On 16 October Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the United Nations (UN), expressed regret that Venezuela had secured one of five new rotating seats on the UN Security Council (UNSC), even as Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro celebrated the “solid support of the international community”. “Unfortunately, Venezuela’s conduct at the U.N. has run counter to the spirit of the U.N. Charter and its violations of human rights at home are at odds with the Charter’s letter,” Power said. “The United States will continue to call upon the government of Venezuela to respect the fundamental freedoms and universal human rights of…

Things are moving quickly in the wrong direction for Venezuela, but the government is sticking to its line that everything is fine. It is not inconceivable that Rafael Ramírez, Venezuela’s former longstanding oil minister, president of the state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) and latterly vice president of the economic area under President Nicolás Maduro, is glad of his brand new post at the foreign ministry, where it is relatively easy to chalk up popular victories. Just weeks into his job, Ramírez was in full flight at the United Nations(UN) in New York, celebrating Venezuela’s new two-year seat on…