News Summaries in January 2026
Note to readers: summaries may sometimes be posted in two places, at least for a time, when older stories are involved. They temporarily will be placed at the top to call attention to them but also placed in chronological order farther down. Summaries of older stories no longer will say “posted out of chronological order.” Thank you for your attention to this matter.
“Letters From an American,” Heather Cox Richardson, Feb. 3, 2026
U.S. District Court Judge Ana C. Reyes Feb. 2 blocked the termination of temporary protected status for about 353,000 Haitians living in the United States. That status was scheduled to end Feb. 3 under a decision by U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. At stake was not only the fate of Haitians facing deportation to their violence-torn homeland, but the “Trump administration officials' rejection of both facts and the rule of law on which the United States was founded in order to advance their white nationalist ideology,” wrote Richardson, a history professor at Boston College. Richardson, paraphrasing Reyes, said Congress established “Temporary Protected Status” in 1990 “to change previously haphazard executive decisions about whether to receive immigrants from disaster-stricken countries that left recipients unclear about their immigration status.” The TPS program created by Congress established criteria and a process for granting the status. The Homeland Security Secretary has the power to evaluate and grant extensions. Judge Reyes said Noem ignored the process and the criteria, relying on ideology instead in deciding to end protection against deportation for the Haitians. Noem posted the following on Dec. 1, 2025: “I just met with the President. I am recommending a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies. Our forefathers built this nation on blood, sweat, and the unyielding love of freedom – not for foreign invaders to slaughter our heroes, suck dry our hard-earned tax dollars, or snatch the benefits owed to AMERICANS. WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE.” Richardson said Noem’s statement echoed that of Trump when he called Haiti a “sh*thole country” and tried to end temporary protected status in 2017 for Haitians, who have living in the U.S. legally since the devastating Haitian earthquake of 2010. During the 2024 campaign Trump falsely accused Haitians of eating the pets of people living in Springfield, Ohio and said he would deport them. Reyes said it “seems substantially likely” Noem ended protected status because of her white nationalist ideology. Reyes said Noem characterized the Haitians as criminals without any actual evidence. Instead of being “killers, leeches and entitlement junkies,” the five Haitians who filed suit against Noem’s termination are a neuroscientist, a software engineer, a toxicology lab assistant, a college economics major and a registered nurse. Reyes also noted that TPS holders participate in the workforce at the exceptionally high rate of 94.6%. Noem also ignored the public interest in the fact that Haitian TPS holders pay $1.3 billion a year in taxes and add about $3.4 billion a year to the economy through working in sectors desperate for workers. Noem is constrained by the Constitution and the Administrative Procedures Act to faithfully apply facts to the law in administering the TPS program and has yet to do so, Reyes said, according to Richardson’s account. Miriam Jordan of the New York Times reported Feb. 2 that the protected status of the Haitians will remain in place until the case is fully litigated (“Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks End of Protection for Haitians in U.S.”). Jordan said the fate of the Haitians could be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said the administration will appeal to the high court. “Temporary means temporary and the final word will not be from an activist judge legislating from the bench.” Haiti has been facing gang violence, political instability and shortages of food. Reyes said the administration has not conducted a necessary assessment to decide whether it is safe for TPS holders to return to Haiti. The U.S. State Department assigns its highest warning against travel to the country, indicating its belief that travel to the country poses life-threatening risks. Reyes said Noem had determined conditions in Haiti to be merely “concerning.” That, Reyes said, “cannot be squared with the ‘perfect storm of suffering’ and ‘staggering humanitarian toll’ describe in page after page” of the record, Reyes wrote in her decision.
“The Information Networks Connecting Venezuelans in Uncertain Times,” Wired, Feb. 1, 2026
Venezuelans are now relying more than ever on tools they’ve developed learning resilience in the face of censorship, disinformation and repression. When the U.S. military began dropping bombs on Caracas in the early morning hours of Saturday, January 3, residents couldn’t turn on the TV or radio to get information as the U.S. began simultaneously attacking 11 military installations in Caracas and three other states, said Wired reporter Lisseth Boon. “During the darkest moments of that confusing morning, there was no team of independent reporters able to go out and record what was happening on the streets,” she wrote. “After years of harassment, censorship, and imprisonment of journalists by the government, there were instead only empty newsrooms, decimated resources, and a complete lack of security, which made it impossible to keep the public informed as the crisis was unfolding.” Many Venezuelans experience the same fear that journalists felt – “the fears of arbitrary detention, of being imprisoned without cause, tortured and extorted.” What Caracas residents such as Maria G. could do, however, was receive WhatsApp messages on their cell phones. She received dozens saying, “They’re bombing Caracas!” Individuals recorded videos of explosions from their windows or balconies or the beach and circulated them. To survive, citizens have adopted certain digital safeguards. “They have learned to restrict chats, move sensitive material to hidden folders, and automatically delete any ‘compromising’ messages.” They leave their cell phones at home whenever possible. If they have to take their phones with them, they delete photos, stickers and memes that authorities could regard as subversive. For the most part, ordinary citizens created this information network. Their “state of collective paranoia has…allowed Venezuelans to stay informed and not succumb to the dictatorship,” Boon said.
“In Legalizing Migrants, Spain Bucks EU Trend,” Wall Street Journal, Jan. 29, 2026
Although immigration has become the most toxic and divisive issue in much of Europe, Spain is taking a more relaxed attitude, say Wall Street Journal’s Marcus Walker and Cristina Gallardo. The attitude, they write, is that “if people live and work here, they might as well pay taxes.” Under a new policy of the Socialist-led government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, if undocumented immigrants have lived in Spain for at least five months before the end of last year and they don’t have a criminal record they can “regularize” their status in coming months. The government says 500,000 people could gain residency that way while analysts say it could be more. “The move will be fast-tracked via royal decree, avoiding a vote in Parliament, where the government lacks a majority,” the Journal says. The economy in Spain is buoyant, unemployment is falling, and there are shortages of workers. There’s broad support for the new policy, including from unions, many businesses and the Catholic Church. The government expects to take in more taxes and contributions for social security. There’s been a pattern of mass legalizations of migrants in Spain over the past 50 years. “It’s nothing new in Spanish politics,” said Rut Bermejo, an analyst with the Madrid think tank , the Elcan Royal Institute. There’s been mass legalizations of migrants six times, by both governments of the left and right. The most recent time was in 2005, with the legalization of some 576,000 migrants. But not everyone in Spain likes it. The far-right Vox party has gained strength in recent years because of the belief that mass immigration has put too much strain on public services and increased crime. The new policy will attract more illegal immigrants, says Vox leader Santiago Abascal, who says the government is promoting an “invasion.” However, the mainstream conservative People’s Party questioned the details of the policy rather than the principle. Some 840,000 undocumented migrants live in Spain, more than 90% of them from Latin America, according to Funcas, a think tank in Madrid. “The fact that we have a shared language and shared cultural references means that the experience of integration is not the same as in other European countries,” said María Miyar of Funcas.
“Conservative Populist Laura Fernández Wins Costa Rican Presidency, Preliminary Results Show,” Associated Press, Feb. 2, 2026
Laura Fernández, a conservative populist whose political sponsor is the outgoing President Rodrigo Chaves, captured the presidency of Costa Rica in a resounding first-round win, preliminary results show. With 93.7 percent of polling places accounted for, Fernàndez of the Sovereign People's Party had 48% of the vote, said AP reporter Javier Córdoba. The next highest vote total went to economist Álvaro Ramos of the National Liberation Party, who won 33% of the vote. Ramos conceded the night of the Feb. 1 election. “In democracy dissent is allowed, criticizing is allowed,” said Ramos, who pledged a “constructive opposition.” Fernández said “the mandate the sovereign people give me is clear: the change will be deep and irreversible.” Countering the surge of crime in historically peaceful Costa Rica was a major issue in the campaign. Córdoba wrote that many see a continuation of the confrontational style of Chaves “as the best chance for Costa Rica to tame the violence.” Fernández views El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, whose severe crackdown on gangs in his country propelled him to overwhelming popularity, as a model (see summary of “Costa Rica Presidential Election Could End in First Round, Tico Times, Jan. 28, 2026). The Feb. 1 election included voting for the National Assembly. The party of Rodriquez and Chaves was expected to make gains but perhaps not large enough to win the supermajority the two hoped for to allow their party to pick Supreme Court magistrates.
“Mass Deportation by the Numbers,” Wall Street Journal editorial, Jan. 27, 2026
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said last week concerning immigration detentions that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has removed “murderers, pedophiles, rapists, gang members and terrorists.” She said “70% of them have committed or have charges against them on violent crimes.” It started out that way but the criminal share of apprehensions has dropped as the months have gone by. “Only 13% of those at the beginning of 2025 didn’t have either a conviction or a pending charge.” By October, 55% of immigrants arrested had either a prior conviction or a criminal charge. “Since October, 73% taken into ICE custody had no criminal conviction and only 5% had a violent criminal conviction, according to a Cato Institute review of ICE data.” Many of the criminal immigrants the Trump administration counts as among those in detention are convicted criminals taken from prisons. Border czar Tom Homan complains that Minneapolis isn’t letting the administration take immigrant prisoners into federal custody. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz disputes that “but there’s no doubt Minneapolis and St. Paul have ordinances that bar using resources to help ICE apprehend people based on immigration status. That complicates ICE’s job and makes confrontations more likely.” [But] “the Trump Administration’s rhetoric about deporting criminals doesn’t match its current much broader policy of mass deportation. As ICE agents target businesses, schools and homes, scenes of arrest involving mothers, children and long-time U.S. residents become more common. This explains why immigration enforcement is becoming a political liability for Republicans.” Ending migrant chaos at the border was necessary after the Biden administration. “But White House aide Stephen Miller’s undisciplined mass deportation and zero-immigration policy is building distrust, and the White House pitch that public safety justifies its enforcement is losing credibility.”
“Costa Rica Presidential Election Could End in First Round,” Tico Times, Jan. 28, 2026
A poll released Jan. 27 shows that conservative candidate Laura Fernández has increased her chances of winning the Feb. 1 presidential election in Costa Rica in the first round. The poll showed that 44 percent of respondents intend to vote for her, which as top vote-getter would put her over the 40 percent threshold needed to win in the first round. Second in the poll was social democrat economist Álvaro Ramos with 9.2 percent, followed by architect and former first lady Claudia Dobles with 8.6 percent. The share of undecided voters was 26 percent. “A 39-year-old political scientist and political heir to popular President Rodrigo Chaves, Fernández has gained ground with a tough-on-crime message in response to rising violence linked to drug trafficking, inspired by [El Salvador President Nayib] Bukele’s war on gangs,” the Tico Times said. The homicide rate in Costa Rica in 2025 increased to 17 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. “For years, the country was considered one of the safest in the region.” Fernández wants to win majority support in Congress to allow her to reform the Constitution, notably the judiciary. Chaves has accused it of being an obstacle to the fight on organized crime. Fernández is a member of the same ruling party as Chaves. “Her party, Pueblo Soberano, also leads voting intention for congressional seats with 29.5 percent.” The opposition to Chaves and Fernández say they are trying to entrench an authoritarian model threatening the separation of powers that has made Costa Rica a model democracy in Latin America. Its population is 5.2 million people.
