Over 36 hours after Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos was kidnapped by heavily armed gunmen in his native Venezuela, there is still no word from his captors. The Nationals and Major League Baseball say they are working with authorities to ensure Ramos's safe return. Michael Schmidt of The New York Times has the latest on the story.

Hugo Chavez has returned to his home country of Venezuela just in time for the 200th anniversary of his country’s independence from Spain celebrated with parades and parties today. Chavez had been in Cuba receiving treatment for stomach cancer and his arrival was somewhat unexpected. Yesterday he gave a speech from the balcony of the presidential palace to excited crowds in Caracas. 

Hugo Chavez hasn't been seen in public for weeks, reportedly due to mysterious health issues he developed while traveling, forcing him to undergo emergency surgery in Havana, Cuba. This week, his absence led to the postponement of a summit of Latin American leaders that was scheduled to take place next week. Chavez was expected to host the summit, on the 200th anniversary from Venezeula's independence from Spain. The last photo of Chavez was released on Tuesday, and showed him in Cuba chatting with former leader Fidel Castro. 

Venezuela has become an extremely dangerous place to live. The country is about the same size as Iraq, but was plagued by four times the number of murders in 2009. According to The New York Times:

"In Iraq, a country with about the same population as Venezuela, there were 4,644 civilian deaths from violence in 2009, according to Iraq Body Count; in Venezuela that year, the number of murders climbed above 16,000."

And the crime rate is continuing to rise.

President Obama is signaling a new era of diplomacy with two Latin American nations long considered troublesome for American interests, namely Venezuela and Cuba. President Obama has called for open dialogue with Cuba and has said that "The policy that we've had in place for 50 years hasn't worked the way we want it to. The Cuban people are not free." Then Mr. Obama engaged with Mr. Chavez in a seemingly friendly way, despite criticizing Chavez's policies and anti-U.S. rhetoric. While some critics have accused Mr. Obama of coddling Venezuela, he dismissed such accusations.

But what are the pros and cons of engagement with these two countries, which were the focus of a very different kind of diplomacy under President Bush? To help answer these questions, we turn to former Ambassador Otto Reich, who was the U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela for President Reagan and a former senior Special Envoy and diplomat under Reagan and both G.W. and G.H.W. Bush administrations.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has won a controversial referendum that allows him to stand for re-election for his third term in office and since few candidates are willing to run against him, it may be permanent. Chavez would like to stay in office beyond his second term to secure his so-called Venezuelan socialist revolution. As Venezuelans voted yesterday to lift term limits, Chavez will most likely get his wish. For more we’re joined by the BBC’s Latin American analyst, James Painter.

A high point of Chavez's international career:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is a frequent (and loud) critic of the United States. Despite his dislike for the country, the nationalized oil business that props up the nation's economy sells billions of dollars of oil to the U.S. Due to Chavez's bombastic personality, many big oil companies don't bother drilling in Venezuela anymore. But now that gas prices have plunged, Chavez is gently cozying up to companies like Chevron and Shell to see if they'd like to return to Venezuela. For more on this turn of events, we are joined by Simon Romero who is covering this story for the New York Times from Caracas, Venezuela.

Read Simon Romero's article, Chávez Allows West to Make Oil Bids as Prices Plunge, in today's New York Times.

The video below is one of Chavez's more outspoken moments at the United Nations.