65 h. ago ‘It’s a farce’: families of Venezuela political prisoners still await their release

Critics believe ‘drip drip’ of releases after Maduro’s dramatic seizure an attempt by regime to ‘keep the US satisfied’In the days after Nicolás Maduro was accused of stealing Venezuela’s 2024 election, the relatives of hundreds of protesters captured during the ensuing clampdown flocked to the Zone 7 police detention centre in search of incarcerated loved ones.Now, after the tables turned dramatically and Maduro finds himself locked up in the US, the families have returned to demand the immediate release of every last one of their country’s political prisoners. Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago Trump seizes SEVENTH tanker in Caribbean as footage shows special forces on boat after it ‘took oil from Venezuela’

AMERICAN forces have seized a seventh oil tanker linked to Venezuela as President Donald Trump ramps up his campaign to choke off illicit crude exports from the country. US Southern Command said the Motor Vessel Sagitta was boarded and taken under control “without incident” in the Caribbean after operating in defiance of Trump’s quarantine on...

Politics

1 week ago Americans disapprove of Trump’s foreign policy. His escapades are likely to cost him | Sid Blumenthal

History tells us what happens when American presidents focus on foreign policy and neglect domestic economic policyDonald Trump’s blitzkrieg since his 3 January seizure of the Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro has been guided by his triumph of the will, as he told the New York Times. “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me I don’t need international law.”Trump treats the spectacle as a reality TV show in which he is both the executive producer and the host who ultimately declares himself the winner. At his 3 January press conference on the day of Maduro’s seizure, Trump mentioned “oil” 27 times, “money” 13 times and “democracy” not once. He trashed the democratic opposition as lacking “respect” and “support”. The capture of Maduro was a decapitation, not regime change. Indeed, Trump served as a convenient agent of an internal coup of the existing powers, whom he declared “an ally”. “We have to fix the country first,” he said. “You...

Politics

1 week ago Trump to discuss Venezuela’s future with Machado after Maduro’s capture

Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel prize winner had been sidelined by White House after US seized MaduroDonald Trump will host María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel peace prize winner, at the White House on Thursday for a high-stakes talks on the oil-rich nation’s future following the US capture of Nicolás Maduro.Many in Venezuela and abroad had expected Machado to take charge after an elite US military team seized Maduro in a pre-dawn raid on 3 January and transported him to a New York City jail. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Venezuela regime claims release of political prisoners is sign of new era

NGOs estimate that there are still close to 1,000 political prisoners in Venezuela despite claims by new leadersVenezuela’s acting president has claimed that the regime’s release of political prisoners sent a “very clear message” that the country was “opening up to a new political moment”, days after the seizure and rendition of the dictator Nicolás Maduro.Delcy Rodríguez also vowed to continue the releases and accused NGOs that have described the process as slow and opaque of “lying to the world and trying to sell falsehoods about Venezuela”. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago DoJ deemed it ‘unnecessary’ to conclude whether seizing Maduro violated law, memo reveals

Memo on US military raid to capture Venezuela’s president effectively argued that presidents can blow through UN charterUS politics live – latest updatesThe Trump administration received approval from the justice department to use the military to seize Nicolás Maduro even as it declined to address whether the operation would violate international law, according to its legal memo released on Tuesday.The dark-of-night raid to capture Venezuela’s president has raised a host of legal issues concerning the president’s power to start an armed conflict without congressional approval and possible breaches of international law. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago DoJ deemed it ‘unnecessary’ to conclude whether seizing Maduro violated international law, memo reveals

Memo on US military raid to capture Venezuela’s president effectively argued that presidents can blow through UN charterUS politics live – latest updatesThe Trump administration received approval from the justice department to use the military to seize Nicolás Maduro even as it declined to address whether the operation would violate international law, according to its legal memo released on Tuesday.The dark-of-night raid to capture Venezuela’s president has raised a host of legal issues concerning the US president’s power to start an armed conflict without congressional approval and possible breaches of international law. Continue reading...