“Mexico President Says Trump Tariffs on Cuba’s Oil Suppliers Could Trigger Humanitarian Crisis,” The Guardian, Jan. 30, 2026
Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum warned Jan. 30 that U.S. President Donald Trump’s new executive order placing tariffs on countries sending oil to Cuba could trigger a humanitarian crisis on the island, which has only an estimated 15 to 20 days of oil. The order did not specifically name Mexico. But “Sheinbaum’s government has been the top supplier of oil to the island since 2025, surpassing Russia and Venezuela,” said Guardian reporters Thomas Graham and Ruaridh Nicoll. Mexico has canceled a much-needed delivery of oil to Cuba this month, apparently fearing a loss of leverage with the Trump administration in trade talks and in preventing a unilateral U.S. military strike on drug labs in Mexico. Sheinbaum said she would seek more information on tariffs from the U.S. State Department while seeking alternative ways to provide Cuba with humanitarian aid. She told the press that “we will seek a way, without putting Mexico at risk, of course, but always seeking solidarity with the Cuban people.” Sheinbaum warned that the tariffs could directly affect hospitals, food supplies and other basis services. “In Havana, 12-hour daily blackouts have become commonplace,” the Guardian reporters said. “Many Cuban families are struggling to cook food, finding it hard to get hold of gas canisters, and are resorting to cooking over charcoal.” Trump is trying to remove Cuba’s communist party from power. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez accused Trump of trying to “suffocate” the island’s economy. He said the tariffs revealed the “fascist, criminal, and genocidal nature of a clique that has hijacked the interests of the American people for purely personal gain.”
“Cubans Scramble to Survive as U.S. Vise on Island Tightens in Push to Oust Government,” Associated Press, Jan. 30, 2026
People in Cuba are moving to become more self-sufficient as the U.S. shuts off the flow of oil to the communist-run island. So says AP reporter Dánica Coco, who writes that “some are installing solar panels while others are growing their own crops or returning to a simpler way of life, one that doesn’t rely on technology or petroleum.” The Trump administration is aiming to force a popular uprising that will bring in a new government, said Coco, quoting experts. Jose Ángel Méndez Faviel recently moved from Havana to a farm where he can cook with firewood and charcoal. He began planting produce three months ago, “It’s best to depend on yourself,” he said. He said he’s thinking of buying back his old horse to take his vegetables to market. “We need to go back in time.” With the shutoff of oil, experts are warning that economic catastrophe lies ahead. President Trump signed an executive order Jan. 29 that would impose a tariff on any products from countries that sell or provide oil to Cuba. “Cuba is really a nation that is very close to failing,” Trump said recently. According to Coto, “Cubans scoff at that assertion,” especially those that remember the cuts in Soviet aid in the 1990s that caused widespread deprivation. Yadián Silva, a nurse, said “we have problems, and we know we have a lot of problems. But when things happen in Cuba, it’s because people truly feel they should happen. Not because someone from the outside says, ‘do this.’” Tens of thousands of Cubans marched on a recent weeknight in an annual march to remember José Martí, a national hero. A day later, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said the U.S. embraces Martí because of a shared passion for freedom. “We hope that by 2026, Cubans will finally be able to exercise their fundamental freedoms,” he said in a recording played at a gathering at the U.S. Embassy. “The communist Castro regime is tottering; it won’t last much longer. After 67 years of a failed revolution that has betrayed the Cuban people, it’s time for the change that the people on the island are yearning for.” Ángel Eduardo said he’s seen a surge in calls from people in Havana seeking the solar systems he installs. Seventy-three-year-old retired pilot Pedro Carbonell said “if we don’t have fuel, then we’ll ride bicycles.” But along with oil drying up, tourism in Cuba is plummeting, said the AP’s Coto in a Jan. 27 piece posted by ABC News. The number of tourists has dropped by more than half since 2018. Some 2.3 million tourists visited Cuba in the January – November period of 2025, compared to 4.8 million in 2018. “Now, Cubans whose livelihood depends on tourism are among those suffering the most,” Coto said. For many years, tourism generated up to $3 billion a year for Cuba. “Visitors would pack into restaurants, crowd along Havana’s seawall and gather at imposing monuments and state buildings,” Coto wrote. “The constant flow of passengers boosted employment and led to the opening of hundreds of small businesses including hostels and restaurants. Nowadays, the seawall is dotted mostly with Cuban couples or fishermen hoping to catch their next meal.”
“Father Detained by ICE with Five-Year-Old Tells U.S. Congressman His Son Has Been ‘Depressed,’” The Guardian, Jan. 29, 2026
Texas Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro said Jan. 28 that he visited the five-year-old boy and his father detained last week by federal immigration agents in Minnesota and was told the child was depressed. Castro, who said he called the boy’s mother to update her, said the father, Adrian Conejo Arias, told him that the son, Liam Conejo Ramos, “hasn’t been himself” and that “he’s been sleeping a lot because he has been depressed and sad.” Castro said the child “actually was not awake during our visit, he was sleeping.” Liam was resting in his father’s arms at the time. Castro, who visited the father and son at a detention center in Dilley, Texas, said “I demanded his release and told him how much his family, his school and our country loves him and is praying for him,” said Guardian reporter Anna Betts. “I am concerned about his mental state.” The five-year-old was detained by ICE on January 20 while on his way home from preschool with his father. The boy and his father were taken into custody in their driveway shortly after arriving home, said Zena Stenvik, superintendent of the Columbia Heights school district. The Department of Homeland Security said ICE was conducting a targeted operation to arrest Liam’s father. It said he was in the country illegally. The department said the father fled on foot and abandoned his child and that an ICE officer stayed with the boy for his safety while other officers detained the father. DHS also said Liam’s father asked that Liam stay with him. However, Betts wrote that “school officials who witnessed the encounter have disputed that account and said that there was an adult who lived in the home who offered to take Liam, but that officials still detained him.” A lawyer representing the family said the father had an active asylum case and entered the U.S. at an official crossing point. “They did not come here illegally. They are not criminals,” the lawyer said, adding that there was no deportation order against them. A judge has temporarily blocked their deportation pending litigation challenging their detention.
“Maine’s Immigrant Students on Alert as a Crackdown Ramps Up,” New York Times, Jan. 29, 2026
The immigrant from the Democratic Republic of Congo had a question for Shandy Priddy, a Target delivery driver dropping off a package at an apartment complex in Portland, Maine: Would she drive her son to school? “She looked petrified, like she did not want to step out of that corridor,” said Priddy. The woman said her husband had been taken by immigration agents the previous day. The crackdown that began last week was targeting 1,400 “criminal illegal aliens who have terrorized communities in Maine," the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said. By Jan. 26, the department said more than 200 people had been arrested. “Several Democratic elected officials and lawyers for detained immigrants have said that at least some have no criminal records,” said Times reporters Jenna Russell and Sophie Park. In Portland, home to many of the 50,000 immigrants in the state, “federal officials have been stopping cars, detaining motorists and staking out apartment buildings.” Russell and Park said that “more than half of the 6,200 students in the Portland are Black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian or multiracial.” With fears of detainment escalating, 41 percent of multilingual students, 39 percent of Hispanic and Latino students, and 34 percent of Black students were absent districtwide Jan. 22, compared with 6 percent of White students. Absent children missed access to free breakfasts, lunches and snacks; bags of food sent home on the weekends; counseling and legal services, and showers and laundry some lacked out of school – almost 500 students are “housing insecure," according to the chair of the Portland Board of Public Education, Sarah Lentz. Non-immigrant parents and other community members organized watch teams to patrol playgrounds and school entrances to help at-risk families feel safer. “If we can use our privilege in a useful way, and stand out in the cold for an hour or two to make people feel safer, it’s 1,000 percent worth it,” said 44-year-old Katie Mears, a parent at one elementary school. Last week, a mother was detained after dropping off her child at Portland High School. Her daughter told The Maine Monitor that her mother, an immigrant from the Democratic Republic of Congo, had no criminal record, a pending asylum application and four children. The superintendent said she is an employee of the school district who was legally approved to work in the U.S. Absences also were noted among concerned local doctors who said children, including newborns, were missing appointments for vaccinations and screenings and emerging health concerns. For her part, Priddy, the Target delivery driver, was helping out. She said “she had happily taken a break from making deliveries to drive a panicked stranger’s second grader to his school.” She told The Times: “It takes a community.” Meanwhile, The Maine Morning Star reported Jan. 29 that Republican U.S. Senator Susan Collins of the state said she’d been informed by Homeland Security that the “enhanced” immigration operation in Maine had ended (“Sen. Collins Said Homeland Security Ended Enhanced ICE Operation in Maine.”). The publication itself, however, was unable to confirm that. And Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree said she couldn’t confirm the announcement and that even if ICE’s presence was lessening it did not amount to a policy change. “What we saw during this operation: individuals who are legally allowed to be in the United States, whether by lawful presence or an authorized period of stay, following the rules, and being detained anyway,” Pingree said. “That is not limited to this one operation.”
“Mexico’s President Says Cancellation of Oil Shipment to Cuba is ‘Sovereign’ Decision,” The Guardian, Jan. 27, 2026
Saying she wasn’t giving in to pressure from the Trump administration, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum nevertheless canceled a shipment of oil to Cuba, insisting it was a “sovereign decision.” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says all oil should be shut off to the communist country (see summary below, “Mexico, Cuba’s Last Oil Lifeline...” Jan. 23, 2026), a step analysts say will cause a complete collapse of the Cuban economy. Bloomberg reported Jan. 26 that Mexico’s state-owned oil company Pemex “backtracked” on plans to send a much-needed delivery to Cuba this month, noted Guardian reporter Tom Graham. Sheinbaum said Jan. 27 the decision to cancel the shipment “is made in a moment when necessary.” Graham wrote that “Sheinbaum sidestepped a question about whether the cancelled shipment is a one-off or could represent a more lasting suspension of oil shipments, while restating Mexico’s longstanding stance against the U.S. blockade on Cuba.” She said “Mexico has always shown solidarity and Mexico will continue to show solidarity” with Cuba. Sheinbaum is under pressure because the Trump administration recently repeated threats to conduct unilateral military strikes on drug cartels in Mexico. Also, Mexico and the United States have begun renegotiating the USMCA North American free trade agreement. Political analyst Alexander González Ormerod said Sheinbaum gave a “mealy mouthed answer” on the canceled oil shipment because “it’s probably an answer made by committee on the best way to avoid upsetting all the different constituencies with [her Morena political party] and the U.S.-Mexico coalition.”
