Showing posts with label Venezuela. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Venezuela. Show all posts

Monday, September 21, 2026

America Is Importing More Venezuelan Oil While Production Stays Flat

Trump Freed Venezuela’s Oil From Maduro and Washington’s Own Paperwork Is Strangling It

American forces dragged Nicolás Maduro out of Venezuela back in January and handed Trump the world's largest oil reserves.

Eight months later those same oil fields are still producing barely more than they did under the dictator. One piece of leftover paperwork in Washington is deciding how much cheaper your gas gets from here.

Venezuela sits on more proven oil reserves than any country on Earth. Trump ended Maduro's rule in January and promised those barrels would flow to American refineries instead of funding a dictator's drug routes. They are flowing.

U.S. imports of Venezuelan crude climbed from 200,000 barrels a day in January to 630,000 barrels a day by June, according to Energy Information Administration data.

That sounds like a flood. It is not.

Ten Billion Dollars in Unpaid Debt Is Scaring Off Every Serious Investor.

Read more about it...

Thursday, September 17, 2026

Biden pardoned him; Trump's federal prosecutors got him

Maduro's financial fixer Alex Saab pleads guilty to money laundering after Biden pardon let him walk free

Alex Saab, the Colombian businessman who served as Nicolás Maduro's top financial operative, pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to launder money in a Miami federal court, nearly three years after the Biden administration pardoned him and sent him back to Venezuela.

Saab, 54, entered his plea before U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams. He agreed to forfeit $195 million and cooperate with the Department of Justice as part of the deal. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison, with a sentencing date still to be set.

The plea caps a seven-year saga that spans a 2019 indictment, an arrest in Cape Verde, a presidential pardon, a hero's welcome in Caracas, and a second indictment secured in January 2026, all before federal prosecutors finally got their man back in a courtroom.

The guilty plea is a direct rebuke to the Biden administration's decision to free Saab in December 2023, while he was awaiting trial on charges of laundering $350 million stolen from Venezuela's state coffers.

Biden granted clemency as part of a broader exchange that returned 36 people to Venezuela, including 12 American citizens. The deal freed a man the DOJ had spent years pursuing, and handed Maduro a propaganda victory.

Read about it...

Wednesday, September 2, 2026

Delcy Rodriguez and Venezuelan Oil Deal

Ted Cruz Says 'Significant Concerns' Over Venezuela Oil Deal

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is raising "significant concerns" about the Trump administration's massive new Venezuela oil agreement, warning that it should not legitimize acting President Delcy Rodríguez or delay free elections in the country.

Speaking on his latest "Verdict with Ted Cruz" podcast, Cruz said the agreement is a "big deal" and that giving U.S. interests access to an estimated 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil could ultimately benefit American jobs, the economy, and consumers. Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves.

But Cruz said the still-opaque arrangement also raises serious political and economic questions.

"This is a deal that was cut with Delcy Rodríguez, who is the interim president of Venezuela," Cruz said. "She was Nicolas Maduro's vice president. She is a communist. She is a Marxist. She has a long history of being viciously anti-American."

Read Newsmax

Maria Corina Machado

Machado Calls for Free Elections in Venezuela, First Remarks Since Trump Oil Deal

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado used an appearance at the Bled Strategic Forum in Slovenia on Monday to make one message unmistakably clear: Venezuela's political transition must end with free and transparent elections — and it should happen as soon as possible.

Machado's remarks were her first public comments since President Donald Trump announced Friday a sweeping new oil agreement with Venezuela that gives U.S. interests majority control over more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil reserves.

Yet Machado did not directly address the controversial agreement in her Bled speech. Instead, she focused on the political condition she has long argued must precede Venezuela's economic reconstruction: the restoration of democracy through legitimate elections.

"For democracy to be fully restored in Venezuela, free and transparent elections must be held as soon as possible," Machado said, arguing that only respect for the popular will guarantee peace and stability.

Read about it...

Machado is an industrial engineer with a master's degree in finance and began her political career as a founder of the vote-monitoring organization Súmate which was established in January 2002 as a non-governmental organization to defend the electoral and constitutional rights of all Venezuelan citizens.

Sunday, August 30, 2026

Oil Deal with Venezuela

'Lower gas prices': Trump announces 'the biggest oil deal in world history!'

