A man is checked by a policeman patrolling the slum district of Petare in Caracas, Nov. 8, 2009. Rampant kidnappings, theft and violence make the capital and country one of the world's most dangerous. (Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)
Venezuela's kidnapping express
The preferred method for Venezuelan kidnappers involves driving victims around while families get the ransom together.
CARACAS, Venezuela — Driving home one recent evening from a meeting in an affluent neighborhood of Caracas, a Venezuelan businessman was intercepted by two identically colored SUVs.
Eight men carrying guns emerged, ordered him out of his car and bundled him into one of the 4x4s.
The businessman, who requested anonymity for fear of being identified, would spend the next...
Recent on Venezuela:
Travel restrictions crimp shopping sprees
Matthew Walter - Venezuela - January 1, 2010 16:35 ET
Venezuelans must now tell the government where they are traveling and what they are buying.
Newly rich, now under attack
Charlie Devereux - Venezuela - December 19, 2009 09:07 ET
They made their money in Chavez's revolution and seemed untouchable. Now they are in jail.
The rise of a southern axis
Nick Miroff - Cuba - December 17, 2009 10:55 ET
How a socialist alliance outlived a free trade agreement and helped cement Hugo Chavez's status as the new leader of the Latin American left.
Venezuela to ban violent video games
Charlie Devereux - Venezuela - November 25, 2009 06:47 ET
Why Hugo Chavez hates World of Warcraft, Counter-Strike and The Legend of Zelda.
Facebook: A tool for cops and robbers
Charlie Devereux - Venezuela - November 16, 2009 12:58 ET
In Venezuela criminals use Facebook to research targets. Cops use it too — but not always for scrupulous purposes.
Soccer team's murder leaves villagers scared
Charlie Devereux - Venezuela - November 4, 2009 06:55 ET
The murder of an amateur soccer team has heightened tensions between Colombia and Venezuela.
No watching "Family Guy" in Venezuela
Charlie Devereux - Venezuela - October 28, 2009 12:04 ET
Venezuela thinks "Family Guy" and "The Simpsons" are unsuitable. But it's OK with "Baywatch."
Saving the leatherback turtle
Charlie Devereux - Venezuela - October 10, 2009 08:04 ET
Stamping its identity on the chocolate market
Charlie Devereux - Venezuela - September 28, 2009 05:57 ET
Venezuela produces some of the world's best cacao — so why doesn't it make chocolate?
Inside Venezuela's beauty factory
Charlie Devereux - Venezuela - September 25, 2009 08:01 ET
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Stanford scam bilked Jews out of millions
Todd Bensman - Commerce - September 24, 2009 13:50 ET
A GlobalPost Passport investigation finds that the $8 billion Stanford Ponzi scheme decimated the savings of Jews in Mexico City and Caracas. Were they explicitly targeted?
"Loin steaks" on the pageant stage
Charlie Devereux - Venezuela - September 24, 2009 06:09 ET
Video: Venezuela spends millions of hours and dollars grooming its candidates for beauty competitions.
Anti-Chavez and anti-Uribe protesters face off
Nadja Drost - Colombia - September 6, 2009 14:59 ET
Social networking organizes international protests against the Venezuelan president.
New waves of displacement
Charlie Devereux - Venezuela - September 4, 2009 15:18 ET
Colombia's offensive against armed groups has increased the flow of refugees across the Venezuela border.
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Caracas: more expensive than London?
Charlie Devereux - Venezuela - September 2, 2009 11:31 ET
How can a city in a developing country be the world's 15th most expensive — and how do the poor get by?
Return of the dictators?
John Otis - Colombia - September 2, 2009 08:14 ET
Colombia's Alvaro Uribe is the latest in a string of Latin American leaders to push for more time in office.
Meet the economic gangsters
Mark Scheffler - Commerce - August 12, 2009 09:03 ET
Economic gangsters come in all shapes and sizes — they're Asian dictators and Somali pirates.
A thriving border business
Charlie Devereux - Venezuela - August 12, 2009 06:46 ET
Smugglers are loading up their cars and selling Venezuela's cheap gas just next door in Colombia.
Colombia and Venezuela face off
Charlie Devereux - Venezuela - July 28, 2009 17:51 ET
Tensions rise as Colombia accuses Venezuela of supplying Swedish weapons to rebels.
Global Blogs:
Tonight’s baseball game of the final series a hotbed for protests
The Devils Excrement - Venezuela - January 24, 2010 22:01 ET
Tonight’s third game of the Magallanes Caracas series became a hot bed for protests, from Chavez Tas Ponchao (Chavez you’ve struck out!) to these people with red muzzles with the RCTV...
I am the people, I demand absolute loyalty: 1, 2, 3
Venezuela and Europe - Venezuela - January 24, 2010 12:31 ET
ONEOn 23 January 2010, Hugo Chávez said the following:"those who want fatherland, come with Chávez...""I demand absolute loyalty to my leadership.""I am not me...I am a nation (un pueblo), I am not a person, I am the people"Now TV station Rctv (now it was on cable only) has...
A January 23 harsh on democracy: RCTV out again and Globovision is the last...
Venezuela News And Views - Venezuela - January 24, 2010 01:53 ET
It cannot be lost on the Venezuelan observer that the commemoration of January 23 1958, the date we thought marked the end of our last time under a dictatorship would be the date chosen by our new dictatorship to limit the reach of cable TV and start the process of forcing it to...
Venezuela News
GlobalPost has firmly established itself as a pioneering resource for Venezuela news coverage. Our correspondent intimately explores Venezuela's political, economic and social issues including everything from its crime rate and political instability to cult religions and entertainment industry. Through our engaging Venezuelan news stories, photography and video, we seek to educate readers on this oil-rich nation's most important events and happenings.
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Chatter: What we're hearing
- Osama bin Laden threatens US.
- 150,000 confirmed dead in Haiti.
- Chinese lip-synchers fined.
Reporter's Notebook
It's another year and another verbal skirmish in the will-they-won't-they relationship between Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and the U.S. President...Read more >
A rumor that had been circulating in Venezuela for some time was confirmed on Friday — and then quickly retracted. On Friday,...Read more >
It was high drama at the Miss Venezuela beauty pageant here last night. Miss Miranda, Marelisa Gibson, the 21-year-old brunette featured in our...Read more >
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