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| Venezuela delays 100-bolivar banknote withdrawal | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has delayed the withdrawal of the 100-bolivar banknote until 2 January. | |
| The sudden change of policy comes after days of economic chaos. | |
| In a national broadcast, Mr Maduro claimed his country had been the victim of international sabotage, which had prevented new larger currency notes arriving in time. | |
| Many Venezuelans have spent several days in long queues trying to hand in or swap the old notes. | |
| Thousands of shops have closed because of a cash shortage, and people have been unable to buy food. | |
| The government had said the scrapping of the 100-bolivar note was necessary to prevent smuggling. | |
| The president said the aim was to tackle gangs which hoard Venezuelan currency abroad, a move he has previously described as part of the "economic war" being waged against his government. | |
| Venezuela pulls banknote 'to hit mafia' | |
| Venezuelans mock 'useless' banknote | |
| What is behind the crisis in Venezuela? | |
| Mr Maduro has said the gangs hold more than 300bn bolivares worth of currency, most of it in 100-bolivar notes. | |
| He said there were "entire warehouses full of 100-bolivar notes in [the Colombian cities of] Cucuta, Cartagena, Maicao and Buaramanga". | |
| The president said one reason for withdrawing the banknotes was to block any of the 100-bolivar notes from being taken back into Venezuela so the gangs would be unable to exchange their hoarded bills, making them worthless. |