Trump administration to meet with top US oil executives – report
Following the capture, arrest and detention of Nicolás Maduro, the Trump administration is set to meet with top US oil executives, according to a report from Reuters – citing a source familiar with the matter.
The aim to revitalize oil production comes after nearly two decades of control by Venezuela over US energy operations in the country.
According to Reuters, the three biggest U.S. oil companies – Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, and Chevron – have not yet had any conversations with the administration about Maduro’s ouster, per four oil industry executives familiar with the matter. This contradicts Trump’s statements over the weekend that he had already held meetings with “all” the US oil companies, both before and after the Venezuelan leader was seized.
Key events
‘Maduro didn’t just tolerate the drug traffickers…he was one of them’: Senate Republicans celebrate arrest and detention of Maduro
Senate Republicans celebrated the arrest and detention of Nicolás Maduro. Calling the deposed Venezuelan leader a “known, indicted, narcoterrorist in league with drug traffickers killing Americans for profit”.
In a post on social media, GOP lawmakers in Congress’s upper chamber said that “Maduro didn’t just tolerate the drug traffickers or lose control of his territory—he was one of them.”
“Republicans are glad he’s gone – but Democrats are furious,” they added.
Trump administration to meet with top US oil executives – report
Following the capture, arrest and detention of Nicolás Maduro, the Trump administration is set to meet with top US oil executives, according to a report from Reuters – citing a source familiar with the matter.
The aim to revitalize oil production comes after nearly two decades of control by Venezuela over US energy operations in the country.
According to Reuters, the three biggest U.S. oil companies – Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, and Chevron – have not yet had any conversations with the administration about Maduro’s ouster, per four oil industry executives familiar with the matter. This contradicts Trump’s statements over the weekend that he had already held meetings with “all” the US oil companies, both before and after the Venezuelan leader was seized.
Justo Robles
Reporting from outside the courthouse in Manhattan:
At a playground across the street from where Nicolás Maduro just pleaded not guilty for drug and weapon charges, Pedro Reyes said that the leader’s capture was welcome news.
Reyes claimed he was kidnapped and shot by Venezuelan military officers in 2014 in Táchira, a mountainous state near the border with Colombia. The Guardian was not able immediately and independently to verify details of Reyes’s account.
“He deserves to be detained and to pay for what his regime did to me, my family and my friends,” said Reyes in Spanish.
After the incident, Reyes said, he migrated along with his wife and first child to Argentina. In 2021, they crossed the US-Mexico border and asked for asylum. They are still awaiting a resolution for their case, Reyes added.
“Let’s be honest, we are happy that Maduro was detained, but this happiness is momentary. There are people still associated with Maduro in Venezuela and as long as they stay, the country will not be free. I already lost family members at the hands of this dictatorship, what guarantees that we will be safe, that my children will be safe if we go back? Nobody,” said Reyes.
The Swiss Federal Government has announced that Switzerland has frozen any “Swiss-based assets linked to Nicolás Maduro.”
In a statement, Swiss authorities said that the Swiss Federal Council had decided to freeze the assets held in Switzerland by Maduro and “other persons associated with him with immediate effect.”
“In doing so, the Federal Council aims to prevent an outflow of assets” they said. “The asset freeze does not affect members of the current Venezuelan government.”
“Should future legal proceedings reveal that the funds were illicitly acquired, Switzerland will endeavour to ensure that they benefit the Venezuelan people” the statement continued.
Lawyers representing Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, told CBS News that she is in “good spirits” and that she is “aware that there is a long road ahead and is prepared.”
“We look forward to reviewing and challenging the evidence the government has” attorney Mark E Donnelly told CBS News in a statement after Flores’ court appearance on Monday. “While we would love to present our side now, we will wait to do so in court at the appropriate time.”
David Smith
António Guterres, the UN secretary general, warned on Monday that the capture of Maduro risked intensifying instability in Venezuela and across the region.
He questioned whether the operation respected the rules of international law.
“I am deeply concerned about the possible intensification of instability in the country, the potential impact on the region, and the precedent it may set for how relations between and among states are conducted,” Guterres said in a statement delivered to the council by UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo.
