Two Mexican Navy ships docked in Cuba on Thursday carrying humanitarian aid for the Caribbean island nation in the middle of a severe energy crisis.
The ships carried hundreds of tons of food and supplies. The Mexican government said that one ship contained 536 tons of food – including milk, beans, sardines, and cookies – while the other contained about 277 tons of powdered milk, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mexico-cuba-humanitarian-aid-havana-us-sanctions-52c44db94c9423511d67366662e78ac4">Associated Press</a>.
The arrival of aid comes weeks after President Donald Trump increased pressure on the Cuban economy, <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/01/addressing-threats-to-the-united-states-by-the-government-of-cuba/">threatening</a> tariffs against any nation that supplies Cuba with oil. Cuba has since instituted increasingly strict rules around the use of its remaining fuel supplies.
The aid delivers on a promise Mexico made to its ally to help as the United States bears down economically on the dictatorial regime in power in Havana. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum signaled said she would like to help Cuba more, but does not want to violate the U.S. blockade on oil.
As soon as the ships return, “we will send more support of different kinds,” Sheinbaum said on Thursday, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/12/mexico-cuba-aid-oil-trump">The Guardian</a>. Sheinbaum is negotiating a delicate balance between the risk of angering Washington and aiding Mexico&#8217;s ally in the Caribbean.
“The energy pressure that Trump is exerting on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/cuba">Cuba</a> places Mexico in a dilemma that is very characteristic of its entire history of diplomatic relations with the United States and Cuba,” Cuban historian Rafael Rojas told The Guardian. “Mexico is yielding to the demands of the United States – and on the other hand it maintains its solidarity with the island.”
Cuba’s energy crisis began after the U.S. arrest of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro in early January. After Maduro was extradited to New York for trial on charges related to drug trafficking, the United States took control of Venezuela’s oil exports, stopping exports to Cuba and cutting off Havana from its main supplier of fuel.
Almost immediately after the arrest of Maduro, Washington turned its focus to Cuba. Top Trump officials such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio have advocated for Havana’s current regime to topple.
“I don’t think it’s any mystery that we are not big fans of the Cuban regime, who, by the way, are the ones that were propping up Maduro,” Rubio <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/marco-rubio-believes-cuba-trouble-havana-maduro-military-venezuela-rcna252150">said</a> the day after Maduro’s arrest.
Cuban agents were honeycombed throughout the Maduro regime and Cuban special forces served as the core of Maduro’s personal guard.

Mexican Navy ship

Mexico Sends Aid To Cuban Regime In Crisis Under U.S. Pressure

Cuba

Mexico

United States

Venezuela

Interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez said Wednesday that her predecessor, Nicolás Maduro, is “innocent” and remains the “legitimate president” of the country despite his imprisonment in the United States. 
Maduro, who was captured by American special forces last month, is in federal prison in New York awaiting trial for drug trafficking. 
“I can tell you President Nicolás Maduro is the legitimate president. I will tell you this as a lawyer, that I am. Both President Maduro and Cilia Flores, the first lady, are both innocent,” Rodríguez, who became acting president of Venezuela after Maduro was taken into custody, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/world/venezuela/maduro-legitimate-president-venezuela-delcy-rodriguez-interview-trump-rcna258687">told</a> NBC News. 
The Justice Department accuses Maduro of masterminding a decades-long narco-terrorism and drug trafficking conspiracy involving senior Venezuelan officials that allegedly used state power to facilitate large-scale cocaine shipments bound for the United States. Prosecutors say the scheme transformed the government into a criminal enterprise, known as the Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns).
“I can tell you I am in charge of the presidency of Venezuela, as it’s stated clearly in the constitution of Venezuela. And from the amount of work that I have, from how busy I am, I can tell you it’s very, very hard work and we’re doing it completely day by day,” Rodríguez said. 
She added that she has been invited to the United States and contemplated making a trip “once we establish this cooperation and we can move forward with everything.”
Last month, CIA Director John Ratcliffe <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cia-director-meets-with-venezuelas-interim-leader-as-u-s-shifts-policy">met with Rodríguez</a> in Caracas to discuss economic cooperation and intensifying efforts against drug trafficking. At the time, an American official told The Daily Wire that the meeting focused on “trust building measures and laying the groundwork for continued communication and room for collaboration between the two governments.”
Energy Secretary Chris Wright was in Venezuela on Wednesday, and he praised Rodríguez.
“She’s delivered information. Everything we know so far has turned out to be true. She’s made enormous positive changes, including already changing the hydrocarbon law in the country in the first few weeks,” he told NBC News. “So I would say that cooperation is off to a tremendous start.”
Wright is in Venezuela to examine the country&#8217;s oil industry. He said more than $1 billion in sales of Venezuelan oil had already been made, with another $5 billion expected in the next few months. 
“So the Venezuelans are in charge here in Venezuela, but the United States has enormous leverage over the interim authorities in Venezuela — the largest revenue source that funds&#8230; the government of Venezuela is now controlled by the United States,” Wright said.

