BREAKING NEWS

Venezuelan congress commission threatened by hooded gunmen

A half-dozen hooded gunmen tried to break into the offices of the comptroller commission at the Venezuelan National Assembly on Friday, according to the president of the opposition-led commission, who said the incident was likely politically motivated.

The commission on Wednesday issued a report accusing PDVSA of corruption, saying about $11 billion in funds went missing from the state-run oil company while Rafael Ramirez was at the helm from 2004-14.

"What a coincidence," said commission president Freddy Guevara in a statement. "Armed 'colectivos' arrive to threaten the personnel just two days after we denounced big corruption cases in PDVSA," added Guevara, in reference to pro-government militant grassroots groups denounced by opponents as thugs.