Venezuelan Government Threatening Foreign Press

Venezuelan’s government is trying to keep the world from finding out about the degrading conditions in the country.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is threatening to throw CNN out of the country if they don’t stop providing truthful coverage of the protests and civil unrest in the nation.

“I’ve asked minister Delcy Rodríguez to tell CNN we have started the administrative process to remove them from Venezuela if they don’t rectify (their coverage),” Maduro said on state TV. “Enough! I won’t accept war propaganda against Venezuela. If they don’t rectify this, they’re out of the country.”

The government has been trying to hide the level of protests in the country since the arrest of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez on terrorism charges.  Human rights groups around the world have condemned the arrest as purely political.

The government has kept Venezuelan media from reporting on the protests.

Ukraine Moves Closer To Civil War

Civil war in the Ukraine continues to grow likely after another short-lived truce between the country’s President and opposition leaders fell apart Thursday morning. 

At least 100 protesters are dead and over 500 injured when police and military troops attacked protest camps in the capital city of Kiev.  The deaths come after a hastily called cease-fire by government leaders after worldwide outcry over the killings of 28 protesters on Tuesday.

Ukrainian government officials say 25 police or military members have been injured or killed during the protests since Tuesday.

Hospital officials say that obviously professional and highly skilled snipers killed many of the protesters.  They say the wounds were directly to the heart, head or at the base of the neck where there was no chance to save their lives.

Officials with the European Union are beginning to pressure Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych to call for early elections as a way to placate the opposition leadership and protesters.  Russia, a close ally of Yanukovych, immediately denounced EU nations for the call, saying they are trying to force the country to align with western interests.