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The Trump administration has turned Venezuela into a significant U.S. oil supplier, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Sunday, arguing the shift will help offset Middle East disruptions and ease pressure from the global shipping crisis. "[Venezuela] was a sanctioned adversary, and now they're a strategic ally with the largest reserves with no threat of the chokehold like we have in the Strait of Hormuz," Burgum told "The Sunday Briefing." "Venezuelan oil can flow to America freely and is starting to flow, will continue to flow, and these are the kinds of things that are going to bring gas prices down...

"President Donald Trump announced on Saturday, March 7 that the United States now formally and 'legally' recognizes the current Venezuelan government with Delcy Rodríguez as the leader."

😲... Interior Secretary Doug Bergum standing next to Venezuela interim President Delcy Rodriquez, as the govt thanks President Donald Trump.... who just forcibly snatched Nicholas Maduro. Um, that's a level of ultimate boss beyond what I ever thought possible. 😀 Wow. Just Wow.

https://x.com/KanekoaTheGreat/status/2029621652427096264 KanekoaTheGreat@KanekoaTheGreat·5h🚨NEW: Venezuela’s acting president just thanked Donald Trump — the same president whose administration removed Nicolás Maduro two months ago — and offered cooperation on energy, mining, and critical minerals.Delcy Rodríguez said it standing next to U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum during a joint press conference in Caracas.Two months ago: Maduro captured.Today: the interim government thanking the architect of that removal and opening the door to U.S. access on gold, rare earths, and oil.While the world focuses on Iranian missiles and U.S. airstrikes, the Trump administration is quietly rewriting resource maps across the Global South.Venezuela holds the largest proven...

This could be a major step forward in the fate of a certain South American nation: The United States and Venezuela have reportedly agreed to resume diplomatic and consular relations. The first indication came from News Nation White House Correspondent Kellie Meyer, in the form of a rather terse post on X.U.S. and Venezuela's interim authorities agree to re-establish diplomatic and consular relations.— Kellie Meyer (@KellieMeyerNews) March 5, 2026This was followed by a U.S. News & World Report piece, which had (a few) more details.⁠The ⁠United States and ⁠interim authorities in Venezuela have agreed to re-establish diplomatic and consular ‌relations,...

Job 23:10-11 (King James Version) But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined. Listening to the Buggy Whip Press explaining the Iran attacks to the American people is like watching a monkey typing Shakespeare. Trump has such an amazing gift of exposing everyone for exactly who they are and what they are not. Nobody believes them or listens to them since they know the standard reporting will be Trump bad Iran good, so why listen...

Costa Rica authorities handed over a Syrian national to the United States after his arrest last year on charges of running a human smuggling operation. The man, known by the last name Maklad, led a group that moved migrants from Egypt, Venezuela, and Guatemala through New Mexico between 2022 and 2025, according to Osvaldo Ramírez, who heads Interpol operations at the Judicial Investigation Agency. Officers captured the 39-year-old in May 2025 as he crossed into the country from Nicaragua. Ramírez shared details in a video briefing, confirming the transfer went smoothly. Maklad escaped the U.S. after agents there broke up...

In today’s world, there are 193 countries in the UN. The large majority of those countries will vote consistently against the United States on measures that come before the General Assembly. Then again, the international system that counts is not the UN, but rather the U.S.-led commercial and legal order of alliances and trade. Almost all of the 193 UN member countries participate willingly in that system, to their great benefit. They may oppose the U.S. on many issues, and they may have disputes with their immediate neighbors, but they don’t make themselves constant troublemakers threatening to disrupt world peace...

Khamenei should have learned from Maduro. He didn't. He's now in the past tense.President Trump promised the people of Iran the United States would help them overthrow the Islamic dictatorship, and on Saturday he delivered. A joint attack with Israel killed the ayatollah and 7 of his henchmen generals. The bombing continued. We added to the list of the unalive a few other generals and of course our old friend, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the original Holocaust Denier.The lightning swift initial victory calmed my nervousness about this turning into another Iraq. The reality is this will not turn into a wider war....

Decision follows US and Israeli strikes on Iran in a rising threat to Gulf oil flowsOpec+ has agreed to increase output by 206,000 barrels per day from April, following one of the alliance’s most consequential meetings in years, held against the backdrop of US and Israeli strikes on Iran and rising threats to Gulf oil flows. The figure falls between the 137,000 bpd base case most analysts had anticipated and the more aggressive increases of 400,000 to 500,000 bpd that had been suggested. “The eight participating countries decided to resume the unwinding of the 1.65 million bpd of additional voluntary...

