CARACAS, March 30 (Reuters) – Widespread power failures hit
Venezuela this week, leaving eight states including
oil-producer Zulia without light for hours and causing chaos on
the Caracas metro in a new headache for President Hugo Chavez.

Staggered blackouts will also be imposed on several areas
of the capital for maintenance until Friday, the city’s
state-owned power company said in a statement. Experts predict
irregular services will continue in the coming months.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Criss-crossing Venezuela armed with promises of change, opposition leaders are jostling for position to run against President Hugo Chavez, convinced they can end his long rule with a mix of center-left policies.

The radical former soldier has been in power since 1999 and remains popular among the poor. But foes believe he is finally vulnerable and that the December 2012 election will end his brand of socialism in South America’s biggest oil exporter.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez pushed a vague peace plan for Libya on Thursday, saying his friend Muammar Gaddafi supported foreign mediation and accusing the West of eyeing the North African nation’s oil.

Though rebels have rejected talks with the Libyan president and some analysts view the Chavez plan as grand-standing, the socialist leader said the idea had gained traction in Tripoli.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela pushed a vague peace plan for Libya on Thursday, saying President Hugo Chavez’s friend Muammar Gaddafi was in favor of foreign mediation.

Though rebels have rejected talks with the Libyan president and some analysts view the Chavez plan as grand-standing by the socialist leader, officials in Caracas said the idea had gained traction in Tripoli.

CARACAS (Reuters) – The Libyan government has accepted a Venezuelan plan that seeks a negotiated solution to the uprising in the North African country, a spokesman for President Hugo Chavez said on Thursday.

Information Minister Andres Izarra also confirmed the Arab League had shown interest in Chavez’s proposal to send an international commission to talk with both sides in Libya.

CARACAS, March 3 (Reuters) – The Libyan government has
accepted a Venezuelan plan that seeks a negotiated solution to
the uprising in the North African country, a spokesman for
President Hugo Chavez said on Thursday.

Information Minister Andres Izarra also confirmed the Arab
League had shown interest in Chavez’s proposal to send an
international commission to talk with both sides in Libya.

CARACAS, March 2 (Reuters) – Government restraints on oil
company PDVSA, a weak economy and President Hugo Chavez’s
pressure on opponents ahead of the 2012 presidential election
are the main risks to watch in OPEC member Venezuela.

CHAVEZ-OPPOSITION DYNAMIC

Chavez is likely to keep up the pressure on the opposition
as they position themselves ahead of the elections. In the
past, his government has used allegations of corruption to
block some opponents from running for office.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Having lived with double-digit inflation since Ronald Reagan was in the White House, Venezuelans know a money-stretching trick or two the rest of the world could heed as soaring commodities push up prices.

A relatively wealthy country with some of the world’s largest crude reserves, Venezuela’s reliance on exports of one commodity have produced a string of booms and crashes accompanied by double-digit inflation since 1985.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Both Libya and Venezuela on Monday denied reports that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was seeking asylum as a violent revolt gripped his country and would join his friend President Hugo Chavez in the South American oil producing nation.

Fueling rumors in the media, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he had seen information to suggest Gaddafi had fled Libya and was on his way to Venezuela, a fellow OPEC member.

CARACAS (Reuters) – The Venezuelan government on Monday denied reports that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was on his way to the South American country following violent protests against his rule.

Libya’s deputy foreign minister also dismissed the idea.

Attracted to Gaddafi’s revolutionary past, Venezuela’s socialist President Hugo Chavez also casts himself as an anti-U.S. stalwart on the international stage, and the pair enjoy warm ties.