#venezuela

#venezuela

As the harsh reality sets in that Venezuela's authoritarian regime remains essentially unchanged even without Nicolas Maduro, activists who have spent years fighting for the country's return to democracy are unsure about what the next steps should be. They agree that the country should very soon either hold new elections or install the retired diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez widely believed to have won the 2024 election but neither option appears to be on the White House's agenda at the moment.

BARQUISIMETO, Venezuela - Melania Perozo, a rosary around her neck, a portrait of her son, Dario Pastor Estrada, in her hands, walked through the crowd to the statueof the Virgin of La Divina Pastora - Mary, the Divine Shepherdess.

Venezuela had been found to have considerable deposits which were essential to the country's economy in previous decades but they represented only 3% of the world total. Thirty years later, between 2008 and 2010, Venezuela became the first country to surpass Saudi Arabia in known oil reserves. As announced by the local government and certified by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), beneath the country's soil lay one of the largest deposits of technically recoverable crude oil in the world.

And the first thing is, they said, We have 50 million barrels. Hard to believe. I said, Is there such a thing as 50 million barrels of oil? And we have to get it processed immediately because we have no room. Will you take it? I said, We'll take it. I didn't have to consult with anybody on that. I didn't have to call up our great attorney general. I said, We will take it. And it's the equivalent to $5.2 billion.

Our hope is that later this year, with bringing some stability with Venezuela, with some help from American assistance, commercial help - no money from our government, no subsidies - but by getting a more stable business environment, we'll see growing production out of Venezuela that'll increase dramatically,

The politician replied: Because he deserved it. It was a very emotional moment. I decided to present the Nobel Peace Prize medal on behalf of the people of Venezuela. Fox News added online that Machado, a long-time critic of the deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro captured in a military operation last month, went on to credit Trump with securing freedom not only [for] the Venezuelan people, but I would say the whole hemisphere.

Last weekend, I asked two British foreign-policy officials what had been the most troubling moment, so far, of President Donald Trump's world-destabilizing start to 2026. Both said (despite the British government's refusal to acknowledge this out loud) that it was the United States' seizure of the Venezuelan President, Nicolás Maduro, from Caracas, in the early hours of January 3rd. Trump "surprised us on the downside," one said. "Just not having had an inkling that Venezuela was coming," the other observed.

Young was promised that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would appear before the Foreign Relations Committee in a public hearing after next week's recess and assured that the administration will come to Congress first if U.S. military forces are needed in Venezuela, he said. He cited his talks with Rubio as influential in his decision. "To have the secretary of state be at my disposal - really, I mean, countless phone conversations and text exchanges - was very reassuring to me," he told reporters.

When news broke of U.S. forces attacking and seizing Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro earlier this month, Barry Blacklock's phone began buzzing. The Calgarian had lived in Venezuela for 17 years, becoming a permanent resident and working in the energy sector before leaving in 2009. That night I was getting emails from friends in Canada and since then, 50, 60 different WhatsApp messages, emails, phone calls from people, he said, during a video call interview from Mexico.

According to Trump, Maduro was responsible for trafficking colossal amounts of deadly and illicit drugs and fueled the overdose deaths of countless Americans. Critics have pushed back on this, arguing even Drug Enforcement Administration data shows virtually no fentanyl comes from Venezuela and very little cocaine comes in compared to Mexico, a country where a large percentage of fentanyl does come from.

There was once a time when the White House Press Secretary retweeting accounts of the novel deployment of high-tech weaponry against human targets would have been global news, but what goes unsaid is that in this previous timeline, the press secretary would have been citing an actual source, with a real story to share, rather than a piece of propaganda that has clearly been manufactured for an obvious purpose.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that he is "inclined" to keep ExxonMobil out of Venezuela after its top executive was skeptical about oil investment efforts in the country after the toppling of former President Nicolás Maduro."I didn't like Exxon's response," Trump said to reporters on Air Force One as he departed West Palm Beach, Florida. "They're playing too cute."