Latest Updates on Venezuela Crisis

Trump admin allows US oilfield contractors to work in Venezuelan fields

The license issued by the Treasury Department allows US firms to explore, develop and produce oil and natural gas in Venezuela under certain limited conditions

A return to spheres of influence in Venezuela

With Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's capture, the United States reasserts its pre-eminence in Latin America

Venezuela's Machado says close ally kidnapped after prison release

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on Monday said one of her closest allies was kidnapped hours after being released from prison. The government had released several prominent opposition members from prison on Sunday after lengthy politically motivated detentions. Machado said on social media that Juan Pablo Guanipa was taken around midnight in a residential neighbourhood of the capital, Caracas. "Heavily armed men, dressed in civilian clothes, arrived in four vehicles and violently took him away," she posted on X. "We demand his immediate release." The releases of the opposition figures came as the government of acting President Delcy Rodriguez has faced mounting pressure to free hundreds of people whose detentions months or years ago have been linked to their political activities. The releases also followed a visit to Venezuela of representatives of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. The government's press office did not immediately respond to a request

Venezuela frees several opposition members as prisoner releases continue

Under mounting pressure from the US to free political prisoners, rights group Foro Penal said some 35 political prisoners were released on Sunday and that it was verifying additional cases

Families protest detention of Venezuelan activists, demand their release

Dozens of relatives and friends of Venezuelan opposition leaders, human rights defenders and others detained for their political activities protested Saturday outside a notorious prison in the capital to demand the immediate release of their loved ones. The demonstration outside Helicoide prison in Caracas comes during mounting pressure on the government of acting President Delcy Rodriguez to release all people whose detentions months or years ago have been linked by their families and nongovernmental organisations to their political beliefs. Her government last month announced it would free a significant number of prisoners, but families and human rights watchdogs have criticised authorities for the slow pace of the releases. Rodriguez last month also promised to close Helicoide, where torture and other forms of physical and psychological abuse of prisoners have been extensively documented. She said the facility, which was initially built to be a mall, would be turned into a ...

Venezuela passes major oil law reform, opening doors for foreign firms

The overhaul also enables authorities to lower taxes and royalties paid to the government, although Petroleos de Venezuela will remain under state ownership

Trump says Venezuelan airspace to reopen, Americans can visit soon

President Donald Trump said Thursday he has informed Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, that he will open up all commercial airspace over the Venezuela and Americans will soon be able to visit Trump said he instructed his transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, and US military leaders to take steps to open the airspace for travel by the end of the day. "American citizens will be very shortly able to go to Venezuela, and they'll be safe there," the Republican president said. Venezuela's government did not immediately comment. While the State Department continued to warn Americans against travelling to Venezuela, at least one US airline announced its intention to soon resume direct flights between the countries. American Airlines was the last US airline flying to Venezuela when it suspended flights in 2019 that it operated between Miami and the capital, Caracas, as well as the oil hub city of Maracaibo. The airline said Thursday it would share additional details about the

US ready to use force to ensure Venezuela's cooperation, says Marco Rubio

The hearing marks Rubio's first appearance before Congress since the US raid on Caracas that led to Nicolás Maduro's capture on January 3

Offers of Venezuelan oil limited, most going to US, say Indian refiners

Indian refiners say only small volumes of Venezuelan crude are being offered as most supplies are directed to the United States

Venezuela releases dozens of prisoners in 2 days, hundreds still detained

Venezuela's leading prisoner rights organisation said Monday that dozens of prisoners were released over the weekend, as the United States continues to pressure the acting government to free hundreds of dissidents jailed during the administration of ousted leader Nicolas Maduro. Alfredo Romero, president of Foro Penal, said in a post on X that 266 "political prisoners" had been freed since January 8, when Venezuela's acting government promised to release a "significant number" of prisoners in what it described as an effort to promote national reconciliation. Maduro was captured by the United States in a raid on January 3, and was replaced by Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, a longtime ruling party insider, who is now the nation's acting president. According to human rights groups, prisoners released this weekend included an opposition activist, a human rights lawyer and a journalism student who was imprisoned in March after he published complaints about his hometown's sewage system,