“Meet Trump’s Partners in Venezuela,” Opinion column by Mary Anastasia O’Grady,” Wall Street Journal, Jan. 26, 2026
What does it mean when President Trump calls Venezuelan dictator Delcy Rodríguez a terrific person – this “despite her monstrous human-rights record and her reputation for corruption?” It’s no longer perplexing when one considers that Chevron Corp., and Harry Sargeant, a Florida asphalt magnate, have lobbied Trump for a long time to grant them licenses in Venezuela, and that Rodríguez was their Caracas counterpart. “The Guardian reported last week that in October the U.S. began considering Ms. Rodríguez, right hand to then-dictator Nicolás Maduro, to replace him.” The British paper said it learned from sources that she told the U.S. she was on board with removing Maduro and willing to cooperate with Washington. One factor was that she promised to work with U.S. oil companies and that she knew Americans in the oil business. “Mr. Trump’s own obsession with oil might explain why he disparaged opposition leader Maria Corina Machado at a press conference the day the U.S. captured Mr. Maduro. He claimed the wildly popular Ms. Machado has neither ‘support’ nor ‘respect’ in Venezuela. That’s absurd. She is such a threat to the regime that it banned her candidacy for president in 2024. Edmundo González, who took her place, received 70% of the vote.” The real difficulty for Machado was that she opposed U.S. Treasury licenses for Chevron and for Sargeant’s asphalt operation because she wanted to starve the regime of hard currency. “For decades she has argued that Venezuelan economic development and a Caracas foreign policy that fosters peace in the region require democracy, open competition and the rule of law. She has been unwilling to trade her ideals for good reviews at Mar-a-Lago.” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello “still controls the armed forces, police, intelligence and the paramilitary known as colectivos. His henchmen roam the streets to put down dissent.” The “true measure of U.S. control isn’t the flow of oil out of Venezuela but how many political prisoners have been released. Some are out. But the U.S. ambassador to the Organization of American States estimated last week that 1,000 remain behind bars.” The priorities of Rodríguez fit the goals of the Trump administration. She is on board with shipping oil to the U.S. for sale at market prices. The proceeds will go into special accounts, including one in Qatar. Some of the money goes to Venezuela to cover production costs and pay for imports. Venezuela reportedly has received $300 million.” Rodríguez is happy but “the 28 million other Venezuelans, not so much.” Whether the warmth toward Delcy is “a U.S. oil play” or “three-dimensional chess aimed at eventually transforming Venezuela into democracy, it’s a dangerous game.” She is “evil and manipulative and so is her brother,” Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly. Cabello and Delcy Rodríguez are “bitter rivals” and “it isn’t a bad idea to use her to check him and hold off any chaos until midlevel military officers, who are ready to restore democracy, can take command.” But it’s foolish to frame her as a U.S. ally. “She can’t be allowed to stick around.”
“Trump Soured on Opposition Leader Before the Ouster of Maduro,” New York Times, Jan. 7, 2026
For Maria Corina Machado, the most popular opposition figure in Venezuela, the statement by President Trump in early January that she would not lead her country after his ouster of President Nicolás Maduro “landed like a gut punch,” according to Tyler Pager, Anatoly Kurmanaev and Julian E. Barnes of The New York Times. Trump had come to that conclusion before Maduro’s removal. He did so based on U.S. intelligence concluding the opposition would have trouble leading the government, and because of a souring relationship between Machado and top administration officials. Trump’s statement that Machado lacked the necessary respect and support within Venezuela “represented a public break for the United States with a leader who had spent more than a year trying to ingratiate herself with Mr. Trump,” the journalists said. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio persuaded Trump that if the U.S. tried to back the opposition, it would further destabilize Venezuela and so require “a more robust” U.S. military presence inside the country. “For Mr. Trump, the focus in Venezuela is oil, not promoting democracy,” The Times noted. Machado’s relationship with the administration had been fraying for months. Officials were frustrated by her reports that Maduro was weak and on the verge of collapse, concluding that they were inaccurate. Friction developed soon after Trump took office. Trump envoy Richard Grenell asked Machado’s representatives to arrange an in-person meeting with her in Caracas, together with a list of political prisoners they wanted set free. But the in-person meeting with Grenell never happened despite American promises she would be protected. Instead, a phone call was arranged with Machado during Grenell’s visit to Caracas. The call was cordial but the relationship deteriorated. Machado and her team “ignored the request for a list of political prisoners, out of apparent desire to avoid accusations of favoritism, or of intimating that her movement was taking part in the negotiations,” The Times said. Grenell repeatedly pressed Machado to outline her plan for placing her surrogate candidate Edmundo González in office but became frustrated when she offered no concrete ideas about how to put a democracy in place. Rubio complained that there were things that needed to be accomplished in the short term but that most of the opposition was no longer present in Venezuela. Freddy Guevara, a former Venezuelan congressman living in exile in New York, said he and other opposition members are focused on obtaining the release of political prisoners and then to be able to return to Venezuela to compete in open elections. Machado was from a wealthy conservative family and had built strong connections to the Republican party over a period of decades. But “she appeared little prepared for the transformation of the party into a transactional, ideologically agnostic political machine under Mr. Trump.” Her refusal to engage in any way with the Maduro government won her respect and political support but has “crippled her ability to build a broader coalition capable of enabling her bid for power.” Her complete support of sanctions on Maduro “destroyed her relations with Venezuela’s business elite,” which had built a modus vivendi with Maduro. Her position was that any dollar going into Venezuela was a dollar for Maduro. “Her message had increasingly begun to mirror the views of the diaspora and deviated from the realities of people who remained in Venezuela.” Orlando J. Pérez, a political science professor at the University of North Texas at Dallas, told The Times that it’s untrue Machado is not respected in Venezuela. “She clearly is the the most popular opposition leader.” But she and her stand-in González “don’t have the levers of power,” he said. “They don’t have the institutions, and without us…they’re not going to get back into power in Venezuela.”
“Venezuela’s Acting President Says She Has Had ‘Enough’ of US Orders,” CNN, Jan. 27, 2026
Acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez is pushing back against the Trump administration, saying on Venezuelan national television Jan. 25 “enough already of Washington’s orders over politicians in Venezuela.” Rodríguez said “let Venezuelan politics resolve our differences and our internal conflicts. This Republic has paid a very high price for having to confront the consequences of fascism and extremism in our country.” U.S. President Donald Trump said Jan. 27 that he wasn’t aware of her comments and that “we have a very good relationship.” Rodríguez was vice president to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro before Trump ordered the military attack in which he and his wife were seized and taken to New York City to face criminal charges. CNN reporter Laura Sherman note that “Rodríguez has been walking a tightrope since being backed by the U.S. to lead the country in the interim, balancing keeping Maduro loyalists on board at home while trying to ensure the White House is happy.” After Maduro’s removal in early January the Trump administration demanded that Venezuela partner exclusively with the U.S. on oil production and cut ties with China, Iran, Russia and Cuba, White House officials said. [Rodríguez has struck a defiant tone toward the administration while stopping short of antagonizing Trump. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the administration would focus on what Rodríguez actually does rather than on what she says.] Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado sought to carve out a role in the government by saying she was giving Trump the Nobel Peace Prize she won. After that Trump said he would like to see her “involved” in the country’s leadership in some way. The U.S. also demanded the release of many political prisoners. CNN said that on Jan. 25 at least 104 people were freed, quoting the rights group Foro Penal. The group said the total was one of the largest daily releases of prisoners. The group said at least 266 people have been released so far. Trump said Jan. 26 the release was “a powerful humanitarian gesture” and that the rate of releases would be increasing very soon. Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said Jan. 26 that 808 people had been released since December as part of a process he said Maduro ordered for “coexistence and peace.”
“Suspected Drug Kingpin and Former Olympian Surrenders in Mexico,” Wall Street Journal, Jan. 24-25, 2026
U.S. authorities have taken into custody a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder allegedly turned drug kingpin after he surrendered at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City Jan. 22. Ryan James Wedding, who had a $15 million bounty on his head, has been wanted on drug trafficking and murder charges since 2024, according to FBI Director Kash Patel. Patel was in Mexico when the arrest occurred. Wedding is “known in Mexican underworld circles as ‘Thor,’” said Wall Street Journal reporters Santiago Pérez and Steve Fisher. “Born in Ontario, Wedding represented Team Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City,” they said. “He finished 24th in the parallel giant slalom category, records show. He grew up in a middle-class family and studied business in college, but didn’t graduate.” Wedding began drug trafficking with a marijuana-growing operation in Canada, Canadian authorities said. When law enforcement raided the farm in 2006 it didn’t find enough evidence to charge him. But in 2008 he was sentenced to four years in prison after he tried to buy cocaine from an undercover agent. U.S. authorities said he made contacts there that helped him build “a large transnational cocaine-trafficking operation” after his release, the Journal said. Wedding was on the run in Mexico for months, protected by the Sinaloa Cartel, authorities said. He’s alleged to have shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and Southern California for distribution in the U.S. and Canada. Recently, Mexican officials raided a warehouse storing $40 million worth of professional racing motorcycles they alleged were owned by Wedding. They also seized gold medals and artwork. Wedding was believed to have been hiding in Mexico for more than a decade. Mexico’s Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said Patel took with him “two priority targets,” when he departed for the U.S., referring to Wedding and another person wanted by the FBI for homicide. Under pressure from the Trump administration, Mexico is calling attention to its efforts to fight drug-smuggling gangs.
“U.S. Seeks New Regime In Cuba by End of Year,” Wall Street Journal, Jan. 23, 2026
The Trump administration after its military seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his removal to the U.S. is now turning its attention to Cuba to find government insiders there who can make a deal to push out the Communist regime by the end of 2026, say Wall Street Journal reporters José de Córdoba, Vera Bergengruen and Deborah Acosta. “Officials don’t have a concrete plan to end the Communist government that has held power on the Caribbean island for more than seven decades,” the Journal said, “but they see Maduro’s capture and subsequent concessions from his allies left behind as a blueprint and a warning for Cuba….” The Trump administration got help from an “asset” inside Maduro’s inner circle when it conducted its Jan. 3 raid to remove him from power. In that operation, U.S. forces killed 32 Cuban soldiers and intelligence operatives who were part of Maduro’s security force. “While the U.S. hasn’t publicly threatened to use military force in Cuba, Trump officials privately said the raid that extracted Maduro should serve as an implicit threat to Havana,” the Journal said. Analysts say Cuba could run out of oil within weeks, bringing the economy to a stop. But the Trump administration is also going after medical missions Cuba sends overseas that are an important source of hard currency. It’s doing so by methods including banning visas for Cuban and foreign officials involved in the medical missions. Officials said Trump and his top aides view toppling Cuba’s government as the defining test of his national security strategy to remake the hemisphere. The State Department said it’s the national security strategy of the United States that Cuba “be competently run by a democratic government" and it "refuse to host our adversaries’ military and intelligence services.” Russia and China are pledging to support Cuba, China by promising $80 million in aid and Russia with a visit to Cuba by its Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev. Journal reporters noted that Trump officials say he rejects regime change strategies of the past – “instead, he looks to make deals where possible and, to take advantage of opportunities as they come up….” However, it’s not clear what could come next in Cuba and who could replace the existing leadership, the Journal said. “Cuba is a single-party Stalinist state that bans political opposition and where a civil society barely exists, while Venezuela has an opposition movement, once frequent protests and elections.” The Cuban government has never been willing to negotiate changes to its political system. Former Obama administration official Ricardo Zúñiga “said there’s nobody who would be tempted to work on the U.S. side.” The government is still dominated by 94-year-old Raúl Castro, the brother of Fidel Castro. Its president, 65-year-old Miguel Diaz-Canel, is “an unpopular apparatchick” who runs day-to-day affairs. Cuba had a national day of defense Jan. 18 in which Cubans practiced “for a war of all the people” to repel an invasion. “This is a country that can’t pick up its garbage and is making believe it’s getting ready for a conflict with the superpower next door,” said Joe García, a Cuban-American former Democratic congressman from Florida. However, the Journal noted, “the regime has withstood years of intense U.S. pressure, from the Central Intelligence Agency-backed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 to a punishing embargo imposed in 1962 that became more stringent over time.”
