Venezuela declares emergency

The Venezuelan authorities have declared a state of emergency in seven northern states affected by heavy rains since the weekend.

The head of the civil defence, Angel Rangel, said the rains had killed at least three people and left thousands homeless.

The authorities are working to avoid a repeat of last year's disaster

More than 7,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in the past few days, most of them in the coastal state of Vargas.

Up to 20,000 people were killed in Vargas last December by heavy rains and mudslides.

Forecasters have warned that rains and strong winds are likely to intensify on Wednesday.

Too dangerous

The authorities say they are observing river levels closely and are stepping up evacuations, particularly in Vargas.

Last year's rains left 20,000 dead and more than 100,000 homeless

They say the greatest difficulty is convincing those affected by the rising waters to leave their homes.

Last year, more than 100,000 people are thought to have lost their homes in what was described as Venezuela's worst natural disaster in a century.

The government said some of the villages affected by last year's landslides were too dangerous to live in, and tried to get local residents to move to the interior of the country.

But many people still live in villages classified as dangerous, and, according to press reports, are working to strengthen river defences.