While Beijing publicly advocates restraint, sustained tensions between the U.S. and Iran serve its strategic interests.Recent heightened tensions between the United States and Iran over Tehran’s repression of nationwide protests and its advancing nuclear program have raised concerns about maintaining peace and stability in the Middle East. U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered key military assets to move into the region, and he may decide on whether to use force within the next few days. At the same time, Washington and Tehran have met indirectly in Oman and agreed that diplomacy on the nuclear issue should continue. Diplomacy is the...

With brilliant intelligence and close U.S. and Israeli cooperation and coordination, Operation Epic fury is systematically dismantling the terrorist regime of Iran’s ayatollahs. And as if in a game of chess, the war has reshaped the Middle East, (a consistent source of hostilities), into a more peaceful and orderly part of the world. It has also demolished fears of Russian and Chinese intervention on behalf of the regime. (Russia’s too broke and China’s grasp is less than its reach.) Indeed China, which depended on Iran and Venezuelan oil, is unlikely to make good for a while if ever on its...

On Thursday, Venezuela's "acting president" Delcy Rodríguez held a regime-sponsored event for young people, "Gran Encuentro con la Juventud Venezolana" (Great Meeting with Venezuelan Youth), during which she got up on stage in front of a crowd, flashing peace signs and wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and made a lot of big promises to the country's younger generations. It was giving "How do you do, fellow kids?" vibes. I assume this bit of propaganda was meant to counter the country's brave and growing youth opposition movement that has been standing up to the regime in recent weeks —marching, protesting, calling...

The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday announced a new licensing policy to streamline the resale of Venezuelan oil to Cuba, with the goal of supporting the island’s private sector and bolstering humanitarian efforts amid ongoing fuel crises. The Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) will extend the new licensing policy to specific applications seeking authorization for the resale of Venezuelan oil for use in Cuba.The move was done “in accordance with the United States’ support and solidarity for the Cuban people,” reads the new policy.The policy does not cover entities or persons connected to the Cuban military, intelligence services, or...

The United States intercepted in the Indian Ocean a third tanker accused of violating the blockade against sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean, after it fled the region, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.“From the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, we pursued it and intercepted it,” the Pentagon said, accompanied by a video showing soldiers rappelling from a helicopter onto the deck of the tanker Bertha. “The vessel was operating despite the blockade established by President Trump against sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean and was trying to escape,” it added, referring to the overnight operation. The Defense Department “will deprive illicit actors and...

Venezuela’s National Assembly on Thursday unanimously approved a long-awaited amnesty law that could free hundreds of political prisoners jailed for being government detractors. But the law excludes those who have been prosecuted or convicted of promoting military action against the country — which could include opposition leaders like Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, who has been accused by the ruling party of calling for international intervention like the one that ousted former president Nicolas Maduro. The bill was signed by interim president Delcy Rodriguez, who pushed for the legislation under pressure from Washington, after she rose to power...

Far-left New York City Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is being widely mocked for erroneously claiming that Venezuela is “below the equator” while trying to show off her foreign-policy chops in Germany. Venezuela sits just above the equator, but that didn’t stop the Democratic socialist — who majored in international relations at Boston University — from making the embarrassing gaffe while speaking at a Technical University of Berlin panel Sunday. “[Nicolas] Maduro canceled elections. He was an anti-democratic leader,” Ocasio-Cortez said, describing the Venezuela elections that took place under the Maduro regime and which many international organizations have said were rigged.

Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez incorrectly stated on Sunday that Venezuela is “below the equator” while she criticized President Donald Trump’s administration for capturing former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. Ocasio-Cortez argued at Technical University of Berlin’s TEDx event that the administration could not engage in a so-called “act of war” simply because Venezuela is south of the Equator, though Venezuela is located north of the equator. The U.S. captured Maduro in a special operations mission called Operation Absolute Resolve on Jan. 3 and charged him in Manhattan with narco-terrorism and cocaine importation conspiracy, weapon offenses and corruption. “We look...

Remember Dubai Ports International? The first-rate Emirates-based firm that, fair and square, tried to buy the operations of several U.S. ports? They were reviled as terrorists, a public outcry followed and then U.S. Congress stuck its nose into the whole business, baselessly condemning the company for no good reason until they were ignominously forced to withdraw from those plans. It was totally unfair to them, they didn’t deserve that kind of treatment, and it sent an incredibly bad message to the rest of the world that the U.S. was flamingly hypocritical. That whole debacle made me ill. Anyway, this setback...

Canada's major airlines have all suspended service to Cuba, with Air Transat announcing Monday evening it was joining Air Canada and WestJet in cancelling all flights, as the Caribbean island's major airport warns it will run out of jet fuel. All three airlines said they had plans to bring travellers home to Canada. Over the following days, Air Canada will fly empty planes to pick up approximately 3,000 customers already in Cuba and return them home, the airline said Monday in a statement. "Air Canada took the decision following advisories issued by governments (NOTAMs) regarding the unreliability of the aviation...