Saudi Arabia, April 21, 2015. (MPPRE). - Before leaving for Qatar, Venezuela's Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez, held a working meeting with Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman at the headquarters of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia.

The Foreign Minister was accompanied by representatives of the Bolivarian Government, Marcos Torres, Vice-president of Economy and Finance and Asdrubal Chavez, Minister of Petroleum and Mining. During the meeting, issues to be reviewed in the next Joint Commission to be held during the third week of May, in the city of Caracas, were addressed.

The presidential election took place against the backdrop of the death of former President Hugo Chavez and the opposition smelled blood. After the failure of numerous illegal attempts to oust the elected Chavez government and having lost numerous elections against Chavez's coalition of supporters, including a resounding 55-44 percent presidential defeat just months before his death, Venezuela’s right-wing coalition saw its chance to reverse the revolutionary changes undertaken by Chavez. Those had seen Venezuela’s oil riches finally shared with the long-excluded majority of the population, with the old elite losing their tight grip on power.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro confirmed receipt of the loan on Sunday. Venezuela has secured a new $5 billion loan from China that will be repaid with crude oil and refined products, President Nicolas Maduro confirmed on Sunday. "We have received US$5 billion more to finance development," Maduro said Sunday during a televised speech. Maduro made the announcement but did not provide details on the repayment terms. The most recent loan comes as President Maduro visited Beijing last January in which he secured US$20bn in investment from China in support of social and infrastructure projects.

At least 60 percent of the registered candidates are women. Ahead of parliamentary elections set to take place this year, Venezuelan political parties began their primaries Monday with the governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) announcing it had received around 46,000 candidate registrations.

Venezuela's housing mission is an integral part of plans to build socialist-style cities, according to the country’s planning minister. Nearly half of Venezuela's population will be living in free or low cost housing provided by the government by the end of the decade, planning minister Ricardo Menendez said Wednesday.

The congress features the participation of Palestine solidarity activists from throughout Latin America. Venezuela is host to the first Latin American Congress of the Global Campaign to Return to Palestine, being held until Friday in the capital of Caracas.

The campaign was founded two years ago as an effort to coordinate the work of Palestinian solidarity activists at a global level. It gives particular attention to demand for the right-of-return of Palestinians who were forcibly displaced by militant Zionists during the foundation of the state of Israel. “Venezuela is the focal point for the Palestinian cause in Latin America,” said Linda Sobeh Ali, the Palestinian Ambassador to Venezuela.

Representatives and participants in the Peoples’ Summit of the America released their final declaration that condemns U.S. actions against Venezuela. Participants at the People’s Summit of the Americas issued their final declaration Saturday rejecting U.S. aggression and intervention toward the region declaring Latin America and the Caribbean as a “Zone of Peace.”

The state-owned Venezuelan oil company (PDVSA) reopened a gas production plant Sunday in the western state of Monagas following an attack by a group of armed thugs attempting to halt the plant’s electricity production output. “If we hadn’t acted sooner, something much more serious could have happened to the electric gas production,” the communique read.