Venezuela

Located on the north coast of South America, Venezuela borders Colombia, Guyana and Brazil and is extremely rich in natural resources such as oil, coal, iron ore and gold. In 1998, leftwing candidate Hugo Chavez was elected to the presidency and went on to dominate politics for the next 15 years, surviving an attempted coup d’état. Following his death in 2013, he was succeeded by Vice-President Nicolas Maduro, who rules as both chief of government and head of government. Limitations on freedom of expression, poor conditions and treatment in prisons and police violence are among major human rights concerns in Venezuela, as is the trafficking of children.