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Venezuela

Capital: Caracas; GDP growth (annual %) 2014 : -4.0%;

Venezuelan vote data casts doubt on turnout at Sunday poll

Only 3.7 million people had voted by 5.30 p.m. in Venezuela's controversial Constitutional Assembly election on Sunday, according to internal electoral council data reviewed by Reuters, casting doubt on the 8.1 million people authorities said had voted that day.

The election of the legislative super-body has been decried by critics as illegitimate and designed to give the unpopular government of President Nicolas Maduro powers to rewrite the constitution and sideline the opposition-led congress.
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Venezuelan election turnout figures manipulated by one million votes

Turnout figures in Venezuela's Constitutional Assembly election were manipulated up by least 1 million votes, Smartmatic, a company which has worked with Venezuela since 2004 on its voting system, said on Wednesday.

"We know, without any doubt, that the turnout of the recent election for a National Constituent Assembly was manipulated," Smartmatic CEO Antonio Mugica said at a news briefing in London.
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Venezuela jails opposition leaders in new crackdown on opponents

Venezuela jailed two leading critics of President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday in a fresh blow to the opposition after the election of a new political body with absolute powers to strengthen the hand of the leftist government.

The United States imposed sanctions on Maduro on Monday, calling him a "dictator" for Sunday's election of a constituent assembly that the opposition boycotted and denounced as illegitimate.

In a statement announcing the jailing of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez and veteran politician Antonio Ledezma, the pro-government Supreme Court said they were planning to flee the country and had violated terms of their house arrest by making political statements and speaking to media.
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Key Facts: Full name: Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Population: 29.4 million (UN, 2011)
Area: 881,050 sq km (340,561 sq miles)
Major languages: Spanish, indigenous languages
Major religion: Christianity
Life expectancy: 72 years (men), 78 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: 1 bolivar = 100 centimos
Main exports: Petroleum, bauxite and aluminium, steel, chemicals, agricultural products, basic manufactures
GNI per capita: US $11,920 (World Bank, 2011)
Internet domain: .ve
International dialling code: +58

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Country Profile

Climate change laws around the world
2017/05/14
There has been a 20-fold increase in the number of global climate change laws since 1997, according to the most comprehensive database of relevant policy and legislation.

The database, produced by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the Sabin Center on Climate Change Law, includes more than 1,200 relevant policies across 164 countries, which account for 95% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

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Latin America Economy Renewed confidence in Latin America’s brightest economy
2017/03/04
The PPK cabinet has been working diligently to modernize the country and replace business confidence, while unlocking investments and infrastructure megaprojects in a bid to boost the country’s economy

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Latin America: external vulnerabilities and FX pressure valves
2015/10/03

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Outlook for 2014-18
2013/11/10
The country (Venezuela) is situated in Northern South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guyana and Colombia. it has borders with Colombia for 2050 km,Colombia and Guyana for 743 km.

OVERVIEW

The period of upheaval that followed the disputed April presidential election has eased, but serious risks to political stability remain. The Economist Intelligence Unit's central forecast is that the Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela (PSUV) remains in power, but worsening social unrest may lead the military to step in to restore order, in which case the government could collapse, forcing early elections.

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