Says agreement with petroleum-rich nation will more than double U.S. reserves, lower gas prices

President Trump Friday announced on Truth Social that the U.S. has entered an agreement with Venezuela to secure American control of more than 67 billion barrels of oil in that nation – "at no cost to the American taxpayer."

Trump said both Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth worked with Veneuzelan Interim President Delcy Rodriguez on the deal.

While the president mentioned the involvement of "private business," he did not specific which companies specifically.

Here is the post from Truth Social:

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump

BREAKING NEWS: The United States of America has just entered into an Agreement with the Country of Venezuela on, THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY! At my direction, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, working closely with Highly Respected Interim President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, and, through a partnership with private business, have secured majority U.S. control of more than 65 BILLION BARRELS of proven Oil Reserves in Venezuela, at no cost to the American Taxpayer. This Historic Transaction MORE THAN DOUBLES American Oil Reserves, greatly increases our Oil Supply, and will substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans, long into the future, while helping to continue to set Venezuela on a course toward Tremendous Success and Great Prosperity. This Transaction will greatly strengthen the already growing relationship between Venezuela and the United States! Thank you for your attention to this groundbreaking matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! President DONALD J. TRUMP

Sunday, July 5, 2026

Illegals/Traffickers arrested

Eleven illegal immigrants from Venezuela and Colombia indicted in multi-state sex trafficking, drug, and firearms case

Federal prosecutors have charged eleven Venezuelan and Colombian nationals in a sweeping, 30-count indictment alleging the sex trafficking of a minor, drug trafficking, and illegal firearms trafficking across at least four states.

Ten of the eleven defendants were arrested Tuesday in coordinated law enforcement operations spanning Ohio, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Florida. One defendant remains at large, with a listed residence in Mexico.

The case, announced by the Department of Justice, lays out an alleged criminal network that operated across state lines, trafficking at least nine firearms, selling ecstasy, and, most disturbingly, conspiring to sex traffic a girl between the ages of 14 and 18 along with an adult woman in central Ohio.

Ten of the eleven defendants are currently in the United States illegally. That fact alone should sharpen the focus for anyone still debating whether the federal government has an obligation to know who is inside this country and what they are doing here.

Read about it...

Sunday, April 26, 2026

VENEZUELA: How a prosperous nation collapsed

Venezuela

Before the weekend ends and America moves on to the next headline, we need to pause and look at a story that matters more than almost any other—the collapse of Venezuela, and what it warns us about if the last democratic superpower ever falls the same way. The old Democrats are GONE !! This is what the NEW Democrats are voting for !! You are supporting the squad !!

This didn’t happen overnight. It happened step by step, over one generation.

1992--Venezuela is the 3rd richest country in the Western Hemisphere, powered by oil and a growing middle class.
1997--Venezuelans become the 2nd largest buyers of Ford F-150s—a sign of widespread prosperity.
1998--Hugo Chávez is elected, promising to “redistribute wealth” and fix inequality.
2001--The country votes again for socialism, framed as compassion and fairness.
2003--The government imposes price controls and currency controls. Black markets appear. Shortages begin.
2004--Private healthcare is fully socialized.
2006--Inflation rises sharply as massive welfare programs expand without real economic backing.
2007--All higher education becomes “free.”
2008--Key industries—oil services, steel, cement, telecom—are nationalized. Production drops almost immediately.
2009--Private gun ownership is banned.
2010--The currency is devalued by 50%, crushing savings and accelerating inflation.
2011--Oil production begins a steady decline due to mismanagement and lack of investment.
2012--American politicians, like Bernie Sanders, publicly praise Venezuela’s model.
2013--Chávez dies. Nicolás Maduro takes power and tightens state control.
2014--Opposition leaders are arrested or silenced.
2015--GDP collapses. Hyperinflation begins.
2016--Severe food and medical shortages spread nationwide.
2017--The constitution is suspended. Elections are no longer meaningful.
2018--Inflation exceeds 1,000,000%. Maduro “wins” a widely fraudulent election.
2019--Unarmed civilians are killed by their own government.
2020--More than 8 million people flee the country to escape hunger and repression.
2023--Minor economic improvements fail to relieve mass poverty.
2024--Disputed elections trigger protests and global isolation.
2026--Maduro is removed by force. Venezuela is liberated after decades of ruin.