“Mexico, Cuba’s Last Oil Lifeline, Weighs Cutting Shipments as U.S. Pressure Intensifies,” Miami Herald, Jan. 23, 2026
Mexico is undertaking a quiet review of whether to shut off all oil shipments to Cuba in line with the position of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging a complete embargo of the island. Venezuela, Cuba’s only other supplier of oil, has ended shipments since the U.S. removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Publicly, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has defended its shipments to the communist country to honor long-term contracts and provide what she says is a form of humanitarian aid. The Mexican presidency said in a statement to the Reuters news service that the country “has always been in solidarity with the people of Cuba,” and that both its oil shipments and a separate agreement to pay for Cuban medical services are “sovereign decisions.” Privately, senior officials say there is growing anxiety within Sheinbaum’s cabinet “that continuing the shipments could antagonize Trump at a delicate moment in U.S.-Mexico relations,” The Herald reported. Sheinbaum is trying to fend off any unilateral U.S. military action on Mexican soil. At the same time, it is trying to renegotiate some provisions of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade. And it’s trying to persuade President Trump that Mexico is doing enough to confront powerful Mexican drug cartels. “Those tensions came into sharper focus during a phone call last week between Trump and Sheinbaum,” The Herald said. “According to two sources familiar with the conversation, Trump questioned her directly about Mexico’s oil shipments to Cuba and the presence of thousands of Cuban doctors working in Mexio.” Trump didn’t specify that the wanted the oil shipments to stop but “the exchange was pointed enough to intensify debate inside Mexico City.” Some Trump administration officials think cutting off all oil to Cuba would be enough to bring down its communist government. But “others have pushed back, warning that total cutoff could trigger a severe humanitarian crisis, destabilize the Caribbean and fuel a new wave of migration.”
“Haiti’s Transitional Council Deepens Political Chaos by Voting to Oust the Prime Minister,” Associated Press, Jan. 23, 2026
The political crisis in Haiti grew worse Jan. 23 when a majority of the country’s transitional council voted to fire Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, according to one of the council’s members. The council’s move defied the call of the U.S. government to maintain stability in the leadership of the country. The council member, Edgard Leblanc Fils, said Fils-Aimé would be replaced within 30 days. Left uncertain was whether the current leader of the council, Laurent Saint-Cyr, supported the firing. Saint-Cyr had said earlier this week he opposed any move to undermine the stability of the government before Feb. 7 when the council is “provisionally” scheduled to step down, AP said.
“Firefighters Face Attacks, Drones and Arsonists While Battling Deadly Blazes in Chile,” Associated Press, Jan. 22, 2026
Those battling wildfires in Chile that have killed at least 21 people are dealing with other dangers too including drone collisions and physical attacks and threats to set new fires. A total of 8,500 firefighters are battling flames that are “among the worst tragedies in the country’s recent memory,” said AP reporter Nayara Batschke. The fires have burned 176 square miles of woodland and a handful of towns to ashes, and the death count is expected to rise. A total of 2,359 homes have been destroyed and hundreds of people have been forced to take refuge in makeshift shelters. Chilean President Gabriel Boric declared two days of national mourning. Authorities reported at least two attacks on firefighters, including one case in which a fire brigade was attacked with gunfire. Boric said those who attack firefighters will be punished to the full extent of the law. Another challenge was the presence of unauthorized civilizan drones, perhaps trying to film aerial videos. The drones can interfere with firefighting aircraft and have forced several planes to slow down their work. Also, some people are threatening to set fires. Boric said at least 70 people this fire season have been arrested for causing a fire or attempting to do so.
“Chevron Daunted by Venezuela Risks,” Wall Street Journal, Jan. 21, 2026
Chevron has longed pumped oil in Venezuela and is committed to doing so in the future but has little appetite for the big investments in the sector President Trump promised after attacking the country and removing strongman President Nicolás Maduro from power. Trump is pressuring U.S. companies to pour $100 billion into Venezuela’s run-down oil sector as soon as possible. “But a rapid escalation in oil investments isn’t in the cards, even for Chevron, the only U.S. oil company operating in the oil-rich Latin American country, people close to the company say,” according to Wall Street Journal correspondents Collin Eaton and Emily Glazer. Oil companies want a stable Venezuela and oil prices high enough to be profitable before they make big investments there, some of the people told the Journal. “Chevron’s caution shows how far Trump’s aspirations for a speedy Venezuelan oil revival are from what the U.S. oil industry considers to be a realistic timeline,” the reporters said. Trump wants his plan to bring U.S. oil prices down to $50 a barrel. “Under that scenario, the corresponding price tag on the heavy, viscous crude pumped in Venezuela would be in the high-30s range,” the Journal said. But “you can’t spend billions of dollars on oil that’s sub-$40. That doesn’t happen anywhere in the world,” said Amos Hochstein, a partner at the TWG Global investment firm, who was an energy adviser to President Joe Biden. A Trump administration official said more than a half-dozen oil producers are interested in new licenses to operate in Venezuela. Chevron has active operations in the country as is best positioned to do what Trump wants. However, executives say big investments right now are too risky to shareholders and there are better places to drill. The company has said it will quickly boost its Venezuelan output but hasn’t committed to an investment on the scale Trump wants. One question companies have is this: “To put it simply, is it even legal?” asked Barol Lamarre, the former head of trading at Malaysia’s national oil company Petronas. Oil company lawyers worry that they would be getting into uncertain legal territory since Venezuela would be signing contracts “under duress” from the Trump administration, he said.
“Latin America Mostly Praises Maduro Ouster,” New York Times, Jan. 22, 2026
Although some Latin Americans denounced what they regarded as imperialism in Venezuela, a majority endorsed the U.S. capture and removal of Nicolás Maduro from the country’s presidency. That’s the conclusion of New York Times reporter Emma Bubola based on several recent polls. “I am happy because I saw the fall of a dictator, and I am happy because my Venezuelan friends are happy,” Carlos Segura, a professor in Buenos Aires told The Times. Seventy-four percent of Peruvians approved of the capture, as did 63 percent of Chileans, as did a majority of Colombians, Brazilians, Argentines and Panamanians. The response in Mexico was more evenly split. According to Bubola, “whatever unhappiness exists towards Mr. Trump and his desire to project dominance over Latin America, a shift toward pragmatism is eclipsing old ideological loyalties, at least for now, experts said. That could certainly change if Mr. Trump follows through on threats to launch strikes, perhaps in Mexico or in South America, targeting what he says are drug cartels.” Many Latin Americans opposed Maduro’s regime and were affected by it. Of eight million Venezuelans who fled their country in recent years, nearly seven million went to Latin American countries, mostly Colombia and Peru, said the Migration Policy Institute. “In some nations, the influx has stretched budgets and angered locals who view the newcomers as competition for jobs and other services,” said Bubola. Harvard political scientist Steven Levitsky said three decades have gone by since the impact of the Cold War helped lead to U.S. meddling in Latin America and its backing of brutal dictatorships that deepened anti-American feeling. “There has been a pretty big generational change,” he said. “Many Latin Americans don’t remember that period.”
“The Real Purpose of ICE,” Anne Applebaum Opinion Piece, Substack, Jan. 10, 2026
Journalist Anne Applebaum argues that the Trump administration is making “radical, unprecedented changes to American institutions” and in so doing aims to transform the American political system. As part of the “Autocracy in America” podcast series she co-launched with the journalist Peter Pomerantsez, she describes “the transformation of ICE into a type of national police force.” The Trump administration isn’t simply using America’s immigration and customs agents for their usual purposes, but along with the National Guard, to project power – “to demonstrate that it can operate without restraint and in defiance of the law.” This was so “even before the horrific murder in Minneapolis this week,” referring to the killing of Renee Good. She says that “armed, unidentified men now roam the streets of some American cities,” and are “allowed to harass, arrest or even kill other Americans, as well as immigrants, with impunity.” She says “this kind of paramilitary force could have other uses in the future” such as intimidating people and preventing them from voting. Paraphrasing Margy O’Herron of the Brennan Center, she says most immigrants are only being charged with a civil offense if anything, but they are being treated by ICE much as if they are criminals. O’Herron: “They’re arresting them. They’re detaining them. And the Fourth Amendment and the Fifth Amendment still do apply to immigrants. They apply to immigrants in the same way they apply to citizens. There’s no distinction in the law. So without those things, ICE is arresting people and taking people out of the country without any kind of process, without alerting them that they’re going, without allowing them to talk to a lawyer – that is not lawful. It’s unconstitutional. Those rights exist and they should be protected.” O’Herron in Applebaum’s telling also described a sense coming from the top that agents taking these actions won’t face consequences; that oversight offices that ordinarily would be a check on needlessly aggressive agents are being cut; and that now only courts are a check. Liza Gotein of the Brennan Center, when asked by Applebaum if the purpose of troop deployment is just to make people afraid to participate in public life, said perhaps so: “I mean, it’s certainly the predictable effect of deploying the military on the streets on a sort of routinized basis – to change people’s behavior, so that they are afraid to exercise their rights, so that they do behave differently.”
“Guatemala Declares a State of Emergency to Address Gang Violence,” New York Times, Jan. 20, 2026
Following uprisings at prisons and the killing of eight police officers in recent days, the government of Guatemala has declared a state of emergency to crack down on gang violence. President Bernardo Arévalo said the state of emergency will last 30 days. It will give the national police and the army the power to act against gangs and organized crime, he said. Authorities blamed the killings of the police officers on gangs and said their attacks were retaliation for the police retaking control of the prisons. Arévalo “has said he plans to work with the F. B.I. and other U.S. agencies to combat drug gangs, who he says run the nation’s prisons and have unleashed a wave of violence in the Central American nation,” said Times reporter Yan Zhuang. The conservative establishment in Guatemala has fought most of the reforms sought by Arévalo since his surprise victory in 2023 to become president. He “has struggled to deliver on his promise to end corruption and rid the nation of drug cartels,” said Zhuang. Late last year Arévalo called for the overhaul of Guatemala’s prison system. Gangs are believed to operate unchecked there amid widespread bribery and corruption. Arévalo said “they rioted in the prisons and took hostages with the intention of making the state accept their demands, which for decades were granted.” He added that subsequent attacks were “an attempt to terrorize security forces and the population so that the government relents in its head-on fight against the gangs.”
