Venezuela

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DEA Has Been Watching Delcy Rodriguez for Years

Records show suspicions include drug trafficking, gold smuggling, money laundering

(Newser) - When President Trump announced the audacious capture of Nicolas Maduro to face drug trafficking charges in the US, he portrayed the strongman's vice president and longtime aide as America's preferred partner to stabilize Venezuela amid a scourge of drugs, corruption, and economic mayhem. Left unspoken was the cloud...

US Catholic Leaders Question America's 'Moral Foundation'

Cardinals warn against growing reliance on military force abroad

(Newser) - America's top Catholic leaders are issuing a pointed warning about how the United States wields its power abroad. In a joint statement, Cardinals Blase Cupich of Chicago, Robert McElroy of Washington, DC, and Joseph Tobin of Newark say the "moral foundation" of US foreign policy is in doubt...

UN Chief Has Some Blunt Words for Trump's Moves

'There are those who believe the power of law should be replaced by the law of power'

(Newser) - The outgoing head of the United Nations is offering a blunt new criticism of American power under President Trump: "There are those who believe the power of law should be replaced by the law of power," Secretary-General António Guterres tells the BBC in an interview. Washington now...

Norwegians Blast 'Absurd' Nobel Medal Handover

'This is, above all, absurd. The peace prize cannot be given away'

(Newser) - Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado handed her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Trump on Thursday, a move Norwegians called "absurd" and "pathetic." "This is completely unheard of," Janne Haaland Matlary, a professor at the University of Oslo, told public broadcaster NRK. She...

Machado Says She Presented Trump With Nobel Medal

Trump says it was a 'wonderful gesture of mutual respect'

(Newser) - President Trump sat down Thursday with the Venezuelan opposition leader he no longer seems to want in charge. María Corina Machado, the Nobel Peace Prize winner once seen as Venezuela's president-in-waiting, spent about 2.5 hours with Trump at the White House in a closed-door meeting that came...

Cubans Mourn After Remains Are Returned From Venezuela

Crowds wait in rain to pay their respects

(Newser) - Cuba on Thursday publicly received the remains of 32 citizens killed in the US military operation that toppled Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, turning Havana's main airport into a stage for grief and political messaging. State television carried live images of small flag-draped boxes arriving from Venezuela on Thursday,...

US Seizes Another Venezuela-Linked Tanker

'The only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully'

(Newser) - US forces just added another ship to their tally in the Caribbean. American troops seized a sixth oil tanker tied to Venezuela early Thursday, US Southern Command said, part of a widening crackdown on vessels accused of moving sanctioned crude, CBS News reports. In a pre-dawn operation, Marines and sailors...

2 GOP Senators Flip on Trump War Powers Rebuke

JD Vance delivered the final blow

(Newser) - Two Republicans who helped move a Trump war powers rebuke forward last week helped doom the measure on Wednesday. Sens. Josh Hawley and Todd Young of Indiana reversed course Wednesday on a bipartisan resolution that would have barred President Trump from using US forces "within or against" Venezuela without...

Venezuela Frees Detained Americans
Venezuela Frees
Detained Americans
Jan 14, 2026 6:07 AM CST

Venezuela Frees Detained Americans

But critics say hundreds of political prisoners remain behind bars

(Newser) - The State Department says Venezuela's interim leaders have taken a "step in the right direction" by releasing detained Americans. At least three US citizens were released from prisons in the country as of Tuesday night, a person briefed on the situation tells the New York Times . CNN reports...

Reports: US Disguised Jet to Look Civilian in Boat Strike

New York Times and Washington Post question whether it constitutes a war crime

(Newser) - The Trump administration's first lethal strike on a suspected drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean used a secret aircraft painted to pass as a civilian plane, a choice that legal experts say may have crossed the line into a war crime, report the New York Times and the Washington Post ...

Venezuelan Opposition Leader Turns Up at the Vatican

Maria Corina Machado meets with Pope Leo in a surprise audience

(Newser) - Pope Leo XIV met with Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado in a private audience at the Vatican on Monday. The meeting, which the AP reports hadn't been previously included in the list of Leo's planned appointments, was later listed by the...

Trump: 'I Didn't Like Exxon's Response'

President says he's 'inclined' to keep the company out of Venezuela

(Newser) - President Trump is warning that one of America's biggest oil companies may be unwelcome in one of the world's biggest oil patches. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, the president said he is inclined to block Exxon Mobil from future projects in Venezuela after the...

Trump Blocks Creditors From Venezuelan Oil Money in US

Executive order declares national emergency

(Newser) - President Trump has moved to shield Venezuelan oil proceeds held in the US from being tapped by creditors, issuing an executive order that declares a national emergency and designates the money as off-limits to private claims. The directive, signed Friday and announced Saturday, says revenue from Venezuelan oil sales kept...

US Seizes a Fifth Oil Tanker: 'No Safe Haven for Criminals'

US boards Olina in search for sanctioned Venezuelan oil, heightening tensions with Russia

(Newser) - US forces have quietly expanded their hunt for sanctioned Venezuelan oil , boarding a fifth tanker early Friday as part of a growing maritime crackdown with global implications. US officials say the latest target is the Olina, an East Timor-flagged ship previously known as the Minerva M and under US sanctions...

Trump: 'Only One Thing' Limits My World Power

'My own morality,' he tells the New York Times

(Newser) - President Trump doesn't see many checks on his status as a world power broker. Asked by the New York Times if he perceived any limits to his powers, he responded: "Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It's the only thing that can stop me....

Trump Says He'll Accept a Second-Hand Peace Prize

He says he'll meet Venezuela's Machado soon and it would be a 'great honor' if she gives him her prize

(Newser) - President Trump says he's expecting a high-profile visitor from Venezuela—and possibly a Nobel medal. In a Fox News interview that aired Thursday night, Trump told Sean Hannity that opposition figure María Corina Machado is "coming in next week sometime" to the US and that he looks...

Trump Says He Called Off 2nd Wave of Venezuela Attacks

He praises release of political prisoners, cooperation on oil and gas infrastructure

(Newser) - President Trump says the US and Venezuela are working so well together that he has called off a second wave of attacks. In a Truth Social post early Friday, the president praised cooperation on oil infrastructure and Venezuela's release of high-profile prisoners on Thursday, CNBC reports.
  • "Venezuela is
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Gabbard Is Squeezed Out of Venezuela Operation

CIA director has a seat at the Trump's table, but not the national intelligence chief'

(Newser) - Tulsi Gabbard holds the nation's top intelligence title, but she was kept out of the loop on one of the Trump administration's biggest covert actions: the operation targeting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. According to multiple people familiar with the matter, White House officials began excluding the director of...

Resolution to Limit Trump's War Powers Passes Senate

It passed in a 52-47 vote with 5 Republicans in support

(Newser) - The Senate advanced a resolution Thursday that would limit President Trump's ability to conduct further attacks against Venezuela, sounding a note of disapproval for his expanding ambitions in the Western Hemisphere. Democrats and five Republicans voted to advance the war powers resolution on a 52-47 vote and ensure a...

Betting Market: US Strike on Venezuela Wasn't an 'Invasion'

$6.5M in bets could rest on Polymarket's ruling, which some call 'plainly absurd'

(Newser) - An online betting site that attracted millions of dollars worth of bets related to Venezuela's future is now under fire for declaring that the US special forces raid that seized the country's leader did not amount to an American invasion. Polymarket, a fast-growing prediction platform, ruled that its...

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