THE HARD TRUTH
It took one generation of “progressive” leadership to turn one of the richest countries on Earth into a nation defined by hunger, fear, mass graves, and mass migration.

This is the lesson history keeps teaching:
You can vote your way into socialism. But history shows people only escape it through collapse, violence, or foreign intervention.

And here is the part Americans must understand clearly:
If this happens in the United States, there will be nobody coming to save us.
No outside superpower.
No rescue force.
No second chance.
Freedom is fragile. Prosperity is not guaranteed.
And once lost, they are brutally hard to recover.
Venezuela’s people paid the price.
America cannot afford to learn this lesson the same way.

Copied from...-Larry Brandt

Thursday, March 12, 2026

Trump walks into a Venezuelan restaurant, what happens next is unbelievable

President Donald Trump decided to visit a Venezuelan restaurant in Miami, Florida

He received and explosive welcome of cheers and thanks from the crowd of locals

“You have been the best president we have seen in a lifetime!!!” one man shouted out to the President.

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Maria Corina Machado

Nobel Prize Winner Just Compared Trump To This One Moment Reagan Never Achieved

She dedicted her Peace Prize to Donald Trump

"This is historic," Machado said. "This happens once in a lifetime. This will be remembered for generations to come." Maria Corina Machado, an industrial engineer with a Masters Degree in finance, isn't a politician in the American sense – she's someone who has been hunted, jailed, and stripped of her political rights by Nicolas Maduro's regime for the crime of telling Venezuelans the truth.

She's talking about the collapse of Maduro's grip on Venezuela – a collapse she says Trump made possible.

"For the first time in history," Machado said, "we will have the Americas free of communism and dictatorship."

While the American media spent years lecturing you about Trump's foreign policy incompetence, Trump's team was methodically strangling the Maduro regime with sanctions and diplomatic isolation – and then, on January 3rd, Trump's special forces went into Caracas and physically pulled Maduro out of his bed.

Machado said it directly – once Venezuela falls to democracy, Cuba follows. Nicaragua follows.

Read the article...

Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Marco answers European BS Reporter

Marco Rubio SHUTS DOWN reporter for BS question

about Trump's actions in Venezuela and regarding Maduro's capture. Calls him out DIRECTLY!!

Tuesday, February 10, 2026

Capture of tanker after Quarantine Violation

Hegseth announces capture of tanker after quarantine violation

I am not sure what it will take for it to sink in that the United States is not playing games when it comes to the quarantine around Venezuela.

After Trump issued the quarantine, several ships were seized, but the issue has been raised again. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has announced that yet another tanker has been boarded and seized.

In mid-December, Trump announced there would be a "complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going into and out of Venezuela.”

Trump also started to move more military assets into the area to enforce the quarantine on Venezuelan oil.

Most would consider a blockade to be an act of war, but Marine Corps Col. Steve Ganyard, a former State Department official, said this was a quarantine, not a blockade, and it was perfectly legal in international waters.

Whatever jargon you want to use, it was clear that any tankers that violated this order would be seized and taken by the United States. “Overnight, U.S. military forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding on the Aquila II without incident in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility."

Read more... and see the video.

Thursday, January 29, 2026

Secretary of State Testifies before The Senate Foreign Relations Committee



Secretary of State Marco Rubio went to war with Senate Democrats in today’s fiery hearing, at one point, firing back at Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine for attacking President Donald Trump for confusing Greenland with Iceland.

“I think we’re all familiar with president’s who have verbal stumbles,… some more than others,” Rubio said coldly.

Sunday, January 18, 2026

Trump left Venezuela in place after Maduro capture

Delcy Rodriguez, a socialist, met with CIA Director, John Ratcliff on Thursday

Trump Says He Left Maduro Regime in Place to Avoid Repeat of Iraq

The U.S. president warned that a power vacuum could create more problems, pointing to historical examples as a cautionary tale.

(The Epoch Times)—President Donald Trump told reporters while departing the White House on Jan. 16 that he is working with interim Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodriguez rather than aligning with opposition leader Maria Corina Machado because he wants to maintain stability in the region.