Society

2 w. ago What would happen if every state acted like Donald Trump’s America? | Kenneth Roth

In a might-makes-right world, US allies, not to mention the emerging powers of the global south, would begin to hedge their bets in dangerous waysWhat is wrong with resurrecting the prerogative of major powers to claim a sphere of influence in which they dictate and others must follow? That idea informs the “Donroe Doctrine” behind the US invasion of Venezuela to seize Nicolás Maduro. Donald Trump seems to believe that, as the world’s strongest military power, the United States should be allowed to invade other countries at will. Trump’s homeland security adviser, Stephen Miller, says “the real world” is “governed by strength”, by “power”, so we should get used to it.There is a beguiling simplicity to this abandonment of the norms long designed to govern the behavior of states big and small. China has touted it as the reality that its Asian neighbors must live with. Russia, a third-tier power by comparison but still a nuclear-armed regional heavyweight, has periodically treated the ...

Politics

2 w. ago Greenland is Europe’s credibility litmus test – it must show Trump that aggression carries a price | Fabian Zuleeg

In the new dog-eat-dog world order, appeasement doesn’t work. Time for the EU to grow upFabian Zuleeg is chief executive of the European Policy CentreDonald Trump’s intervention in Venezuela is not a one-off shock. It epitomises his approach of interventionist isolationism based on a revisionist, neo-nationalist agenda in which power is exercised bluntly, international rules are optional and alliances are transactional. In such a dog-eat-dog world, hesitation and ambiguity do not stabilise the system; they become vulnerabilities to be exploited by a volatile and predatory Washington.The seizure of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, combined with Trump’s renewed musings about acquiring Greenland, potentially by using the US military, should dispel any lingering illusion that this is merely erratic behaviour. It reflects a worldview in which sovereignty is conditional, spheres of influence are legitimate, and coercion is normalised when it delivers results in the interest of Trump...

Politics

2 w. ago Venezuela begins releasing political detainees to ‘consolidate peace’

Opposition leader María Corina Machado hails move to tackle ‘injustice’ as Spain’s foreign ministry confirms release of five Spanish nationalsFive days after the US seized Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela has announced it is releasing an “important number” of detainees in what the congressional president characterised as a gesture to “consolidate peace”.Former opposition candidate Enrique Márquez was among those released from prison, according to an opposition statement. “It’s all over now,” Márquez said in a video taken by a local journalist who accompanied him and his wife, as well as another opposition member Biagio Pilieri, who was also released. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Some US media are cheerleading Trump’s Venezuela raid. That’s not their job | Margaret Sullivan

An almost admiring feeling pervaded the early coverage – and not just among right-leaning outletsIf you believe the early public opinion polls, Americans are uncertain about last weekend’s raid on Venezuela and the seizure of the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro.But many in the media seem to be trying to move that wavering needle to approval.Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago US protester arrested after TV interview says she was targeted due to Venezuela trip

Jessica Plichta faces misdemeanor charges, which locals say is a tactic of Grand Rapids, Michigan, police to suppress protestsJessica Plichta was arrested on 3 January after a live interview with a local news station about a Grand Rapids, Michigan, protest against the Trump administration’s seizure of Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s president, in an attack with a reported death toll of 100. The clip went immediately viral, racking up millions of views across social media. While the headlines focused on Plichta’s age (22) and that she’s a preschool teacher, Plichta believes the reason for her arrest – seemingly the only one among roughly 200 protesters – went beyond the day’s events.Plichta, who recently co-founded local group Grand Rapids Opponents of War, which helped organize Saturday’s protest, had visited the Venezuelan capital of Caracas just last month, amid the Trump administration’s blockade. She was a part of a delegation to the International People’s Assembly for Sovereignty a...

