Maduro and Chávez used fears of American aggression to tighten their grip on power – but now an even greater fantasist has imposed his will on their country Nicolás Maduro jailed in New York – live updates The ‘Putinisation’ of US foreign policy has arrived in Venezuela It was the fever dream of the revolution, a dark fantasy spun so many times – each version wilder than the last – until it almost became a joke: the Yankees are coming. Hugo Chávez, who ruled Venezuela from 1999 to 2013, conjured the scenario again and again, warning that the US president and his henchmen in the CIA and Pentagon were mobilising forces to strike. Continue reading...