This week: Venezuela’s stocks rise a staggering 99 percent on the speculation that Chávez’s health is rapidly deteriorating; Venezuelans go 11 days without a public statement or appearance by their president; Chávez, meanwhile, continues to shuttle back and forth from Cuba for treatment; he runs the government via twitter during his absences; a New York Times opinion writer reports that the Chávez executive branch had “the last word” on every judicial decision rendered by Venezuela’s Supreme Court; that, along with continuing allegation of bribery by drug lords, keeps the issue of Venezuela’s public-sector corruption in the news. Meanwhile, the World Bank director warns that Venezuela will suffer economically if and when oil prices fall; finally, inflation continues to soar and Venezuelans face shortages of even the most basic goods.

Chavez’s mysterious ailment fuels a run on Venezuelan stocks, The Washington Post

What is the hottest global market so far in 2012? How about socialist Venezuela — where stocks rose 99 percent between Jan. 1 and this week.

Chavez: he’s back! (again), The Financial Times

And… he’s back – again. But after a deafeningly silent 11-day absence in Havana, this time Hugo Chávez returned on Thursday from his radiotherapy to greater speculation than ever that his cancer is more serious than he has so far let on.

Venezuela’s Chavez returns home, CNN

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned home early Thursday after receiving cancer treatments in Cuba. Before landing, Chavez released a statement about coming back to his homeland.

Venezuelan politics in 140 characters or less, Foreign Policy

“Hello Venezuela! I inform you that I approved 1.95 billion bolívars for state and local governments, coming from extraordinary income! Onward!” The above is a rough translation of a tweet written by Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez on April 17.

Hugo Chávez & The Supremes, The New York Times

It happened every week. On Friday mornings, Venezuela’s top prosecutor, the justice minister, the solicitor general, assorted Supreme Court justices, police chiefs and top officials would meet in the vice president’s office to review politically sensitive court cases and decide how they should be handled.

Venezuela’s judiciary: Whistle-blown, The Economist

An impeached judge says the courts are subservient and corrupt. When Hugo Chávez became Venezuela’s president, in 1999, he promised an overhaul of the country’s notoriously venal judiciary. But according to charges made by a recently dismissed supreme-court justice, the flaws Mr Chávez vowed to rectify are nothing compared with what has transpired under his rule.

The Colombian-Venezuelan border: Pick your poison, The Economist

Drug gangs now dominate where guerrillas once reigned. In the last days of Álvaro Uribe’s presidency in 2010, Colombia accused neighbouring Venezuela of letting the FARC and ELN, the two main leftist guerrilla groups, maintain camps along its border. In response Hugo Chávez, Venezuela’s president, recalled his ambassador and skipped the inauguration of Mr Uribe’s successor, Juan Manuel Santos.

Accused drug dealer says paid off fugitive Venezuela judge, The Chicago Tribune

An accused Venezuelan drug lord wanted by the United States said on Wednesday he made monthly payments to a former judge who recently embarrassed President Hugo Chavez with accusations of widespread manipulation in the OPEC nation’s justice system.

World Bank director: Venezuela is not prepared for a fall in oil prices, El Universal

A World Bank director warned Tuesday that not all Latin American countries are equally prepared for an eventual fall in the price of commodities, because some of them, including Venezuela, acted “like the grasshopper of the Aesop fable” and “spent their time singing in the summer.”

With Venezuelan Food Shortages, Some Blame Price Controls, The New York Times

By 6:30 a.m., a full hour and a half before the store would open, about two dozen people were already in line. They waited patiently, not for the latest iPhone, but for something far more basic: groceries. “Whatever I can get,” said Katherine Huga, 23, a mother of two, describing her shopping list. She gave a shrug of resignation.