Events

3 w. ago US reportedly warns Maduro ally Diosdado Cabello he could be next

Interior minister told he must back acting president, while Marco Rubio lays out three-point plan for VenezuelaThe Trump administration has reportedly put Venezuela’s hardline interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, on notice that he could be next to fall if he does not support the acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, who has been in power since Nicolás Maduro was seized on Saturday.Reuters reported that US officials were “especially concerned” that Cabello, long seen by many as the regime’s real No 2, could sabotage Washington’s plan to keep key figures from Maduro’s inner circle in place in the name of stability while pursuing a transition and unrestricted access to Venezuela’s oil. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Trump administration reportedly warns Maduro ally Diosdado Cabello could be next

Washington signals interior minister must back acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, or face Nicolás Maduro’s fateThe Trump administration has reportedly put Venezuela’s hardline interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, on notice that he could be next to fall if he does not support the acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, who has been in power since the dictator, Nicolás Maduro, was seized on Saturday.Reuters reported that US officials are “especially concerned” that Cabello – long seen by many as the regime’s real number two – could sabotage Washington’s plan to keep key figures from Maduro’s inner circle in place in the name of stability while pursuing a transition – and unrestricted access to Venezuela’s oil. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago ‘Dirty’ and ‘infested with drugs’: behind the New York jail holding Maduro and Combs

A slew of high-profile names have resided in Metropolitan detention center, accused of unsafe, inhumane conditionsAfter US military forces seized Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in Caracas during a controversial pre-dawn raid, they were ultimately spirited to one of this country’s most infamous jails: Metropolitan detention center in Brooklyn, New York.The deposed Venezuelan president and Flores will almost certainly reside in Metropolitan detention center (MDC) until their federal trial on drugs and weapons charge – inducting them into a notorious group that counts Sean “Diddy” Combs, Ghislaine Maxwell, Sam Bankman-Fried, and Mexican drug kingpin “El Chapo” as either current or previous members. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago ‘Dirty’ and ‘infested with drugs’: the New York jail holding Maduro and Mangione

High-profile names including Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs have resided in Metropolitan detention center, accused of unsafe, inhumane conditionsAfter US military forces seized Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in Caracas during a controversial pre-dawn raid, they were ultimately spirited to one of this country’s most infamous jails: Metropolitan detention center in Brooklyn, New York.The deposed Venezuelan president and Flores will almost certainly reside in Metropolitan detention center (MDC) until their federal trial on drugs and weapons charge – inducting them into a notorious group that counts Sean “Diddy” Combs, Ghislaine Maxwell, Sam Bankman-Fried, and Mexican drug kingpin “El Chapo” as either current or previous members. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago White House refuses to rule out using US military to 'acquire Greenland'

The statement, which said "utilising the US military is always an option," comes days after US commandos seized President Nicolás Maduro and his wife from their home while they slept

Events

3 w. ago Trump taking ‘drill, baby, drill’ plan to Venezuela ‘terrible’ for climate, experts warn

‘Everybody loses’ if production supercharged in country with largest known oil reserves, critics sayDonald Trump, by dramatically seizing Nicolás Maduro and claiming dominion over Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, has taken his “drill, baby, drill” mantra global. Achieving the president’s dream of supercharging the country’s oil production would be financially challenging – and if fulfilled, would be “terrible for the climate”, experts say.Trump has aggressively sought to boost oil and gas production within the US. Now, following the capture and arrest of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, he is seeking to orchestrate a ramp-up of drilling in Venezuela, which has the largest known reserves of oil in the world – equivalent to some 300bn barrels, according to research firm the Energy Institute. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Trump was ‘morally right’ to attack Venezuela and seize Maduro, says Kemi Badenoch

‘The legal certainty is not yet clear, morally I do think it was the right thing to do,’ Tory leader says

Politics

3 w. ago Deep in the vaults: the Bank of England’s £1.4bn Venezuelan gold conundrum

Nicolás Maduro’s seizure by US reopens question of who controls country’s reserves held in the UKTrump suggests US taxpayers could reimburse oil firmsBusiness live – latest updatesVenezuela live – latest updatesDeep under London’s streets, thousands of miles from Caracas, Nicolás Maduro’s seizure by the US has reopened a multibillion-dollar question: who controls Venezuela’s gold reserves at the Bank of England?After the ousting of Maduro, global attention has largely focused on the South American country’s vast oil wealth – believed to be the largest reserves of any nation in the world. However, Venezuela also has significant gold holdings – including bullion worth at least $1.95bn (£1.4bn) frozen in Britain. Continue reading...

Economics