Nearly eight months after President Trump predicted U.S. companies would "rapidly rebuild Venezuela's dilapidated oil industry" to boost production, no new petroleum deals have been finalized there with American firms. - The U.S. Department of Energy is largely to blame, a dozen oil industry professionals, senior U.S. officials and Venezuela insiders tell Axios. Why it matters: The price of oil is climbing as the Iran war squeezes global supplies, spotlighting the absence of finalized deals in Venezuela — a nation with the highest estimated petroleum reserves on the planet. - "We have no new concessions. No new deals. It is absolutely a problem," a senior U.S. official told Axios. "The Energy Department is in charge of this and they…
The United States removed sanctions against interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez on Wednesday, less than three months after U.S. forces captured now-former President Nicolas Maduro. The post U.S. Lifts Sanctions on Venezuela’s New President, Opening Door to Oil Deal. appeared first on The National Pulse .
PULSE POINTS WHAT HAPPENED: The United States has lifted sanctions against interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez. WHO WAS INVOLVED: U.S. Treasury, interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez, Secretary of State Marco Rubio. WHEN & WHERE: Announced on April 2, 2026 , in the United States. KEY QUOTE: “We trust that this progress will allow for the lifting of the sanctions currently in place on our country, enabling the building and guaranteeing of an effective bilateral cooperation agenda for the benefit of our peoples.” – Delcy Rodríguez IMPACT: Rodríguez’s government is set to assume control of U.S. subsidiaries of PDVSA, and the U.S. will sell Venezuelan oil with investment reforms in place. IN FULL The United States…Open
International intrigue. An assassination plot. Millions of secret dollars . Code names. Secret meetings. - Venezuela's shadowy dealings with the first Trump administration were laid bare by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday when he testified against his longtime friend, David Rivera. - The former Miami congressman is on trial in federal court for allegedly acting as an unregistered foreign agent in a $50 million scheme. Why it matters: Rivera's trial is a behind-the-scenes glimpse into Venezuela's push to manipulate the U.S. into normalizing relations by throwing around big money and promises for government reforms before Nicolas Maduro established himself as an election-rigging dictator in 2017. - Maduro's run finally came to…
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to testify Tuesday in the federal trial of former U.S. Rep. David Rivera (R-Fla.), a longtime political ally, friend and former housemate who's accused of secretly lobbying for Venezuela's government. Why it matters: The only-in-Miami trial sheds light on the unseemly world of shadowy, big-dollar foreign influence efforts in Latin America — and underscores how politically toxic Rivera has been to Rubio's career. - Rubio asked to be called as a prosecution witness after it became clear that Rivera's team planned to call him as a defense witness — a potential embarrassment for the secretary, three sources tell Axios. Friction point: The timing of the trial comes at an extremely inconvenient…
Marco Rubio is going to court. The Secretary of State is scheduled to testify against a good friend and political associate from his time in the Florida House of Representatives in a trial over foreign influence allegations that are shaping up to impact some of the most powerful people in Washington. The defendant, David Rivera, […] The post The Foreign Influence Scandal Shaking the White House appeared first on The American Conservative .
Latin America The Foreign Influence Scandal Shaking the White House A longtime associate of Marco Rubio is being prosecuted for running an undercover influence campaign for Venezuela. Marco Rubio is going to court. The Secretary of State is scheduled to testify against a good friend and political associate from his time in the Florida House of Representatives in a trial over foreign influence allegations that are shaping up to impact some of the most powerful people in Washington. The defendant, David Rivera, has been Rubio’s friend for more than two decades. Rubio and Rivera campaigned and served together in the Florida House,…Open
Almost the moment Venezuela’s ex-President Nicolás Maduro began cooling his heels in an American jail cell, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would be taking over Venezuela’s oil resources for pleasure and profit. “We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in and […] The post Companies Are Skeptical of Venezuela’s Oil Fields appeared first on The American Conservative .
Latin America Companies Are Skeptical of Venezuela’s Oil Fields Multinationals with existing investments in the region are happy, but new investment may be hard to come by. Almost the moment Venezuela’s ex-President Nicolás Maduro began cooling his heels in an American jail cell, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would be taking over Venezuela’s oil resources for pleasure and profit. “We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in and spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making…Open
A US-funded opposition journalist revealed the Trump DOJ has crafted a secret indictment of Venezuela’s Acting President to “hold it over her head,” and will execute it if she “derails.”
This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. The Trump administration is using a secret indictment to assert leverage over Venezuela’s Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, according to the editor-in-chief of the US government-funded outlet, Armando.info. “One of the information we manage is that the US is holding an indictment against [Rodriguez] to make it public, just in case she derails,” Valentina Lares Martiz revealed during a February 6, 2026 webinar hosted by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), an outlet also sponsored by the US government. “Just to hold it over her head?” asked OCCRP deputy editor Julia Wallace. “Yeah,…Open