Opposition presidential hopeful Maria Corina Machado gives a press conference at her campaign headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, December 15, 2023. (Photo by Matias Delacroix/AP Photo)





Runners wearing Christmas hats play in the foam at the end of the finish line, after the Santa Run 10-kilometre race, in Caracas, Venezuela on December 17, 2023. (Photo by Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Reuters)





A girl wearing a Santa Claus hat plays in the foam at the end of the finish line, after the Santa Run 10-kilometre race, in Caracas, Venezuela on December 17, 2023. (Photo by Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Reuters)





Fisherman Jesus Vega shows a shrimp he caught while out shrimping on Lake Maracaibo near Cabimas, Zulia state, Venezuela, Tuesday, December 26, 2023. (Photo by Matias Delacroix/AP Photo)





Devotees pour rum on to the statue of San Benito de Palermo, or Saint Benedict of Palermo, during a procession honoring the the patron Saint of Cabimas in Zulia state, Venezuela, Wednesday, December 27, 2023. (Photo by Matias Delacroix/AP Photo)





Devotees bathe a statue of San Benito de Palermo with rum during a procession honoring their patron saint, in Cabimas, Venezuela, December 27, 2023. (Photo by Matias Delacroix/AP Photo)





People are seen throwing rhum at the the statue of San Benito as a sign of devotion during the procession on December 27, 2023. The festivity of San Benito is celebrated in parts of Venezuela every 27th of December and especially in the city of Cabimas in the Zulia state, where a large procession takes place through the town for more than 13 kms carrying the statue of the saint, with thousands of devotees chanting, playing music and throwing rhum at it as a sign of devotion and to ask for favors to the saint. (Photo by Davide Bonaldo/Rex Features/Shutterstock)





Fishermen rinse and clean their catch on Lake Maracaibo, near La Salina crude oil shipping terminal in Cabimas, Venezuela, December 28, 2023. (Photo by Matias Delacroix/AP Photo)





Oil floats on Lake Maracaibo behind a crab fisherman navigating near the La Salina crude oil shipping terminal in Cabimas, Zulia state, Venezuela, Thursday, December 28, 2023. (Photo by Matias Delacroix/AP Photo)





People celebrate New Year at Plaza Altamira in Caracas, Venezuela, early Monday, January 1, 2024. (Phoot by Matias Delacroix/AP Photo)





Children compete in the traditional street wooden go kart race known as “carruchas”, as part of the Epiphany celebrations in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, January 6, 2024. (Photo by Matias Delacroix/AP Photo)





Escorts of honour check their mobile phones while waiting for the cadets that carry the remains of General Domingo Antonio Sifontes (1834-1912) during a march to the National Pantheon in Caracas on January 9, 2024. General Sifontes, the 19th-century military leader, faced off against British expansion in eastern Venezuela mainly in the Essequibo region, at present at the centre of a territorial dispute between Venezuela and Guyana. (Photo by Federico Parra/AFP Photo)





People uncover a sculpture by Venezuelan artist Antonio Azzato as part of the “Meninas Caracas Gallery” street exhibit which pays homage to Spanish artist Diego Velazquez’s “Las Meninas” in Caracas, Venezuela on January 10, 2024. (Photo by Gaby Oraa/Reuters)





A couple walk on the shore of El Yaque beach on Margarita Island, Venezuela, Saturday, January 13, 2024. (Photo by Matias Delacroix/AP Photo)





A snorkeler watches a shoal of fish near a shipwreck off Cubagua Island, Venezuela, Sunday, January 14, 2024. (Photo by Matias Delacroix/AP Photo)





Tourists snorkel near a shipwreck off Cubagua Island, Venezuela, Sunday, January 14, 2024. (Photo by Matias Delacroix/AP Photo)





Confetti showers the stage as Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during an event marking the anniversary of the 1958 coup that overthrew dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez, in Caracas, Venezuela, January 23, 2024. (Photo by Jesus Vargas/AP Photo)





Opposition coalition presidential hopeful Maria Corina Machado speaks to supporters at a campaign event in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, January 23, 2024. An election date has not been set yet, when the opposition's one candidate, Machado, will run against current President Nicolas Maduro. (Photo by Jesus Vargas/AP Photo)





Construction workers pause during a press conference by opposition coalition presidential hopeful Maria Corina Machado held in the street below them, outside her campaign headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, January 29, 2024, days after the country's highest court upheld a ban on her candidacy. (Photo by Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo)





A man holds a Savannah monitor in the petting zoo “La Casita del Avestruz” (The ostrich's little house), in Caracas, Venezuela on January 28, 2024. (Photo by Gaby Oraa/Reuters)