Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has announced that he would be welcoming Chinese president Xi Jinping for an official visit "in the next days."

The Chinese leader will be making a stop in Caracas as part of his trip to Brazil for the summit of the BRICS group of emerging powers.

At least 43 people have died in opposition protests against President Nicolas Maduro that began in February, a non-government group said Saturday after a student died from a bullet wound.

Alfredo Romero, who heads the Penal Forum group, said Josue Farias died in the western city of Maracaibo from a gunshot injury sustained during an anti-government protest nearly a month ago on May 29.

After years of warnings, the United States Friday named and shamed Thailand, Malaysia and Venezuela dumping them at the bottom of a list of countries accused of failing to tackle modern-day slavery.

The three countries, plus Gambia, found themselves added to nations such as Iran, North Korea and Syria already languishing on the lowest tier of the State Department's annual report into human trafficking -- a designation which could trigger U.S. sanctions.

Colombians re-elected President Juan Manuel Santos on Sunday in a cliffhanger seen as a referendum on peace talks with FARC guerrillas.

The center-right Santos registered 50.95 percent of the vote, compared with 45 percent for the more conservative Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, according to the electoral board. Another 4.03 percent were blank protest votes.

Cuban President Raul Castro warned allies Saturday that Havana's closest ally Venezuela needed support amid fallout from deadly anti-government protests.

"Venezuela today needs our staunchest support," Castro, 83, said in a rare international speech at a Group 77+China meeting in Bolivia.

An American man who previously lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin has been convicted of selling military fighter jet parts to the Venezuelan Air Force.

The jury rendered its verdict against Ronald Dobek after a three-day trial, and the sentence will be determined at a hearing set for September 10.

A Venezuelan opposition leader has been ordered to stand trial on charges of instigating violence at an anti-government demonstration in February, prosecutors said Thursday.

A judge ruled that Leopoldo Lopez, who has been in custody for more than three months, should stand trial over his alleged role in violence that broke out during a rally against the government of Nicolas Maduro on February 12.

Venezuela wants to convene a summit of South American leaders to condemn U.S. "interference" in its affairs, its foreign minister said Friday, accusing Washington of seeking the leftist government's overthrow.

Foreign Minister Elias Jaua also attacked a U.S. Senate vote earlier this week that would authorize sanctions targeting Venezuelan officials responsible for violent crackdowns on anti-government protests.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Mexico on Wednesday to discuss what role the two regional allies can take to help resolve the political crisis in Venezuela.

A senior U.S. State Department official said Kerry and Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Meade would talk about how they can help to keep alive stalled talks between Venezuela's socialist government and the opposition.

A U.S. Senate committee on Tuesday greenlighted new sanctions on Venezuelan officials responsible for violent crackdowns against anti-government student protesters that have left 42 people dead.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 13-2 in favor of the sanctions draft, which now goes to the Senate floor and is on track for possible passage by Congress.