fire.
Jorge Ramos and five other Univision staff are detained at Miraflores Palace in Caracas shortly after interviewing Nicolás Maduro.