They have hit the country’s already flailing economy. Millions of Venezuelans have fled, and half the country live in poverty.

After signaling that the company would reorganize its management structure, Musk in June announced that Tesla was laying off nove percent of its workforce, though its production department would remain intact.

On June 27 matters appeared to escalate yet again when militants in an apparently stolen police helicopter attacked the Supreme Court in Caracas, dropping several grenades and strafing the building with gunfire. Prior to the attack, a video had been posted on-line in which a policeman surrounded by masked uniformed gunmen claimed responsibility for the upcoming attack, saying that they represented a coalition of military, police, and civilian personnel who opposed what he characterized as “this transitional, criminal government.

The deal, signed in the Caribbean island of Barbados, called for the contest to be held in the second half of 2024 in the presence of international observers. It also called for a process for presidential contenders to appeal bans on running for office.

He revealed that SpaceX was aiming to launch the first cargo missions to Mars with the vehicle in 2022, as part of his overarching goal of colonizing the Red Planet.

"We did it!" Musk wrote in a celebratory email to the company. "What an incredible job by an amazing team."

The US has imposed sweeping sanctions on Venezuela and on Mr Maduro and his inner circle but they have failed to weaken Mr Maduro enough to drive him from office. Some analysts argue that they offer the Maduro government a convenient scapegoat to blame for the dire state of the economy.

Since bursting on to the Silicon Valley scene more than two decades ago, the 52-year-old serial entrepreneur has kept the public captivated with his business antics.

President Jair Bolsonaro has not yet recognized his election defeat after months of warning, without evidence, that opponents would rig the vote.

The deal immediately earned Maduro some reprieve from economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. But one of the sanctions has already been reimposed as the Venezuelan government has tested limits of the agreement, including by opening criminal investigations against the organizers of the primary that Machado won.

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It is an experience 33-year old Sarahí recalls only too well. "For more than a year, I had to make a choice between paying for a roof over my head or paying for food," she recalls.

Rodrigo Constantino, an influential Brazilian pundit who lives in Florida, posted to his 1.4 million followers on Twitter on Monday morning that the pattern in the vote returns seemed too consistent to be natural. “It even looks like an algorithmic thing!” he said.

Earlier in October, the electoral commission had already enraged the opposition by postponing several gubernatorial elections in which the opposition had seemed likely to do well. All of these developments sparked ever-heightening criticism of Maduro, who was accused of having moved from authoritarian to dictatorial rule. Before the end of October, however, Francis I, the first pope from Latin America, succeeded in persuading Maduro and the opposition to begin crisis talks.