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Venezuela president Nicolás Maduro declares state of emergency

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People queueing to buy food are prey for thieves in Caracas, capital of Venezuela. Photograph: Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters Image: People queueing to buy food are prey for thieves in Caracas, capital of Venezuela. Photograph: Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters

theguardian.com - May 14th 2016 - Emma Graham-Harrison

Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, has declared a state of emergency, hours after US intelligence officials warned that the South American country could be on the brink of disintegration.

The powers Maduro obtains after Friday night’s declaration allow him “to stabilise our country, and confront all the international and national threats against our fatherland in this moment”, the president said, but he did not detail how he intends to use them.

The country is grappling with soaring inflation, a shrinking economy, chronic food shortages, and power cuts so bad that public servants have been put on a two-day week and the president personally urged women to stop blow-drying their hair to save electricity.

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money.cnn.com - by Patrick Gillespie, Rafael Romo and Osmary Hernandez - July 29, 2016

A new decree by Venezuela's government could make its citizens work on farms to tackle the country's severe food shortages.

That "effectively amounts to forced labor," according to Amnesty International, which derided the decree as "unlawful."

In a vaguely-worded decree, Venezuelan officials indicated that public and private sector employees could be forced to work in the country's fields for at least 60-day periods, which may be extended "if circumstances merit."

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Additional information on the emergency in Venezuela is provided within the links below . . .

Venezuela's cash could run out 'within a year'
http://money.cnn.com/2016/08/03/news/economy/venezuela-running-out-of-cash/

Venezuela: Where flour, pasta and milk can cost a month's pay
http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/02/americas/venezuela-food-prices/

What went wrong in Venezuela?
http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/02/americas/venezuela-what-went-wrong/

Moving Pictures - Venezuela's state of misery
http://www.reuters.com/video/2016/08/03/venezuelas-state-of-misery?videoId=369468007&videoChannel=118069&channelName=Moving+Pictures

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