75.4% of televised campaign advertisements have been pro-opposition and 24.6% have been pro-government since the race for 165 seats in Venezuela’s National Assembly officially began last Thursday. The opposition's media campaign has been focused on Venezuela's crime rate and the recent death of hunger striker Franklin Brito.
On Saturday, Venezuela opened a state-owned factory to recycle used oil pipes into metal framing for construction, and announced it will invest in the production of bricks made partially from recycled paper.
Massive participation in an election simulation that took place last Sunday is evidence that Venezuela is ready to carry out its parliamentary elections this September 26, according to the President of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Tibisay Lucena.
The Bolivarian National Guard captured four tonnes of high purity cocaine in Guarico state yesterday morning. The Minister for Justice and Internal Affairs, Tareck El Aissami, said it was the “most important [drug] seizure that has been carried out in the last four years.”
In Venezuela, a nation with a population of about 27 million people,there are currently 9.7 million Internet users and 28.2 million mobile phone lines. In the last year, Venezuelans have also outranked nations worldwide in the use of social network sonline, such as Twitter.
As the Venezuelan government continues to implement Plan Caura, a project to fight illegal mining and its impact on the environment, unsafe working conditions, and resource theft, six illegal miners have died in a gold mine collapse and the government has opened an investigation.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro held talks with local mayors, political organizations, military, and police officials in the Colombia-Venezuela border zone on Tuesday to create a plan to improve security, restart cross-border commerce, and provide social programming for the border population.
Venezuela’s economy contracted at a slower rate in the second quarter than in the first quarter of this year, suggesting the oil-exporting South American nation may be emerging from a one and a half year recession, the Venezuelan Central Bank (BCV) announced in a statement.
Over the past eleven years, Venezuela has seen an increase of 48% in agricultural lands under cultivation, the Minister for Land and Agriculture, Juan Carlos Loyo, reported last week.
Yesterday, in an extraordinary sitting, the National Assembly passed a reform to the Bank Law which affirms that media owners and stock holders cannot manage banks.
The president of the Colombian Senate, Armando Benedetti, met with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and other top officials in Caracas on Monday. The meeting was the latest step forward in the renewal of bilateral relations following a three-week dispute that stoked fear of military aggression.
As candidates from the pro-government United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and the opposition United Democratic Roundtable (MUD) sharpen the focus of their campaigns for Venezuela’s 165 National Assembly seats, recent polls indicate the PSUV is on track to win at least a solid majority in the September 26th vote.
