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American Cargo Ship Reported Seized Off Venezuelan Coast An American cargo ship, the Illinois Express, is reported to have been hijacked on its way to Aruba, 20 miles from Venezuela. The incident is reported to have occurred approximately 50 miles off the Venezuelan coast at 5:23 pm local time. The vessel’s crew reported that a pair of small boats were following them and that they had received hails from someone claiming to be “local authorities” demanding that they halt their vessel. An additional report from the ship stated that the small ships had fired warning shots and were attempting to board. No further communications were reported from the ship, though maritime tracking sites were able to ping the ship’s position traveling South towards Venezuela before its transponder was turned off. The Venezuelan government denied involvement in the reported hijacking, with a government spokesman claiming “the only pirates in the region are the US Navy”. The White House released a statement saying that they were monitoring the situation and were in contact with the ship’s owners and were attempting to establish a dialogue with the Venezuelan government. Archival photo of the Illinois Express (right) in Puerto Rico Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is in the grips of widespread unrest after a crackdown two weeks ago led to dozens of fatalities in Caracas, with many more reported, but unconfirmed, in other cities. Several opposition groups have declared the Maduro regime illegitimate in the face of the renewed violence and are calling for new elections. Attempts by the Organization of American States to negotiate between the two sides were flatly dismissed by the Venezuelan government as “unwarranted for an internal matter of national security”. While the United States and the European Union have issued statements of support for the opposition groups, the Russian Federation stated that “they would not tolerate another imperialist land grab by the United States and its puppets” as they announced their support of the Maduro regime. ADA News Orsen Krennic

Venezuela in chaos as government is on the brink of collapse Over the last month the government of Nicholas Maduro, president of Venezuela, has been failing to come to grips with an ever increasing crisis. The country's economic stagnation and rampant corruption has seen harvests fail, oil revenues disappear into private pockets and demonstrations being brutally put down. The heavy handed response from the government has failed to restore order and instead only given rise to new, more intense protests which in many cases have turned into riots in the previous weeks. The government has been responding with ever increasing crackdowns, deploying riot police with water cannons and tear gas to forcibly disperse crowds. Last week President Maduro took a furhter drastic step in an attempt to come to grips with the escalating unrest. The military was called in to a major protest at the presidential palace in the capital of Caracas. Local police were overwhelmed and the military opened fire on the crowd leaving 12 dead and over 50 wounded with many of the wounded being women and children. This turned the protests and riots into proper acts of insurrection. Citizens armed themselves and have been attacking government buildings in large numbers. Often targeting police stations in order to acquire firearms in larger numbers. Venezuelan rebels outside Tucupido with captured firearms The current week has been marked by sporadic skirmishes in virtually all major Venezuelan cities as citizens acquire more and more firearms for themselves and launch ever bolder attacks on both police and military posts across the country. Reports are also coming in about police and soldiers defecting to the protestors further increasing their capacity to fight back against government supression attempts. Already various groups are stating their goal to overthrow the Maduro regime and establish a new government. At this point the US has made no official comment on the matter but undisclosed sources are claiming increased activity at marine and naval bases on the East coast. Simon Tam ADANews