“Spain Is Stunned After Rail Crash,” New York Times, Jan. 20, 2025
The high-speed train crash in southern Spain that killed at least 40 people the evening of Jan. 18 “left Spaniards in grief and in shock,” according to a report by Jason Horowitz, José Bautista, and Samuel Granados of The New York Times. It shook a country “that has come to depend [on], and take great pride in, its sprawling and efficient national rail system, the largest high-speed system in Europe and second-largest in the world, behind China.” The collision occurred when the last three cars of a high-speed train heading north to Madrid left the tracks and a second southbound train slammed into the cars that derailed. Neither train was speeding, officials said. “Spanish society is asking what happened, how it happened, and how this tragedy could have occurred,” said Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Spain’s transport minister, Óscar Puente, said experts were “extremely baffled” about the cause of the crash, which occurred on a straight stretch of track. He said investigators were evaluating whether a break in the section of track at the site of the derailment was a cause or the result of the derailment. The head of the Railway Accident Investigation Commission said the crash didn’t appear to be caused by human error or a problem with signals and offered that the cause could involve “the interaction between the track and the vehicle.” The collision left bodies hundreds of yards from the wreckage and some of the dead too difficult to recognize. Spaniards regularly use the national rail network. In a country of almost 50 million people, more than 40 million passengers traveled on its high-speed rail carriers in 2024, a 77 percent increase over 2019. The railway driver’s union asked the state-owned rail operator and the government’s railway safety agency in August to look at possible flaws in railway lines across Spain, including where the crash occurred. The union said railway infrastructure has deteriorated because of increased traffic. In an online story on the crash, The Times reported that Santiago Abascal, the leader of the hard-right Vox party, blamed the Sánchez government. "Nothing works under corruption and deceit," he said. But the leader of the
"Top Catholic Clerics Denounce U.S. Foreign Policy,” New York Times, Jan. 19, 2026
The three highest-ranking Catholic clerics who lead archdioceses in the United States issued a statement Jan. 19 saying the country’s “moral role in confronting evil around the world” is in question, said Times reporter Ruth Graham. This is so for the first time in decades, said the archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Blase Cupich; the archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Robert McElroy; and the archbishop of Newark, Cardinal Joseph Tobin. “Their critique of the Trump administration’s principles – while not mentioning President Trump by name – escalates the American Catholic Church’s denunciations of the country’s top leaders,” wrote Graham. In the statement, partly inspired by their recent meeting with Pope Leo XIV, the clerics said the U.S. has entered “the most profound and searing debate about the moral foundation for America’s actions in the world since the end of the Cold War.” They said recent events in Venezuela, Ukraine and Greenland raised fundamental questions about the use of military force. They called for a “genuinely moral foreign policy” in which “military action must be seen only as a last resort in extreme situations, not a normal instrument of national policy.” Pope Leo has emphasized the sovereignty of Venezuela and urged dialogue over violence. In meetings with other cardinals from around the world, the three Americans were struck by a sense alarm over some of the actions being undertaken by the United States, Cupich told The Times. Among the things that distressed them were the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which shut off assistance to the poorest countries in the world. “The sovereign rights of nations to self-determination appear all too fragile in a world of ever greater conflagrations,” the three U.S. cardinals said.
“U.S. Threatens Cuba’s Stability by Choking Off Venezuelan Oil,” New York Times, Jan. 19, 2026
Cuba desperately needs oil to keep the lights on and its buses, trains and factories running, experts say. But with the Trump administration’s control over the supply of Venezuelan oil, “Cuba is receiving only a trickle of the oil it needs – a shortage experts warn is increasingly likely to trigger a humanitarian crisis unlike any the country has ever experienced,” says Times reporter Frances Robles. Cuba had been getting 100,000 barrels of Venezuelan oil a day, an amount that more recently has dropped to 35,000 barrels a day. Losing that will be a catastrophe, says Jorge R. Piñon, a former oil executive who is now a researcher at the energy institute at the University of Texas. “The chain of events is that the Cuban economy literally collapses, there is no food in the markets, the trains are not moving, the buses are not moving,” he said. Even with Venezuelan oil Cuba has experienced at least two dozen widespread long-lasting blackouts in the past two years, said Juan A.B. Belt, an economist who studies the oil industry. “Without power, many people also do not have running water,” says Robles. A government TV and radio broadcast station in central Cuba announced it had been off the air for several days because it lacked diesel to power the station. Piñon, the former oil executive, said Mexico had been sending about 22,000 barrels a day, a figure that dropped to about 7,000 a day at the end of 2025. This month Cuba received a shipment of 85,000 barrels from Mexico. Although President Trump has declared that there will be no more oil for Cuba, “the United States, for now, will not pressure Mexico to reduce or cut off shipments to Cuba to avoid worsening conditions there, according to an administration official who was not authorized to speak publicly,” says Robles. Trump has urged Cuba’s communist government to “make a deal” or suffer the consequences.
European Union and Mercosur Bloc of South American Nations Sign Landmark Free Trade Agreement,” Associated Press, Jan. 17, 2026
After more than 25 years of negotiations, the European Union and the Mercosur bloc of South American nations have signed an agreement to create one of the world’s largest free trade zones. The Mercosur countries that signed are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The agreement “marks a major geopolitical victory for the EU in an age of American tariffs and surging Chinese exports, expanding the bloc’s foothold in a resource-rich region increasingly contested by Washington and Beijing,” said AP reporter Nayara Batschke. “It also sends a message that South American keeps diverse trade and diplomatic relations even as U.S. President Donald Trump declares dominance in the Western Hemisphere.” The agreement was sought by South America’s cattle-raising countries and European industries seeking new markets for cars and machines. It “makes shopping cheaper for more than 700 million customers,” Batschke said. But the agreement must still be ratified by the European Parliament. Powerful protectionist lobbies have long sought to prevent the agreement. For example, European farmers fear the possible dumping of cheap South American agricultural imports.
“US Gets First $500 Million Oil Deal, Holding Some Proceeds in Qatar,” Semafor, Jan. 14, 2026
According to an administration official, the Trump administration’s first sale of Venezuelan oil is valued at $500 million, Semafor said in what it called an exclusive report. The main account for the proceeds is in Qatar, said a second administration official. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said recently that his agency will oversee the accounts holding the money and then at the direction of President Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio “be in charge of the disbursement that goes back into Venezuela.” Trump has signed an executive order giving some details on how the administration plans to block courts or creditors from getting any revenue from the oil sales. “Venezuela owes international bondholders, oil companies and others as much as much as $170 billion – one reason why U.S. firms have been reluctant to help rebuild the country’s infrastructure,” Semafor said. “There is no basis in law for a president to set up an offshore account that he controls so that he can sell assets seized by the American military,” said Democratic U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. “That is precisely a move that a corrupt politician would be attracted to.” Peter Farrell, a former Biden administration official, said that broadly speaking it would make sense to place the proceeds at private banks in the U.S. A large such bank could monitor for corruption, he said. An example of that could be a Venezuelan official saying some of the money should go for buying wheat from a given company and it turns out the official was getting a kickback for that, Farrell suggested.
“The U.S. is Pressing Mexico to Allow U.S. Forces to Fight Cartels,” New York Times, Jan. 15, 2026
The U.S. is stepping up pressure on Mexico to agree to joint operations in which American forces would participate in raids on fentanyl labs inside Mexico, with Mexican forces in the lead, commanding the missions and making key decisions. U.S. forces “would be in support, providing intelligence and advice to frontline Mexican troops,” said Times reporters Maria Abi-Habib, Julian E. Barnes, Eric Schmitt and Tyler Pager. Mexican officials have countered with proposals that include increased information sharing and the U.S. playing a greater role inside command centers. “We have highly trained Army units and special forces,” said Mexico’s head of security Omar Garcia Harfuch last month in an interview. “What would they be needed for?” he said regarding U.S. forces. “What we need is information.” The Times said “Mexican officials are under pressure to reach an agreement, as some American officials would like to see the U.S. military or C.I.A. conduct drone strikes against suspected drug labs, a violation of Mexican sovereignty that would significantly weaken the government.”
“Maria Corina Machado Presents Trump With Her Nobel Peace Prize Medal,” The Guardian, Jan. 15, 2026
After organizers of the Nobel peace prize announced earlier in the week the honor could not be shared, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she gave it to President Trump during a meeting with him Jan. 15 in the White House. She said she had done so “in recognition [of] his unique commitment [to] our freedom.” Guardian reporters Tom Phillips and Hugo Lowell noted that “opposition supporters hoped Trump would recognize the 58-year-old conservative politician as Venezuela’s new leader after [Venezuelan President Nicolás] Maduro’s downfall but instead he gave the nod to the dictator’s second-in-command, the Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez, who was subsequently sworn in as acting president.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters after the meeting that Trump’s decision not to recognize Machado as president has not changed. Trump had said she would not command sufficient respect to lead Venezuela even though her stand-in candidate Edmundo González won the 2024 presidential election by a wide margin according to independent analysts. Leavitt said Rodríguez and other key members of her “interim administration” were being “extremely cooperative,” according to the Guardian reporters. “They have thus far met all the demands and the requests of the United States and of the president,” she said. She noted the release this week of five U.S. citizens from Venezuelan jails. She said Trump was committed to “hopefully” seeing new elections in Venezuela “one day.” Rodríguez maintained a strongly critical tone toward Maduro’s abduction by U.S. forces while also signaling cooperation with Trump. In an annual state of the union address delivered in Caracas on Maduro’s behalf, Rodríguez termed Trump’s invasion of Venezuela “the greatest ever stain on U.S.-Venezuela relations.” But she also “indicated she was keen to reboot U.S.-Venezuela ties,” the Guardian reporters said.
“Republicans Block a Measure That Would Check Trump’s War Powers,” New York Times, Jan. 15, 2026
Senate Republicans blocked a resolution Jan. 14 requiring congressional approval for any military action related to Venezuela, after five of them voted last week to let it come to the Senate floor, apparently clearing the way for its passage. Of the five, two – Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana – reversed themselves. The other three – Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski of Maine – stuck to their previous votes to let the resolution come up for a vote. President Trump had railed at the “stupidity” of the five GOP senators and said they should lose their seats in Congress. “White House officials and GOP leaders had been pressing the five defectors to change their votes,” said Post reporters Robert Jimison and Megan Mineiro. As part of that effort, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized that the U.S. operation to remove President Nicolás Maduro from the Venezuelan presidency was limited in scope and said there are currently no U.S. armed forces in Venezuela. The Post reporters added that Rubio “also said that any future military actions that placed American forces into hostilities would be undertaken ‘consistent with the Constitution’ and that Congress would be notified in accordance with the War Powers Resolution.” Those notifications have only been made after the operations were carried out, however, including dozens of fatal strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean and the operation to capture Maduro. The resolution would have required the “removal of United States armed forces from hostilities within or against Venezuela that have not been authorized by Congress.” Hawley said Rubio’s assurances about following the Constitution and notifying Congress were enough to change his vote. Young said he changed his mind because he secured “fairly extensive personal assurances related to our future intentions in Venezuela.” Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia rejected the idea that the U.S. military is no longer involved in Venezuela. “There are U.S. military seizing Venezuelan oil every day,” he said. “There’s U.S. military striking Venezuelans on boats in the water every day. We’re not occupying their country without the military. We just went in and deposed their government. We are controlling who governs the country. We are controlling when Venezuelans are entitled to have elections again. We’re controlling their chief economic asset. That’s all being done by the U.S. military.”