He said his decision was based on a desire to avoid a power vacuum that might emerge if the entire regime was swiftly dismantled, noting the challenges faced in Iraq after American forces invaded.

“If you ever remember a place called Iraq where everybody was fired, every single person, the police, the generals, everybody was fired, and they ended up being ISIS,” Trump said. “Instead of just getting down to business, they ended up being ISIS.”

The remarks came a day after he met with Machado, who presented the president with the Nobel Peace Prize she was awarded last year.

“I had a great meeting yesterday with a person who I have a lot of respect for, and she has respect, obviously, for me and our country,” Trump said. “But I’ll tell you what, I got to know her. I never met her before, and I was very, very impressed. She’s a really, this is a fine woman.”

Trump earlier expressed his doubts about the level of domestic support Machado had in order to lead the nation through existing political headwinds. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters the president’s perspective was “based on realities on the ground.”

Friday, January 9, 2026

Senate votes to expand War Powers Act

Senate Advances Resolution to Limit Trump's War Powers After Venezuela

The Senate advanced a resolution Thursday that would limit President Donald 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 later vote for final passage. It has virtually no chance of becoming law because Trump would have to sign it if it were to pass the House.

Still, it was a significant gesture that showed unease among some Republicans after the U.S. military seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid.

Trump's administration is now seeking to control Venezuela's oil resources and its government, but the war powers resolution would require congressional approval for any further attacks on the South American country.

Read more...

Maduro

Monday, January 5, 2026

"Liberty! Liberty! Liberty!"

Venezuelans in South Florida celebrate ouster of Maduro government

DORAL, Fla. (AP) — Revelers chanted "liberty" and draped Venezuelan flags over their shoulders in South Florida on Saturday to celebrate the American military attack that toppled Nicolás Maduro's government — a stunning outcome they had longed for but left them wondering what comes next in their troubled homeland.

For some Venezuelan natives, the military action — culminating months of stepped-up U.S. pressure — brought their dreams of reuniting with loved ones closer to reality after years of heartbreaking separations.

People gathered for a rally in Doral, Florida — the Miami suburb where President Donald Trump has a golf resort and where roughly half the population is of Venezuelan descent — as word spread that Venezuela's now-deposed president had been captured and flown out of the country.

Outside the El Arepazo restaurant, a hub of the Venezuelan culture of Doral, one man held a piece of cardboard with "Libertad" scrawled with a black marker. It was a sentiment expressed by other native Venezuelans hoping for a new beginning for their home country as they chanted "Liberty! Liberty! Liberty!"

Read more...

Sunday, January 4, 2026

Democrats complain about everything.

Congressional Democrats rage at Trump's Venezuela operation

Democratic lawmakers railed against President Donald Trump's overnight military operation in Venezuela on Saturday that resulted in the successful capture and indictment of socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

Congressional Democrats argued Trump lacked legal authority and that it was counter to American interests to use military force against Maduro's regime....of course they did.

Republican lawmakers largely praised Trump's military operation with those representing South Florida's large Venezuelan community describing it as an "historic day" for the Venezuelan people and Latin America.

"Second unjustified war in my life time," Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat with reported presidential ambitions, wrote on X shortly after 3 a.m. Saturday. "This war is illegal, it's embarrassing that we went from the world cop to the world bully in less than one year. There is no reason for us to be at war with Venezuela."

Read more...

We are not at war with Venezuela. What we are is at war with a narco-terrorist and he's been captured and arrested. Democrats would not be happy unless they could complain about something.

Friday, January 2, 2026

Maduro wants Trump to start talking seriously 🤣

Maduro Signals Openness To Drug And Oil Talks After Military Strikes

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced on Thursday that his government is "ready" to negotiate a drug-trafficking agreement with the United States.

This follows months of escalating military pressure from the Trump administration, including a recent land strike on a Venezuelan port.

Maduro made the comments during a pre-taped interview with Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet, stating that Venezuela is prepared to talk "whenever they want it, wherever they want it and however they want it."

He called on the U.S. to "start talking seriously, with data in hand," regarding narcotics and oil investment.

In the meantime, the Trump administration has continued to intensify pressure, recently designating the Maduro regime as a foreign terrorist organization.

Read more...