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.

As of early Sunday morning, 5 million, 1,058 signatures had been collected, Mayor Jorge Rodriguez announced. Venezuelan officials reported on Sunday that over 5 million signatures have been collected in the campaign against President Barack Obama's March 9 executive order arbitrarily declaring Venezuela an extraordinary threat to its national security to justify further aggressions against the South American country.

Parliamentarians roundly rejected the claims from the U.S. government which was described as engaging in bellicose actions towards Venezuela. The National Assembly of Ecuador gave its backing to Venezuela Thursday, rejecting the U.S. executive order declaring Venezuela as a threat to U.S. national security.

COMUNIQUÉ

Ottawa, 11 Mars 2015. -L'Ambassade de la République bolivarienne du Venezuela au Canada, en appui au Président des travailleurs, constitutionnellement et démocratiquement élu, Nicolás Maduro, en appui à notre démocratie, notre indépendance et en défense du souverain et héroïque peuple vénézuélien; et afin d’exalter les principes Bolivariens de justice, de paix, d'autodétermination des peuples et la non-ingérence dans les affaires internes des États, nous dénonçons le nouveau coup interventionniste dont nous sommes victime par le Gouvernement des États-Unis d’Amérique, via le décret signé à la Maison Blanche, le 9 Mars 2015, où notre pays est perçu comme  «une menace à la sécurité nationale et à la politique étrangère des États-Unis". Au même instant qu’ils imposent de nouvelles sanctions contre les citoyens vénézuéliens, ce qui est une action grave et sans précédent; qui menace la liberté, la démocratie, la souveraineté, les principes de non-intervention dans les affaires internes et fondamentalement contre la dignité du peuple vénézuélien, dans leurs efforts de renverser le Gouvernement légitimement élu de Nicolás Maduro.

Venezuela's Parliament passes a law to protect sovereignty against U.S. threats. | Photo: teleSUR

Caracas, March 11, 2015 (Telesur). - President Nicolas Maduro said the country’s National Assembly elections must go on “whether the empire wants it or not.” The Venezuelan National Asembly passed the enabling law that allows the country's president to act to protect the peace against recent threats made by the United States government of Barack Obama.