“Political Prisoner’s Kin Wait for Phone to Ring,” New York Times, Jan 15, 2026
When Nélda Sánchez received an urgent phone call saying her boyfriend had suffered a heart attack, she rushed to the hospital with her mother. When she got there several men forced her out of the car and took her away. More than 16 months later, she is in the Heliocide, a prison in Caracas that human rights groups say is a torture center, according to Isayen Herrera and Emiliano Rodríguez Mega of The Times. “I haven’t slept, waiting for the phone on my nightstand to ring,” said her mother, Nélida de Verenzuela. “Waiting for the call to tell me to go pick her up.” Many family members have felt hope after the Venezuelan government announced last week it would release an “important number” of political prisoners. Hundreds of them have been waiting for that release, but so far the releases have just come a few at a time. A man packed a bag and flew to Caracas, “desperate to reunite with his father. A woman stood outside a prison in Caracas for hours waiting to see her friend,” The Times said. The country’s prison system said Jan. 12 that 166 had been released since the announcement but the human rights group Foro Penal confirmed only 56 releases. There are an estimated 800 to 900 political prisoners in Venezuela but the prospect for total amnesty is unclear. Former Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, now the interim president, oversaw the agency responsible for most political arrests. But the person key to whether people will be released may be Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello. In the case of Ms. Sánchez, she was the architect of a training program for thousands of election monitors who secured tally sheets for Venezuela’s 2024 president election widely viewed to have been won by opposition candidate Edmundo González and to have been stolen by President Nicolás Maduro who refused to step down. Ms. Sánchez was charged with unlawful association, incitement to hatred, conspiracy, terrorism and treason, according to the nonprofit group Súmate.
“Rubio Says Court Hearings No Longer Possible for Deported Venezuelans,” Washington Post, Jan. 13, 2026
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Jan. 12 that the Trump administration cannot comply with the order of a federal judge that it provide deported Venezuelans the opportunity to challenge their removals in American court. Rubio said in a court filing that it would be impossible to do so after U.S. forces deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this month, said Post reporter Salvador Rizzo. Rubio said that efforts to bring 137 of the more than 250 deportees back from Venezuela, or to arrange remote hearings from Venezuela, “would risk material damage to U.S. foreign policy interests in Venezuela.” Rubio said “the United States remains involved to see changes in Venezuela that are beneficial to the United States and that it also expects will be beneficial for the people of Venezuela, who have suffered tremendously. These efforts entail ongoing, intensive and extraordinarily delicate engagement with elements within the regime of Maduro’s successor, so-called Acting President Delcy Rodríguez.” The administration previously refused to comply with another order by the judge in the case, Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of the District of Colombia. Venezuelan deportees were sent to El Salvador despite an order by Boasberg not to do so. Rubio said the United States does not know the whereabouts of the deported Venezuelans Boasberg ordered be given an opportunity for a hearing. Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union and the Democracy Forward Foundation said the deported migrants face persecution and serious harm in Venezuela because the Trump administration unlawfully deported them without the opportunity for a hearing. Boasberg is conducting an inquiry into whether administration officials should face contempt-of-court charges for not following his earlier order.
“Costa Rica’s Security Director Says Plot to Assassinate President Uncovered,” Associated Press, Jan. 13, 2026
The head of national security in Costa Rica disclosed details Jan. 13 of an alleged plot to assassinate President Rodrigo Chaves ahead of presidential and legislative elections. Jorge Torres, director of the Intelligence and National Security Directorate, said a call was received from a woman who reported a supposed plot against Chaves including a payment to a hitman. “Torres also reported that security was being reinforced for the conservative populist leader, who has sought to present himself as a politician who is tough on crime,” said Javier Cordoba of the Associated Press. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele was scheduled to visit Costa Rica as Torres spoke to journalists. Chaves is scheduled to lay the cornerstone Jan. 14 of a mega-prison Costa Rica plans to build modeled on a facility built by Bukele. Presidential elections and legislative elections are scheduled for Feb. 1. Chaves isn’t eligible to run for reelection but Laura Fernández of the ruling party is among the presidential candidates.
“Politicians’ Flip-Flops Can Be an Issue. In Brazil, Flip-Flops Are an Issue,” New York Times, Dec. 26, 2025
Flip-flops are in the middle of a political firestorm in Brazil. “Millions of people slip on the ubiquitous sandals – made by the Brazilian company Havaianas – to go to the beach or lounge at home, to run errands or meet friends at the bar,” writes Times reporter Ana Ionova. But the footwear became a partisan issue when the company launched an ad campaign featuring the popular Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres, who became a global star and a progressive icon for her performance in “I’m Still Here.” The Oscar-winning film depicted the resistance to Brazil’s brutal military dictatorship. Instead of the popular expression of good luck urging others to start the New Year “on the right foot,” Torres in a Havaianas commercial urges, “Start the new year with both feet – both feet in the door, both feet on the road, both feet in the game.” The commercial “struck a nerve among conservative Brazilians who saw it as a thinly veiled attempt to urge Brazilians not to vote for right-wing candidates,” says Ionova of The Times. Prominent right-wingers including the sons of former President Jair Bolsonaro “saw the advertisement as political messaging aimed at their movement ahead of what is likely to be a momentous presidential election” in 2026. Bolsonaro remains a powerful force even though his conviction for launching a coup against President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva excludes him from office for life. One of his sons is expected to challenge Lula for office in 2026. Now there’s a boycott against Havaianas among those on the right. Outside one of the company’s stores in Rio de Janeiro, a 73-year-old doctor, Cristina Galvão, scoffed that “everyone wears them – but won’t anymore. We’re boycotting them to show that this advertisement is ridiculous. It’s shameful leftist propaganda.” Rosileia Moreira, a 49-year-old human resources worker, saw nothing political in the ad. “This is not the left or the right,” she said. “To put on a pair of flip-flops and enjoy the beach, that’s Brazil.”
“U.S. Allows Mexico to Provide Oil to Cuba despite Trump’s Vow to Cut Off Supply,” CBS News, Jan. 12, 2026
The U.S. is allowing Mexico to keep providing oil to Cuba even though President Trump declared on social media Jan. 11 that “there will be no more oil or money going to Cuba – period.” So said U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and another U.S. official, according to Margaret Brennan of CBS News. “Cuba desperately needs the oil, since Venezuela is no longer supplying it, after Nicolás Maduro’s ouster just over a week ago,” she noted. Trump spoke with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum the morning of Jan. 12 and it’s unclear whether Mexico’s supply of oil to Cuba was discussed. A U.S. official said that the Trump administration isn’t trying to trigger a collapse of the Cuban government but rather aims to negotiate with it to transition away from its authoritarian communist system. Trump’s Jan. 11 social media post warned Cuba to make a deal “before it is too late.” Trump later shared a post predicting U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio would be the next president of Cuba. Cuba President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez replied that “as history demonstrates, relations between the U.S. and Cuba, in order to advance, must be based on International Law rather than on hostility, threats and economic coercion.”
“Garbage”: How Trump Used to Talk About Venezuelan Oil,” Mother Jones, Jan. 9, 2026
“The US is going to extreme lengths to control oil that Trump used to regularly disparage,” says Mother Jones reporter Noah Lanard. During the 2024 presidential campaign he regularly disparaged Venezuelan crude oil, calling it “horrible,” “tar,” “the dirtiest stuff you can imagine,” said Lanard. He said it is the “worst oil probably anywhere in the world.” But now Trump is calling his removal of Nicolás Maduro a move in large part to seize the oil. He has suggested he is willing to send in more US troops to keep control of it and is no longer warning that it will pollute the air of American communities when it is refined in the United States. He’s referring to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil to be sent to the United States as “high quality.” The New York Times reported Jan. 5 (“Venezuela’s ‘Dirtiest’ Oil and the Environment: Three Things to Know”) that, according to Clayton Siegle of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Venezuelan oil is viscous and thick and has higher sulfur and carbon content. Extracting it also requires more energy, generating far more carbon dioxide emissions. Lisa Friedman of the Times reported that “studies have shown that the production of heavy oils, including those from Venezuela, can generate three to four times as much greenhouse gas than the production of conventional oil.” Venezuelan oil production involves a great amount of “flaring,” the release of methane and carbon dioxide. “Methane traps about 80 times as much heat in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide in the short term and is responsible for nearly a third of the rise in global temperatures since the start of the Industrial Revolution,” Friedman wrote. Numerous oil spills in Venezuela imperil its mangroves, corals and marine life.
“Trump ‘Inclined’ to Exclude Exxon,” Wall Street Journal, Jan. 12, 2026
President Trump said he might prevent Exxon Mobil from drilling in Venezuela after its CEO said in a Jan. 9 meeting at the White House with oil executives that the country in its present state is “uninvestable.” Trump told reporters on Air Force One Jan. 11 “I’ll probably be inclined to keep Exxon out,” said Journal reporter Annie Linsky. Trump said regarding the comment by chief executive Darren Woods, “I didn’t like their response. They’re playing too cute.” Other companies want to invest in Venezuela, Trump said. Exxon didn’t respond to a request for comment.
“Trump Promises Oil Executives ‘Total Safety’ if They Invest in Venezuela After Maduro Ouster,” Associated Press, Jan. 9, 2026
President Donald Trump urged oil executives Jan. 9 to return to Venezuela while saying he plans to obtain $100 billion in investments to strengthen the country’s neglected oil production capacity. Executives who met with Trump said they were interested in the possibility but voiced caution because of past asset seizures in the country, said AP reporters Josh Boak and Aamer Madhani. “If we look at the commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela, today it’s un-investable,” said the CEO of ExxonMobil, Darren Woods. Trump said “you have total safety. You’re dealing with us directly and not dealing with Venezuela at all.” He said “our giant oil companies will be spending a least $100 billion of their money, not the government’s money.” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said after the meeting that the companies showed “tremendous interest.” The same day, the U.S. seized a fifth oil tanker to dictate the flow of Venezuelan oil. The governments of the United States and Venezuela also said Jan. 9 they were exploring restoring diplomatic relations. Trump also announced he will meet with María Corina Machado, the leader of the Venezuelan opposition party either Jan. 13 or 14. He has also said he’ll meet in early February with leftist Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
“States Move to Rein In ICE After Fatal Minnesota Shooting,” Politico, Jan. 11, 2026
Lawmakers in blue states are increasing their efforts to reshape immigration enforcement after the killing of a Minnesota woman by an immigration agent, say Politico reporters Daniel Han and Shia Kapos. “From California to New York and Illinois to New Jersey, they’re pushing a range of bills aimed at limiting enforcement and protecting people targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while turning up the rhetoric with comparisons to the Gestapo,” they write. New York State Sen. Pat Fahy sponsored a bill that would bar ICE agents from wearing masks and another that would create a state dashboard tracking the activity of immigration officials. A Democratic state senator in Illinois has introduced a bill that would prevent anyone hired by ICE under Trump from getting employment in state or local law enforcement. In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul indicated she’ll support legislation allowing residents to bring civil lawsuits against federal immigration officials for violations of the Constitution. A lawmaker in Tennessee has introduced a bill that would bar federal immigration enforcement actions on school property. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said that ICE officers face a huge increase in the number of assaults because of “dangerous, untrue smears from elected Democrats. ICE officers act heroically to enforce the law and protect American communities with the utmost professionalism. Anyone pointing the finger at law enforcement officers instead of the criminals are simply doing the bidding of criminal illegal aliens.”
