Venezuela threatens to exit OAS

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuela is threatening to pull out of the Organization of American States as the socialist government’s response to political unrest that has been blamed for 27 deaths in recent weeks draws rebuke from the hemisphere’s major powers. Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez said on state TV she had been instructed by President Nicolas Maduro to initiate the country’s withdrawal from the Washington-based OAS if the region’s foreign ministers hold a meeting on the country’s crisis without his administration’s backing. Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have flooded the streets over the last month to demand an end to Maduro’s presidency.