By , CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan tax offices stand deserted, classrooms lack teachers, and utility bills go uncollected, as meager civil servant salaries drive chronic absenteeism and resignations in the hundreds of thousands.After years of economic crisis in the once-prosperous OPEC member, many state institutions now work at a fraction of capacity as workers give up on incomes that barely feed them.With fewer staff, state power and phone companies often ignore outages, the Caracas metro limits services, and the national tax body has abandoned its once-ferocious oversight of private...…By , CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan tax offices stand deserted, classrooms lack teachers, and utility bills go uncollected, as meager civil servant salaries drive chronic absenteeism and resignations in the hundreds of thousands.After years of economic crisis in the once-prosperous OPEC member, many state institutions now work at a fraction of capacity as workers give up on incomes that barely feed them.With fewer staff, state power and phone companies often ignore outages, the Caracas metro limits services, and the national tax body has abandoned its once-ferocious oversight of private...WW…

By , CARACAS, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has drafted legislation to grant his government expanded powers to confidentially sign new oil deals with private firms and foreign nations as a way of getting around U.S. sanctions, according to the proposal and people familiar with the initiative.Maduro delivered the “anti-blockade” bill on Tuesday to the government-aligned Constituent Assembly, a parallel legislature he created to bypass the opposition-controlled congress. The sources said the assembly will pass it into law during its next session.The draft legislation,...…By , CARACAS, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has drafted legislation to grant his government expanded powers to confidentially sign new oil deals with private firms and foreign nations as a way of getting around U.S. sanctions, according to the proposal and people familiar with the initiative.Maduro delivered the “anti-blockade” bill on Tuesday to the government-aligned Constituent Assembly, a parallel legislature he created to bypass the opposition-controlled congress. The sources said the assembly will pass it into law during its next session.The draft legislation,...WW…