Venezuelan States Move to Block Recall Vote Against Maduro

At least four pro-government governors and one prominent lawmaker in Venezuela said their state courts are taking action in an attempt to block the collection of signatures next week as the opposition seeks to hold a recall referendum on President Nicolas Maduro.Tareck El Aissami, the governor of Aragua state, and Francisco Ameliach, the governor of Carabobo state, said in separate posts on their Twitter accounts on Thursday that courts in their states had ruled to block the collection of signatures needed to call for the referendum because of fraud allegations. Francisco Rangel Gomez, the governor of Bolivar state, also said on Twitter that the referendum process in his state was suspended. More…