Held at a military jail, opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez waited to learn if he will be charged for violence that has erupted during protests in Venezuela.

Venezuela’s president is ordering the expulsion of three US consular staff, accusing them of infiltrating the country’s universities.

Politicians brawled in Venezuela’s parliament yesterday amid rising tension over the nation’s presidential election.

Late socialist leader Hugo Chávez’s chosen successor Nicolas Maduro won Venezuela’s presidential election by a whisker, but faces opposition protests plus a host of economic and political challenges in the Opec nation.

Defeated opposition candidate Henrique Capriles has demanded a recount after he was beaten by Hugo Chavez’s hand-picked successor as president in a razor-thin election battle today.

Venezuela’s acting president Nicolas Maduro said his mentor Hugo Chavez had fought for his life “until the last second” and called for a probe into the leader’s death.

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles has launched his bid to succeed Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.

Nicolas Maduro has been sworn in as Venezuela’s acting president, despite the objections of the opposition who said the move violated the country’s constitution.

World leaders, athletes and left-wing celebrities gathered at a music-filled state funeral honouring Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez today, with multitudes waiting outside the venue.

A flag-draped coffin carrying the body of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez floated over a sea of supporters in Caracas today on its way to a military academy where it will lie in state.

Venezuela’s government has revealed for the first time that President Hugo Chavez has been receiving chemotherapy as he “continues his battle for life”.

Venezuela's currency is being devalued in a move expected to push up prices in the heavily import-reliant economy.

Venezuela's Supreme Court chief endorsed putting off President Hugo Chavez's inauguration, siding with the government in a heated dispute with the opposition while the ailing leader struggles with complications a month after cancer surgery in Cuba.

Venezuelan politicians voted to postpone the inauguration of ailing President Hugo Chavez for his new term, prompting complaints from opponents who called it a violation of the constitution.

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez pledged to deepen his socialist revolution after a comfortable election victory that could extend his divisive leadership of the Opec nation to two decades.

President Hugo Chavez won re-election and a new endorsement of his socialist project, surviving his closest race yet after a bitter campaign in which the opposition accused him of unfairly using Venezuela’s oil wealth and his near total control of state institutions to his advantage.

Venezuela’s biggest oil refinery remained offline today after firefighters extinguished a blaze that raged for more than three days following an explosion that killed at least 41 people.

An intense fire at a Venezuelan refinery spread to a third fuel tank nearly three days after an explosion killed at least 41 people and injured more than 150.

Suffering from cancer, Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez faces an intense re-election campaign this year.Will the extravagant leader prevail in the oil-rich nation, asks Richard Fitzpatrick

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has a double-digit lead over the opposition's presidential hopeful - but a quarter of voters have not committed to either candidate, according to a poll.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez held an energetic homecoming celebration today, rallying thousands of supporters from a balcony of the presidential palace after nearly three weeks in Cuba for cancer surgery.

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has returned home nearly three weeks after undergoing cancer surgery in Cuba, saying he is praying for life.

President Hugo Chavez announced that doctors in Cuba found a new lesion in the same place where a cancerous tumour was removed last year and said that he is not deathly ill but will require surgery.

Venezuelans yesterday voted in the country’s first-ever opposition presidential primary, choosing a single challenger they hope will have what it takes to defeat President Hugo Chavez after 13 years in office.

Opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez bowed out of Venezuela’s presidential race, saying he will support his leading rival as the opposition seeks to field a single candidate to challenge President Hugo Chavez.

More than 100,000 people flooded the streets of Caracas yesterday to oppose a referendum that would eliminate term limits for President Hugo Chavez and help him establish a socialist state in Venezuela.