CARACAS, Venezuela — Driving home one recent evening from a meeting in an affluent neighborhood of Caracas, a Venezuelan businessman was intercepted by two identically colored SUVs. Eight men carrying guns emerged, ordered him out of his car and bundled him into one of the 4x4s. The businessman, who requested anonymity for fear of being identified, would spend the next eight hours lying in the back of the car with a gun held to his head and his white shirt stained with blood from his broken nose. Meanwhile the men were negotiating a ransom with his family.

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelans accustomed to leisurely shopping sprees abroad now face a new annoyance: President Hugo Chavez wants to know exactly where they are going, what they are buying and how long they’ll be gone. Citizens must now tell the government where they are traveling and save their receipts to provide proof of how they spent the money. Violators may see their credit cards turned off.

CARACAS, Venezuela — They made their money by sticking close to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. And now they are under attack. The Venezuelan government has so far apprehended 10 businessmen in a corruption purge. Those arrested once seemed untouchable because of their relationship with Chavez’s revolution.

CARACAS, Venezuela — It has taken Venezuela by storm, but it seems that Facebook and other social networking sites also come with their perils. Police here revealed that a pair of students at a private university in Caracas had been robbing their virtual friends’ homes using information they had compiled using Facebook.