“Trump Says U.S. Oversight of Venezuela Could Last for Years,” New York Times, Jan. 8, 2026
In an extensive interview with New York Times reporters President Trump said he expects the United States will be running Venezuela and taking oil from its vast reserves for years. He said the interim government of Maduro loyalists is “giving us everything that we feel is necessary” following the U.S. military action to seize Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife and take them to New York to stand trial on criminal charges for drug trafficking. Trump said the U.S. would be in charge of Venezuela for much more than a year. “We will rebuild it in a very profitable way,” he told the Times. “We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil. We’re getting oil prices down, and we’re going to be giving money to Venezuela, which they desperately need.” Trump would not answer questions about why he did not back opposition leader Maria Corina Machado for the presidency and instead recognizes Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, as interim leader. During the interview Trump took a call from Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who Trump has threatened with military action based on charges that he is trafficking cocaine. The call “appeared to dissipate any immediate threat of U.S. military action, and Mr. Trump indicated he believed that the decapitation of the Maduro regime had intimidated other leaders in the region to fall in line,” the Times said. Trump dictated a social media post after the call with Petro saying the Colombian president had called to explain the situation concerning drugs coming out of rural cocaine mills in Colombia and that Trump had invited him to visit Washington.
“U.S. Seizes Two Tankers as Venezuelan Oil Blockade Intensifies,” Washington Post, Jan. 7, 2026
The United States Jan. 7 seized a Russian-flagged tanker after weeks of pursuit across the Atlantic and, in a separate operation the same day, a second vessel near the Caribbean Sea. The moves were the latest examples of enforcement of the Trump administration’s blockade of Venezuelan oil exports, said Post reporters Tara Copp, Meg Kelly and Joyce Sohyun Lee. Moscow condemned the seizure of the Russian-flagged tanker near Iceland. “No state has the right to use force against ships properly registered in the jurisdictions of other states,” it said. U.S. officials said without elaborating that the second tanker, called the Sophia, was carrying out “illicit activities.” The U.S. Coast Guard, which led both seizures, was escorting the Sophia to the United States. The United States has declared that it now controls Venezuela’s oil supply and will decide who benefits from its sale. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem said the seizures were needed to “disrupt the funding of narco terrorism.” Emory University professor Mark Nevitt, an expert on the law of the sea, said the U.S. lacks legal authority to board a vessel if it is clearly Russian-flagged and there is no question about its status. But he said the U.S. may be claiming the vessel it seized is operating under multiple flags.
“U.S. Vows to Control Venezuela Oil Sales ‘Indefinitely,’” Washington Post, Jan. 7, 2026
The United States will take control of all flows of Venezuelan oil for the foreseeable future, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Jan. 7. It will do so while it struggles to persuade U.S. companies to spend heavily on drilling operations in Venezuela. Wright said the United States will allow sanctioned Venezuelan oil to flow again but only to U.S. refineries, said Post reporter Evan Halper. Sales “will be done by the U.S. government and deposited into accounts controlled by the U.S. government,” he said. “From there, those funds can flow back into Venezuela to benefit the Venezuelan people,” he said. Control of oil sales will be needed to “drive the changes that must happen in Venezuela.” President Donald Trump announced Jan. 6 that tens of millions of barrels of Venezuelan oil now blocked by a U.S. embargo will be sent to U.S. refineries. “Wright framed the effort as crucial to re-establishing a viable oil industry in Venezuela,” wrote Halper. The revenue could go to rebuilding badly rotting oil infrastructure and to draw companies in to invest in Venezuela. Some analysts said that if sanctions were lifted, market forces would already guide the oil to U.S. refineries because they are designed to handle heavy Venezuelan crude. Taxpayer-funded U.S. subsidies could be used as an incentive for companies to pump oil in Venezuela. Halper notes however that Trump “faces a steep challenge persuading firms to drill in a politically and economically unstable country that has burned them in the past by expropriating assets worth billions and then leaving U.S.-built oil infrastructure to rot.”
Fear Grips Caracas As a New Wave of Repression Is Unleashed in Venezuela, Washington Post, Jan 6, 2026
Dread and uncertainty replaced feelings of joy in Venezuela Jan. 5 as the government moved quickly to suppress public support for the ouster of Nicolás Maduro as president. Although the country had a new leader, interim President Delcy Rodríguez, “the old power structure remained in place,” said Washington Post reporter María Luisa Paūl. It launched “a nationwide crackdown that has included the detention of journalists, the arrest of civilians and the deployment of armed gangs across the capital.” Senior military leaders pledged their support of Rodríguez, who served as Maduro’s vice president and who the Trump administration said it would coerce into carrying out its orders if need be. At least 14 journalists and media workers were detained, most held for several hours and then released with several reporting that counterintelligence officers had searched their phones. National, state and municipal police forces were ordered to immediately search for and arrest anyone promoting or supporting the armed attack by the United States. The order suspended the right to protest and authorized restrictions on movements and assembly. Paramilitary groups called “colectivos” set up checkpoints with residents describing being pulled over, questioned and being forced to hand over their phones. “Some said the armed men scrolled through their messages and social media, looking for anything that could be construed as support for the U.S. raid,” Paūl said. A Caracas resident said people were texting each other routes to avoid, including places where cars were being stopped with machine guns. President Trump said Jan. 6 that the government planned to shut down El Helicoide, a detention center long used to hold and torture dissidents, according to rights groups. One group, Foro Penal, said more than 860 political prisoners were in state custody. A 30-year-old Caracas man said “all I see is the same people who destroyed my country still in power. They’re still persecuting us. And we’re still afraid.” Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado told Fox News that the government crackdown is “really alarming” and called for international monitoring of the situation. She called Rodríguez “one of the main architects of torture, persecution [and] corruption.”
“Seeming to Pivot, Rubio Says U.S. Will Not ‘Run’ Venezuela,” New York Times, Jan. 5, 2026
After President Trump the day before said the United States would “run” Venezuela, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared Jan. 4 to pivot away from that statement, saying it would force the remaining government of deposed President Nicolás Maduro to do what it wants by blocking sales of oil if need be. New York Times reporter Edward Wong said Rubio “did not lay out a plan for a U.S. occupation authority, like the one that the George W. Bush administration put in place during the Iraq war, but instead spoke of coercing a Venezuelan government run by allies of the jailed leader Nicolás Maduro to make policy changes.” Rubio said people were “fixating” on Trump’s statement that the U.S. would run Venezuela when “it’s running policy” instead. He said Trump could still put U.S. forces on the ground in Venezuela as leverage. A White House official said Trump aides “will continue to diplomatically engage” with the current leadership, Wong reported. Venezuelan officials continued to voice fierce resistance to the U.S. The government defense minister, Vladimir Padrino López, gave a speech demanding the return of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores from detention in New York City. “Our sovereignty has been violated and breached,” he said. A senior Venezuelan official said that by Jan. 4 his government’s count of soldiers and civilians killed during the U.S. incursion had reached 80. Trump said Jan. 3 that “we’re going to be taking out a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground,” referring to Venezuelan oil, which he has said has been “stolen” from the U.S. The remarks by Rubio and Trump “over the weekend suggested that the administration intended to force [interim President Darcy Rodríguez] to allow American oil companies to invest and operate in the country under favorable conditions,” wrote Wong. “The statements by the two men amount to an explicit declaration of gunboat diplomacy and an embrace of the kind of 19th-century U.S. imperialist policy in the Western Hemisphere that has been criticized across Latin America.” Asked Jan. 4 whether the U.S. could work with Rodríguez, Rubio said “we’re going to make an assessment on the basis of what they do, not what they say publicly….” Rubio also said that the U.S. plans to ensure that Venezuela stops trafficking drugs.
“Trump Team Puts a Target on Cuba, With Threats and Oil Blockade,” Washington Post, Jan. 6, 2026
No place was rocked harder than Cuba by shock waves from the U.S. seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro the morning of Jan. 3. “Within hours of the operation – long before the government in Havana acknowledged it – phone calls and texts across the island spread the news that dozens of elite Cuban security forces had been killed guarding Maduro,” said Post reporters Karen DeYoung and David Ovalle. Late Jan. 4 the Cuban government released a statement saying 32 of its military and security personnel were dead in Caracas. By then it had a bigger problem. U.S. President Donald Trump and his Secretary of State Marco Rubio made clear that the collapse of the communist government in Cuba was not just a probable side benefit of the ouster of Maduro but a goal. Trump said Cuba looked ready to fall because of that removal and the cutoff to that country of Venezuelan oil. Rubio indicated that the U.S. might not just watch but make a push to collapse the government. He didn’t elaborate but said “If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I’d be concerned.” Those words brought joy to Cuban exiles in Miami. “Now the time has come…for the Castro communist and socialist assassin regime to be held accountable as well, and for the Cuban people to finally be free,” said Miami-Dade’s tax collector, Dariel Fernandez. But there was doubt among Cuba experts about whether a collapse would occur on its own. “If you’re asking if the Cuban government will just collapse on its own because the economic pain is bound to increase” without Venezuelan oil, “I’m very skeptical,” said Michael J. Bustamente, director of the Cuban studies program at the University of Miami. Cuba survived the abrupt cutoff of assistance in 1991 after the Soviet Union fell, he noted. Juan Gonzalez, who served on Biden’s national security staff, said cutting off Venezuelan oil “is going to put a huge squeeze on the humanitarian situation” in Cuba, already suffering from electrical blackouts and food shortages. “But I don’t think the regime is going to cry uncle.” The Cuban government has broached changes including an expanded role for the private sector but “the problem is they don’t do it,” said Carlos Alzugaray, a retired Cuban diplomat reached in Havana. “The essence is opening to market economics, allowing expansion of the private sector, and eliminating or selling socialist state enterprises that don’t produce….they have to do it fast. They have lost too much time.” But experts doubt that the Cuban government of President Manuel Díaz-Canel will do that. Regarding Cubans themselves, Alzugaray said “I wouldn’t think that people are so desperate that they will welcome an American intervention or a group of Miami Cubans taking over. What people want is the Cuban government to change, but in Cuban terms, not imposed from the outside.”
“What Maduro’s Ouster Means for Mass Deportation Campaign,” Washington Post, Jan. 4, 2026
Now that President Trump has removed the dictator of Venezuela from power, will the millions who fled the country because of his mismanagement of the economy and brutal political repression actually return? Maybe – but it’s not clear that they will, and the answer may not be known for quite some time. Washington Post reporters Teo Armus, Sabrina Rodriguez, Marianne LeVine and Maria Sacchetti conclude in their report that whether the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro “helps or harms Trump’s quest to deport large numbers of Venezuelan migrants is far from certain.” They say that “in the short term, many are unlikely to return while Maduro’s allies remain in power and the nation’s economy in shambles.” The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency will likely need to hold off on deportations to Venezuela to protect officers while the situation remains unstable, they say. In the long run, “some might return if they see genuine change in Venezuela. But if the country descends into deeper calamity, immigration experts warn it could also spark a new exodus.” Colombia moved right away to strengthen its border with its neighbor Venezuela after the U.S. military action to remove Maduro. Bill Frelick of Human Rights Watch told the Post that “this could be just the beginning of a round of violence and conflict and turmoil that could result in people not returning – at least not voluntarily – or turning right around and fleeing all over again.” In Iraq, he noted, the U.S.- led invasion and takeover and eventual capture of Saddam Hussein only led to another exodus of people. Venezuelans might want to leave their country because of political instability, more U.S. military action or a sharp crackdown by Maduro’s political allies. An estimated 500,000 Venezuelans now face deportation in U.S. immigration courts. Samir Luzardo, a Venezuelan exile who is an independent journalist living in South Florida, said he sees what Trump did as “the start for a massive return. But he said it would be a mistake to think Venezuelans are going to return just because Maduro is out of power. “If the Trump administration focuses on helping Venezuela carry out free and fair elections and rebuilding security, many Venezuelans will return home without the need for deportation, he said.” Luzardo said he’d tell Trump, “’Stop persecuting us; set the conditions for a return and there will be full flights of Venezuelans in New York, Miami, Madrid and elsewhere going back.”
