Overview
- Venezuela received about $500 million from an initial U.S.-brokered crude sale, with all proceeds routed to a restricted account in Qatar for approved public salary and services spending.
- Between 30 and 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil were moved to the United States, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright says he plans to visit Venezuela to assess operations and meet leadership.
- Delcy Rodríguez serves as acting president after the Supreme Tribunal declared Nicolás Maduro’s forced absence, and she has proposed hydrocarbons-law reforms and a mass amnesty bill.
- The United States has deployed substantial forces to the Caribbean and carried out more than twenty strikes on alleged drug vessels since September, with at least eighty-three reported killed and renewed legal and regional concerns.
- Venezuelan officials allege a January 3 U.S. operation abducted Maduro, a claim that remains disputed, as the country’s humanitarian emergency endures with widespread extreme poverty and displacement.