{"href":"http://player.captivate.fm/services/oembed?url=http%3A%2F%2Fplayer.captivate.fm%2Fepisode%2F67739c85-b80b-4361-b311-6aeb23f09d7e","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Captivate.FM","provider_url":"https://www.captivate.fm","width":600,"height":200,"type":"rich","html":"","title":"Venezuela Update \u2013 23rd of September, 2021","description":"Rorshok's weekly ten-minute update of stuff happening in Venezuela. Last week, following the extradition request by the United States, Alex Saab was appointed by Nicol\u00e1s Maduro as a \"full member\" of the pro-government delegation and was asked to assist with negotiations in Mexico. Jorge Rodr\u00edguez, president of the Venezuelan National Assembly elected in 2020 and head of Maduro's government delegation for the negotiations declared that Saab had been kidnapped by the Government of Cape Verde for more than 400 days, yet is fully qualified to fulfil his functions as a delegate. Also this week, U.S. President Joe Biden added Venezuela to the list of illicit drug producing or transit countries for its lack of action to combat drug trafficking. In addition to Venezuela, the list includes Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Peru. In economic news, Crystallex, a Canadian gold mining company, had requested in the past weeks, shares of Citgo, the Venezuelan oil subsidiary in the USA, as partial payment of the debts that the subsidiary has with the Canadian company. The request was denied on September 15th by the US Treasury Department. These stories and more in this week\u2019s update. ","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/86417fdc-f3f3-42ba-91fb-572857f8191f/venezuela-i-with-outline.jpg"}