Alexander von Humboldt was one of the scientists who defined our world. Dick Warner on a book that may help restore his well- deserved reputation as the father of environmentalism.

Maiquetia, the city in Venezuela where Paddy Barnes will tonight look to seal his place in next year’s Olympic Games, last made the news in 1999 when mudslides devastated the region and caused tens of thousands of casualties.

VENEZUELA, which is on the shoulder of South America that opens out to the Caribbean Sea, is famous for its beaches.

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.

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.

A week of mourning has been declared in Venezuela after the death of Hugo Chavez. The army and police have been deployed to guarantee the peace.

IT SEEMS that Hugo Chávez is on his last legs. Venezuela’s president has been battling cancer since the summer of 2011.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has flown to Cuba for a third cancer operation after designating the vice president as his political heir.

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 military high command reaffirmed its loyalty to President Hugo Chavez in a public show of support a day after Mr Chavez's departure for Cuba to undergo surgery removing a possibly cancerous tumour.

President Hugo Chavez bid an emotional farewell laced with references to Jesus Christ and independence hero Simon Bolivar as he departed Venezuela for Cuba for urgent surgery to remove a tumour he says is probably malignant.

We have fought bravely and died brutally in wars ranging from the Napoleonic to the Boer to World War 11. The Fighting Irish is the story of our finest, says Richard Fitzpatrick

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is hosting leaders from across the Americas at a two-day summit.

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez sang and recited a poem in honour of independence hero Simon Bolivar, appearing upbeat and energetic after his first week of chemotherapy in Cuba.

Romantic Revolutionary: Bolivar and the Struggle for Independence in Latin America

VENEZUELA’S ever-theatrical President Hugo Chavez made a surprise homecoming yesterday after cancer surgery in Cuba and declared himself “fine” despite speculation he may still require lengthy treatment.

President Hugo Chavez said that he has no intention of ceasing his efforts to make Venezuela a socialist country, and he expressed confidence that his allies would take the reins of his Bolivarian Revolution if he died or decided to step down.

The presidents of Colombia and Venezuela agreed to restore diplomatic relations severed nearly three weeks ago by Caracas, smoothing over a dispute over allegations Colombian rebels have camps in Venezuela.

President Hugo Chavez has threatened to nationalise Venezuelan banks that broke regulations.

DERMOT WELD’S Natural High can land the nap in the T.I.R.D Chamber Of Commerce Maiden at Tipperary this evening.

ALIYFA is a hopeful nap choice to land the Listed Ardilaun Hotel Oyster Stakes at Galway this evening.

Venezuelan politicians approved a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow President Hugo Chavez to run for re-election indefinitely, the final step before the proposal goes before voters in a referendum.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has urged soldiers to prepare for a guerrilla-style war against the United States.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez echoed Fidel Castro’s cry of “socialism or death” as he was sworn in for a new six-year term today, promising to accelerate Venezuela’s transformation into a socialist state.

President Hugo Chavez was sworn in for a new six-year term today, beginning what he calls a deeper phase in his push to remake Venezuela as a socialist state.

Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez declared he would nationalise electrical and telecommunication companies, taking a bold step toward increasing state control as he promised to transform Venezuela into a socialist country.

President Hugo Chavez has pulled Venezuela steadily to the left, and now he’s even got the horse on the national flag running that way.

At a rally against imperialism, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has told thousands of cheering activists at the World Social Forum that the US government is a vile “empire” and its president a ”terrorist”.

BOLIVIA’S first indigenous president, Evo Morales, turned to fellow socialists, Indians, grass-roots activists and women to form his Cabinet yesterday and ordered them to root out corruption and adopt a new leftist economic model.

THE shopping mall is a blur of Guess jeans, Louis Vuitton purses and Motorola mobile phones, a temple of consumerism in a country that is supposed to be on a path toward socialism.

Flower wreaths adorned the tomb of an Irishman who fought alongside South American independence hero Simon Bolivar as Irish descendants and admirers held a ceremony yesterday to remember the foreigner who helped Venezuela win independence from Spain.

Two powerful explosions injured four people and damaged the Spanish embassy and the Colombian consulate in the Venezuelan capital early today.