With a nationwide blackout,a broken economy and a widely contested election result there are only so many things a leader can do to win popular support.
Following massive offshore oil discoveries in the region and with elections coming,the Venezuelan president appears to have taken a leaf out of Putin’s playbook.
The Venezuelan leader has been shunned by many countries since Donald Trump sanctioned Venezuela and promoted an alternative president.
Beyond the laughs,analysts see an effort to improve the image of a leader in need of support in a country struggling through a years-long crisis.
A five-year political impasse has locked the country in a crisis that has generated an exodus of about 7 million people,the largest in the world.
The migrant exodus from crisis-torn Venezuela continues apace.
A new parliamentary election has returned control of Congress to President Nicolas Maduro.
The coronavirus pandemic is swelling the gap between rich and poor in Venezuela,where there may be no starker case of inequality.
In a speech he could only have delivered remotely as a trip to New York could have meant arrest,the Venezuelan President called on countries to"defend peace".
A three-member panel believes the Venezuelan leaders"ordered or contributed to"arbitrary detention,torture of critics and extrajudicial killings.
The Venezuelan President claims his government has detained a marine who was"captured with specialised weapons,large amounts of dollars and other items."