US used secret weapon to disable Venezuelan equipment in Maduro raid: Trump

President Donald Trump said the US used a secret weapon he called "The Discombobulator" to disable Venezuelan equipment when the US captured Nicolas Maduro. Trump also renewed his threat to conduct military strikes on land against drug cartels, including in Mexico. Trump made the comments in an interview Friday with the New York Post. The Republican president was commenting on reports that the US had a pulsed energy weapon and said, "The Discombobulator. I'm not allowed to talk about it." He said the weapon made Venezuelan equipment "not work." "They never got their rockets off. They had Russian and Chinese rockets, and they never got one off," Trump said in the interview. "We came in, they pressed buttons and nothing worked. They were all set for us." Trump had previously said when describing the raid on Maduro's compound that the US had turned off "almost all of the lights in Caracas," but he didn't detail how they accomplished that. The president also indicated the US will con

MRPL explores buying Venezuelan oil as it halts Russian crude imports

The US in October sanctioned Russia's two largest oil producers - Rosneft and Lukoil - giving companies until November 21 to wind down dealings with them

FAA warns pilots of risks over eastern Pacific, citing 'military activity'

The Federal Aviation Administration has urged US aircraft operators to exercise caution when flying over the eastern Pacific Ocean near Mexico, Central America and parts of South America, citing military activities and satellite navigation interference. The warning was issued in a series of Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) issued by the FAA on Friday. They say, Potential risks exist for aircraft at all altitudes, including during overflight and the arrival and departure phases of flight. Such notices are issued routinely in any region where there are hostilities nearby. The notices come after nearly four months of US military strikes against boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific that the US alleged were trafficking drugs. After 35 known strikes that killed at least 115 people, according to the Trump administration, the US conducted a large-scale strike against Venezuela. President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were seized and transported to New York, where they

First flight with 231 deported Venezuelans from US lands in Caracas

A flight with 231 Venezuelan migrants deported from the US city of Phoenix arrived Friday to their home country, nearly two weeks after the United States captured former President Nicols Maduro and took him to New York to face drug trafficking charges. The Eastern Airlines plane arrived at an airport outside the capital, Caracas, marking the resumption of flights after Washington according to Venezuelan officials unilaterally suspended direct deportation air transfers in mid-December. The previous direct flight from the US was on December 10. Return flights for deported migrants had been regularised since late March as part of the transfers agreed upon by both governments. The transfers were successively affected amid heightened tensions since US military forces began to execute a series of deadly attacks against boats suspected of smuggling drugs in international waters of the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean, including several vessels that they claim departed from Venezuela. Maduro

US seizes 6th sanctioned oil tanker as pressure on Venezuela mounts

US forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader US effort to take control of the South American country's oil. The US Coast Guard boarded the tanker, named Veronica, early Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media. The ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump's "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean, she said. US Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized without incident. Several US government social media accounts posted brief videos that appeared to show various parts of the ship's capture. Black-and-white footage showed at least four helicopte

Venezuela's acting president urges oil reforms to woo foreign investment

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodrguez used her first state of the union message on Thursday to advocate for opening the crucial state-run oil industry to more foreign investment following the Trump administration's pledge to seize control of Venezuelan crude sales. For the first time, Rodrguez laid out a vision for Venezuela's new political reality one that challenges her government's most deeply rooted beliefs less than two weeks after the United States captured and toppled former President Nicols Maduro. Under pressure from the US to cooperate with its plans for reshaping Venezuela's sanctioned oil industry, she declared that a new policy is being formed in Venezuela and urged the nation's diplomats to tell foreign investors about it. The Trump administration has said it plans to control future oil revenue to ensure it benefits the Venezuelan people. Rodrguez on Thursday painted a picture of money from the oil sales flowing into the national budget to bolster crisis-stricke