Venezuela | DD News

January 4, 2026 12:48 PM

Was the US capture of Venezuela’s president legal?

The U.S. captured Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in a military operation early on Saturday morning, culminating a months-long pressure campaign by President Donald Trump's administration that drew condemnation from some international leaders. Maduro was on a warship bound for New York to face criminal charges, according to U.S. officials. Below is a look at the legality of the U.S. action. WHAT HAPPENED? On Saturday, U.S. forces attacked Venezuela and seized Maduro, who has been widely...

January 4, 2026 12:49 PM

No quick wins in tapping Venezuela’s oil reserves

Venezuela is unlikely to see any meaningful boost to crude output for years even if U.S. oil majors do invest the billions of dollars in the country that President Donald Trump promised just hours following Nicolás Maduro's capture by U.S. forces. The South American country may have the world's largest estimated oil reserves, but output has plummeted over the past decades amid mismanagement and a lack of investment from foreign firms after Venezuela nationalized oil operations in the 2000s tha...

January 4, 2026 12:49 PM

Trump’s bet on regime change in Venezuela is a sharp departure from MAGA agenda

President Donald Trump’s decision to attack Venezuela, arrest its president and temporarily run the country marks a striking departure for a politician who long criticized others for overreaching on foreign affairs and vowed to avoid foreign entanglements. His vision for U.S. involvement in Venezuela, sketched out in a midday news conference, left open the possibility of more military action, ongoing involvement in that nation’s politics and oil industry and “boots on the ground.” The t...

January 4, 2026 10:53 AM

UN Security Council to meet Monday over US action in Venezuela

The United Nations Security Council is due to meet on Monday after the U.S. attacked Venezuela and deposed its long-serving autocratic President Nicolas Maduro, a move that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres views as setting "a dangerous precedent." Colombia, backed by Russia and China, requested the meeting of the 15-member council, diplomats said. The U.N. Security Council has met twice - in October and December - over the escalating tensions between the United States and Venezuela. U.S...

December 24, 2025 10:21 AM

US tells UN it will deprive Venezuela’s Maduro, drug cartel of resources

The United States told the United Nations on Tuesday it will impose and enforce sanctions "to the maximum extent" to deprive Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of resources as Russia warned other Latin American countries could be next. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has for months waged a campaign of deadly strikes against suspected drug trafficking boats off the Venezuelan coast and the Pacific coast of Latin America. He has threatened strikes on Venezuelan land. "The single mo...

December 12, 2025 9:15 AM

US issues fresh sanctions targeting Maduro’s family, Venezuela-linked oil tankers

The United States on Thursday issued new sanctions targeting Venezuela, imposing curbs on three nephews of President Nicolas Maduro's wife, as well as six crude oil tankers and shipping companies linked to them, as Washington ramps up pressure on Caracas. The action came as the U.S. executes a large-scale military buildup in the southern Caribbean and as U.S. President Donald Trump campaigns for Maduro's ouster. On Wednesday, Trump said the U.S. had seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast ...

December 11, 2025 12:10 PM

US seizes sanctioned oil tanker off coast of Venezuela, Trump says

The U.S. has seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, a move that sent oil prices higher and sharply escalated tensions between Washington and Caracas. "We've just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, large tanker, very large, largest one ever, actually, and other things are happening," said Trump, who has been pressuring Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down. Asked what would happen with the oil, Trump said: "We keep...

December 10, 2025 1:53 PM

Venezuela’s Machado will not receive Nobel Peace Prize in person, Nobel institute says

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado will not receive the Nobel Peace Prize in person at Wednesday’s award ceremony in Oslo, the director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute said on Wednesday, with her current whereabouts unknown. Machado, 58, was due to receive the award at a ceremony at Oslo City Hall in the presence of King Harald, Queen Sonja and Latin American leaders including Argentine President Javier Milei and Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa. The ceremony start...

November 30, 2025 9:26 AM

Trump says Venezuelan airspace should be considered closed

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela should be considered "closed in its entirety," but gave no further details, stirring anxiety and confusion in Caracas as his administration ramps up pressure on President Nicolas Maduro's government. "To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY," Trump said in a Truth Social post. U.S. officials con...

November 17, 2025 9:19 AM

Trump says US may open talks with Venezuela’s Maduro

President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the United States may open talks with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who faces escalating pressure from Washington amid a massive U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean. It was one of the first signs of a possible path toward defusing an increasingly tense situation in the region as the U.S. wages a campaign of deadly strikes against suspected drug trafficking boats off the Venezuelan coast and in the eastern Pacific Ocean. "We may be having som...