Venezuela's government

The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency closed meeting Friday at the request of Guyana following Venezuela's weekend referendum claiming the vast oil- and mineral-rich Essequibo region that makes up a large part of its neighbor.

Venezuela's government expelled the German ambassador Daniel Kriener on March 6 two days after he and diplomats from other embassies welcomed home opposition leader Juan Guaido at the Caracas airport.

 A nationwide strike against plans to rewrite the constitution shut down much of Venezuelan's capital on July 20 çbefore erupting into sporadic violence that left at least two young men dead.

A Venezuelan police helicopter strafed the Supreme Court and a government ministry on June 27, escalating the OPEC nation's political crisis in what President Nicolas Maduro called an attack by "terrorists" seeking a coup.

Venezuela's government and opposition representatives made their first breakthrough in negotiations called to wind down tensions in the country.

After five hours of negotiations, the two sides agreed to enhance the strength and role of the Truth Commission that would investigate into the violence rocking Venezuela since February, the Spanish newspaper El Pais reported.