“Trump Says U.S. Is ‘In Charge’ of Venezuela and Warns Interim Leader to Cooperate,” NBC News, Jan. 5, 2026
President Donald Trump said late Jan. 4 that “we’re in charge” of Venezuela and warned interim leader Delcy Rodríguez that her fate will be “probably worse” than that of captured President Nicholas Maduro if she does not go along. After voicing defiance in response to Trump administration statements that she would be cooperative, Rodríguez struck a more diplomatic tone, said NBC reporters Megan Lebowitz and Alexander Smith. She extended an invitation to work with the U.S. “on an agenda of cooperation” and “within the framework of international law.” Trump threatened military action against Colombia, drawing a backlash from its president, Gustavo Petro, and said Cuba’s government was “just going to fall” without any immediate U.S. plans to intervene there [Daily Express U.S. quoted Petro as saying “come get me, I’m waiting” and “don’t threaten me.” Trump in threatening military action against Petro said “He’s making cocaine” and sending it to the U.S. Trump also threatened military intervention in Mexico unless it makes changes to curb drug trafficking.] Trump reiterated his desire to take over Greenland, “drawing widespread pushback including from NATO ally Denmark, which governs the Arctic Island nation,” NBC said. Regarding the issue of a new election in Venezuela, Trump said “we’re going to run it, fix it. We’ll have elections at the right time.”
“In Exile, Venezuelans Greet Maduro’s Fall With Joy – And Fear of What Comes Next,” Washington Post, Jan. 3, 2026
The Trump administration’s seizure and removal from power of the country’s brutally repressive president, Nicolás Maduro, touched off joyful celebrations by Venezuelans in exile Jan. 3 – but at the same time fueled anxiety. Hundreds gathered in the Miami suburb of Doral as the news spread, “to dance, cheer and wave Venezuelan flags,” wrote Post reporters David Ovalle, María Luisa Paúl and Arelis R. Hernández. Cars streamed by honking horns. “Salsa blared from loudspeakers as people shook their hips in joy.” Twenty-nine-year-old Gercimar Botia, who two years ago crossed a dangerous jungle with her children to seek asylum in the United States, cried “I’m so happy – my country is finally liberated.” Venezuelans in cities across the United States gathered to celebrate. But the U.S. military intervention and the “continued presence of Maduro allies in the government also stirred their anxiety,” the Post reporters said. Maduro officials and his son “assured Venezuelans that Maduro left behind a plan that ensures their uninterrupted authority over state affairs.” Exiles met with some skepticism President Trump ‘s statement that Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, had become the new president and would be willing to do what the Trump administration wanted. One activist warned that “there are so many other Maduros around Maduro.” Jose Vergara, who heads a chapter in the U.S. of the Venezuelan opposition party, Vente Venezuela, said “there is a lot of uncertainty. But there is calm and confidence in what is happening. The Trump administration understands that this whole regime needs to go, for us to return.” Other Venezuelans were more cautious, saying Venezuela remains volatile and the situation there is unresolved. Ana Gil Garcia, the leader of a Chicago organization assisting Venezuelan migrants, said “everyone is wondering if the Venezuelan military is still with the government or will go against it.” Venezuelans who have become American citizens wonder what role they will be expected to play rebuilding the country as the U.S. has withdrawn aid. “Others fear the moment could bring new pressures, including expectations that migrants return more quickly or face backlash for staying.” Nestor Galavis of Washington, D.C., said “today, just let me be happy. We’ve been suffering for 27 years.”
“Letters from an American,” Heather Cox Richardson, Jan. 3, 2026
The following elements of the Richardson report deal with the emerging foreign policy of the Trump administration and the costs and difficulties it confronts in Venezuela following its capture of the country’s dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
“By afternoon…the triumphal story seemed to be sagging,” recounts Richardson. “The New York Times reported that at least 40 civilians and military personnel were killed in the Jan. 3 attack, which hit a three-story apartment building.” President Donald Trump earlier in the day described Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, who was sworn in as the new president, as willing to work with the administration “to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.” But speaking on television to Venezuelans, Rodríguez called Maduro the rightful president and said he must be released. She said the U.S. “launched an unprecedented military aggression” and that “if there is one thing that the Venezuela people and this country are clear about it is that we will never again be slaves, that we will never again be a colony of any empire, whatever its nature.” Richardson referred to a Politico story by Ben Lefebvre, Zack Colman, ad James Bikales as saying that oil companies are leery of Trump’s plan that they will invest billions in rebuilding the country’s oil industry. “They say they have no idea how badly the infrastructure has decayed, and little interest in investing when it is not clear who will be running the country in the future,” she said. “The administration has failed to reach out to oil executives with a long-term plan, experts told the journalists.” She added, “One source said ‘it feels very much a shoot-ready-aim exercise.” Post-raid planning appeared lacking in other respects. She noted that a Wall Street Journal story by Robbie Gramer and Juan Forero said the administration “is racing to assemble an interim governing structure for Venezuela” and that the “lack of details about what comes next led some U.S. officials to question why there was no detailed plan in place well before deposing Maduro.” The story described Venezuela as a country twice the size of California with 28 million people in it, millions of whom continue to support Maduro, and whose government is still largely intact. Among his supporters are armed cocaine-trafficking groups, some of whom fought as guerillas in Colombia, and an army of more than 100,000 soldiers. “Current and former U.S. officials told the reporter that the next phase of Trump’s operation in Venezuela is full of risks and the potential for blunders.” Richardson also noted that Trump was establishing a Putin-style principle of dominance over a number of countries. The rules-based international order the U.S. and its allies had established after World War II aimed to prevent future world conflict through an agreement by the members of the United Nations that they would not threaten or attack another country. Putin aims to replace that “with the idea that powerful countries will create spheres of influence in their regions. That new world order would justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.” Richardson concludes that “now the U.S. invasion of Venezuela with the promise that the U.S. is going to ‘run’ the country from now on, as part of its quest to dominate the Western Hemisphere, means the U.S. has abandoned the post-World War II international order and is siding with Russia’s vision.” A New York Times editorial warned that “by proceeding without any semblance of international legitimacy, valid legal authority or domestic endorsement, Mr. Trump risks providing justification for authoritarians in China, Russia and elsewhere who want to dominate their own neighbors.” Richardson observed that “that justification seems to be the point.” Trump, she continued, warned Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, that he “has to watch his ass” and that “Cuba is going to be something we’ll end up talking about.” Trump, she noted, said further that “something will have to be done about Mexico” and that “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.” Katie Miller, the wife of White House official Stephen Miller, posted an image of Greenland covered with an American flag and the caption “SOON,” Richardson said.
“Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela’s New Leader, Boasts Leftist Credentials," New York Times, Jan. 3, 2026
Delcy Rodríguez brings “impeccable leftist credentials” to her new position as the interim president of Venezuela, said Times reporter Simon Romero. She’s the daughter of a Marxist guerilla who kidnapped an American businessman and died at the age of 34 after being interrogated by intelligence agents. She specialized in labor law. “But Ms. Rodríguez, 56, is also known for building bridges with Venezuela’s economic elites, foreign investors and diplomats, presenting herself as a cosmopolitan technocrat in a militaristic and male-dominated government,” wrote Romero. She led a market-friendly overhaul of the economy which provided a “semblance of stability” before the start of the U.S. military campaign targeting the now-ousted Nicolás Maduro. After Maduro became president in 2013, he appointed her communications minister, then foreign affairs minister, the first time a woman held that post. She became economy minister in 2020 “and proceeded to extend an olive branch to business elites in Venezuela,” said Romero. Her brother Jorge is also a member of Maduro’s inner circle and was his chief political strategist. Following the U.S. seizure of Maduro early Jan. 3 she declared her allegiance to him even as the Trump administration said it would deal with her as the country’s leader (see next summary).
“Trump Says U.S. Will ‘Run the Country’ After Capture of Maduro,” New York Times, Jan. 3, 2026
After capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a “swift and overwhelming strike on Caracas” early Jan. 3, the U.S. military was transporting him to New York to face criminal charges, said Times reporters Anatoly Kurmanaev and Tyler Pager. President Trump announced later at a news conference that the U.S. “would run the country” until a proper transition of power could be established, “raising the prospect of an open-ended commitment,” the reporters said. It was unclear whether U.S. forces would occupy Venezuela. Trump said he wasn’t afraid of “boots on the ground.” Trump said “we are going to run the country right,” referring to his intention to have American companies rebuild the energy infrastructure in Venezuela and tap its vast oil reserves. He said running Venezuela wouldn’t cost the U.S. anything because oil production is “going to make a lot of money.” There were no clear signs of a US military presence in Venezuela at mid-day Jan. 3. Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, was sworn in as interim president. Top Venezuelan officials and the government news operation “projected a message of defiance,” the Times said. Later in the day Rodríguez gave a speech rejecting U.S. intervention and declaring “there is only one president in this country, and his name is Nicolás Maduro Moros.” Trump said he did not consider Nobel Peace Prize winning opposition leader Maria Corina Machado fit to lead the nation, nor her stand-in in the July, 2024 presidential election, Edmundo Gonzalez, even though international observers concluded that he was the actual winner based on a legitimate vote count, and that Maduro’s claim to have won was fraudulent. Machado posted a statement saying that Gonzalez should be recognized as president immediately. Trump said that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had spoken to Rodríguez, Maduro's vice president, and that “she’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.” Rubio said of Rodríguez’s speech rejecting cooperation with the White House that he was reserving judgment. “We’re going to make decisions based on their actions and their deeds in the coming days and weeks to come,” Rubio said concerning the interim government.
“Trump Claims US Has Captured Venezuela’s President Maduro and Wife,” The Guardian, Jan. 3, 2026
Donald Trump said on social media early Jan. 3 that the US has “captured” Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife and flown them out of Venezuela. The vice president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, speaking on state-run television, appeared to confirm the capture, said Guardian reporter Tom Phillips. She appeared to do so by admitting she did not know where they were, he said, adding that Rodríguez demanded “proof of life” for the couple and charged the US with “murdering humble and innocent Venezuelan men and women.” The Venezuelan government earlier accused the US “of launching a series of attacks against civilian and military targets in the country after explosions rocked its capital before dawn on Saturday,” the Guardian said. Trump told The New York Times “it was a brilliant operation, actually” after eyewitness reports of explosions in Venezuela. “A lot of good planning and [a] lot of great, great troops and great people.”
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