The Latest Breaking News from Nicolas Maduro

BOGOTA, Colombia — The Biden administration on Monday launched a weeklong courtship of three of Latin America's newest leftist leaders in a bid to find pragmatic common ground — rather than ideological confrontation — on a host of issues, including immigration, drug trafficking and the widening influence of China.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to Latin America on Monday to reassert Washington's commitment to the region and meet with three new leftist leaders, amid concerns that neglect of the hemisphere has let China make economic inroads.

President Joe Biden’s administration said Venezuela freed seven detained Americans, including several U.S. oil executives, in a prisoner swap involving two members of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro’s family.

The legal battle over the control of a Miami bank alleged to have been secretly run by the Venezuelan government is heating up, following the efforts of its original owner to take back the reins of the bank’s Curaçao-based parent company.

Local media reported that Leonard Glenn Francis had requested to remain in Venezuela on health and political grounds.

Colombia and Venezuela reopened cargo transport at a major border crossing on Monday, potentially enabling billions of dollars in trade after years of icy bilateral relations and heavily-restricted economic ties.

A fugitive defense contractor nicknamed “Fat Leonard” who claims to have incriminating sex photos of top U.S. Navy brass could become the latest bargaining chip in Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s efforts to win official recognition from the Biden administration

Venezuela has requested international warrants for the arrest of 23 former executives of a petrochemical company in Colombia, Venezuelan Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami said on Thursday.

Venezuelans have surpassed Guatemalans and Hondurans to become the second-largest nationality stopped at the U.S. border in August after Mexicans

Venezuela's state security agencies use arbitrary arrests and torture, which represent crimes against humanity, to repress the country's opposition in a plan directed by President Nicolas Maduro, according to a United Nations report published on Tuesday.

A U.S. State Department official put pressure on Venezuela leader Nicolas Maduro in a congressional hearing on Thursday, threatening more sanctions if talks with the opposition on resolving the country's long-running political and economic crisis are not renewed.