He urged Venezuelan actors to engage in “inclusive and democratic dialogue” and offered UN support for a peaceful way forward.
Read more about what happened at the meeting here.
Several nations denounce US for ‘crime of aggression’ in Venezuela
David Smith
The US faced widespread condemnation for a “crime of aggression” in Venezuela at the emergency meeting of the United Nations security council on Monday.
Brazil, China, Colombia, Cuba, Eritrea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and Spain were among countries that denounced Donald Trump’s decision to launch deadly strikes on Venezuela and snatch its leader, Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, to stand trial in the US.
“The bombings on Venezuelan territory and the capture of its president cross an unacceptable line,” Sérgio França Danese, the Brazilian ambassador to the UN, told the meeting. “These acts constitute a very serious affront to the sovereignty of Venezuela and set an extremely dangerous precedent for the entire international community.”
Trump’s UN ambassador, Mike Waltz, defended the attack as a legitimate “law enforcement” action to execute long-standing criminal indictments against an “illegitimate” leader, not an act of war.
Read more about what happened at the meeting here.
At the United Nations Security Council meeting earlier today, Samuel Moncada, Venezuela’s Ambassador to the UN, described the US action in Venezuela as an “illegitimate armed attack lacking any legal justification”.
Moncada added that “No state can set itself up as a judge, party and executor of the world order … Venezuela is the victim of this attack because of its natural resources.”
Justo Robles
Reporting from outside the courthouse in Manhattan:
Across the street from the federal court, on the other side of the protest area divided by a group of New York police officers, was Izzy McCabe, 21, who arrived this morning in New York all the way from Seattle, Washington.
McCabe is a member of the Freedom Road Socialist organization founded in 1985.
McCabe attended the International People’s Assembly for Sovereignty and Peace of Our Americas in Venezuela a few weeks ago, along with thousands of delegates from countries around the world.
“I spoke with Venezuelans in Venezuela and they are committed to resisting US imperialism because they love their country. They want to stay in control of the destiny of their country,” said McCabe, an American-born protester.
“I am here to protest against US intervention and to remind that there are international laws that need to be respected.”
Justo Robles
Reporting from outside the courthouse in Manhattan:
As Nicolás Maduro pleaded not guilty to drug and weapons charges at the Manhattan federal court, Alejandro Flores joined other Venezuelans in chants that celebrated the detention of the former Latin American dictator.
Flores, a 34-year-old from Caracas, said he was lucky enough to migrate to the US to pursue an education more than a decade ago, but left behind family relatives who struggled economically. Some of them live today in buildings affected by the US attack that ultimately led to Maduro’s detention, Flores said.
“The fact that Maduro is in court means justice is being served. He is the reason Venezuela saw millions of people leaving their country, looking for something to eat,” said Flores, who now lives in Brooklyn.
“I want to see my country free, I want my Colombian wife to visit my country, I want to have the opportunity to celebrate with my family that still lives there, but if you ask me if Venezuela is free, the answer is: not yet. Venezuelans need to decide who they want as president.”
The first courtroom sketch of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in the Manhattan courtroom today has come through the wires.
Here it is:
Delcy Rodríguez, who served as Nicolás Maduro’s vice president, has just been formally sworn in as Venezuela’s interim president, Reuters is reporting.
According to Reuters, Rodríguez was sworn in by her brother Jorge, who is the head of the national assembly legislature.
A Reuters poll of 1,248 US adults nationwide, released Monday, has found that public opinion on only 33% of respondents said they approve of the US military action to remove Maduro while 34% said that they do not.
Another 33% of respondents selected the “don’t know/skipped” option of the questionnaire.
The survey, conducted on Sunday and Monday, found that 65% of Republicans said that they supported the military action, while only 11% of Democrats and 23% of independents said they were in support of it.
When asked “Are you concerned the US will get too involved in Venezuela?” 72% of US adults surveyed said yes, including 54% of Republicans and 90% of Democrats.
The US State Department has posted an image of President Donald Trump on social media overlaid with the words, “This is OUR Hemisphere”.
In an accompanying caption, the State Department stated: “This is OUR Hemisphere, and President Trump will not allow our security to be threatened.”