Interim President Delcy Rodríguez of Venezuela Meets With U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright

Acting Venezeula President Says Maduro Is ‘Innocent,’ Still The ‘Legitimate’ Leader

Chris Wright

Donald Trump

Nicolas Maduro

The U.S. military tracked down and boarded a crude oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after it evaded an American blockade in the Caribbean, the Department of War said Monday. 
The vessel, the Aquila II, was boarded without incident as American forces “conducted a right-of-visit” and maritime interdiction, the department said. The boarding comes as the United States has seized at least seven tankers linked to sanctioned Venezuelan oil. 
“When the [Department of War] says quarantine, we mean it. Nothing will stop DoW from defending our Homeland — even in oceans halfway around the world,” the department posted on X. “The Aquila II was operating in defiance of President Trump&#8217;s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean. It ran, and we followed. The Department of War tracked and hunted this vessel from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean.”
A video released by the department showed American troops rappelling from a helicopter to board the ship. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
When the <a href="https://twitter.com/DeptofWar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DeptofWar</a> says quarantine, we mean it. Nothing will stop DoW from defending our Homeland — even in oceans halfway around the world.
Overnight, U.S. military forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding on the Aquila II without incident in the… <a href="https://t.co/kYVAQC5io9">pic.twitter.com/kYVAQC5io9</a>
— Department of War 🇺🇸 (@DeptofWar) <a href="https://twitter.com/DeptofWar/status/2020833550488965503?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“No other nation on planet Earth has the capability to enforce its will through any domain. By land, air, or sea, our Armed Forces will find you and deliver justice. You will run out of fuel long before you will outrun us,” the department said. “The Department of War will deny illicit actors and their proxies the ability to defy American power in the global maritime domain.”
The Aquila II <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us-boards-vessel-indian-ocean-without-incident-defense-secretary-says-2026-02-09/">reportedly</a> left Venezuela in early January carrying 700,000 barrels of heavy crude in defiance of the American blockade, bound for China. 
President Donald Trump imposed a blockade on all sanctioned oil tanker vessels leaving Venezuela on December 16. After the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, the Department of War and the Coast Guard have continued to seize tankers that evaded the embargo. 
Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-files-warrants-seize-dozens-more-venezuela-linked-oil-tankers-sources-say-2026-01-13/">reported</a> in January that the Trump administration had filed for warrants to seize dozens more oil tankers linked to the Venezuelan crude trade. 
Trump has said that American oil companies will invest tens of billions of dollars to rebuild Venezuela’s oil fields. The United States has already sold around $500 million worth of Venezuelan oil and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-has-returned-remaining-200-million-initial-500-million-oil-sale-venezuela-us-2026-02-04/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sent</a> the money back to the country at the direction of the American government.

MixCollage-09-Feb-2026-09-05-AM-2640

U.S. Military Intercepts Sanctioned Oil Tanker In Indian Ocean

Department of War

President Donald Trump said that India would no longer buy Russian oil and instead purchase from America and “potentially” Venezuela. 
Trump said he reached a trade deal with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after a wide-ranging phone call Monday morning. The president <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-modi-has-assured-him-india-will-not-buy-russian-oil?author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump%3A+India+Will+Stop+Buying+Russian+Oil+Until+Ukraine+War+Ends">first said</a> India had agreed to stop buying Russian oil last October, but no deal was formalized at the time. 
“We spoke about many things, including Trade, and ending the War with Russia and Ukraine. He agreed to stop buying Russian Oil, and to buy much more from the United States and, potentially, Venezuela,” Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116002095109616255">wrote</a> on Truth Social. “This will help END THE WAR in Ukraine, which is taking place right now, with thousands of people dying each and every week!”
After the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, Trump said that the United States would take over Venezuela&#8217;s oil industry and rebuild its oil fields. He said that American companies will invest billions into Venezuela as part of the takeover.
As part of the deal, Trump added that tariffs on India would be lowered from 25% to 18%. 
“Out of friendship and respect for Prime Minister Modi and, as per his request, effective immediately, we agreed to a Trade Deal between the United States and India, whereby the United States will charge a reduced Reciprocal Tariff, lowering it from 25% to 18%,” Trump continued. “They will likewise move forward to reduce their Tariffs and Non Tariff Barriers against the United States, to ZERO.”
Trump said that Modi committed to purchasing more American products, including over $500 billion of energy, tech, and agricultural products. 
“Our amazing relationship with India will be even stronger going forward. Prime Minister Modi and I are two people that GET THINGS DONE, something that cannot be said for most,” Trump said. 
Since last fall, Trump has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-doubles-tariff-on-india-for-fueling-russian-war-machine?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Doubles+Tariff+On+India+For+Fueling+‘Russian+War+Machine’">been pressuring</a> India to stop buying oil from Russia, accusing the country of funding the war with Ukraine. 
“India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian oil, they are then, for much of the oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits. They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine,” Trump said in August. “Because of this, I will be substantially raising the tariff paid by India to the USA.”
After the war with Ukraine started in 2022, India became the largest importer of Russian seaborne crude oil, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/india-asks-refiners-weekly-russian-oil-import-data-it-seeks-us-trade-deal-2026-01-02/">reported</a>. In 2025, about 35% of oil imported into India came from Russia.

TOPSHOT-US-INDIA-POLITICS-DIPLOMACY-TRUMP-MODI

Trump Says India Will Drop Russian Oil, Shift To The U.S. And ‘Potentially’ Venezuela

Trump Says India Will No Longer Buy Russian Oil, Will 'Potentially' Turn To Venezuela

India

Some stupid people in the Senate decided to make a spectacle of themselves yesterday when they hosted Secretary of State Marco Rubio to give testimony about Venezuela before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Secretary Rubio is very, very good at his job. And so many of these senators are not.
One of the amazing things about American politics is how many Americans believe there are true conspiracies operating at a high level in American politics. All you have to do is meet our senators and members of Congress in order to know how dumb this is.
Politics is significantly more like “Veep” than it is like “House of Cards.”
Illinois Democrat senator Tammy Duckworth — not one of the sharper tools in the drawer — had a spat with Rubio on whether war needed to be declared in order to perform strikes on drug boats in the Caribbean.
“These non-state actors, who possess state-like capabilities in terms of their weaponry, pose a grave danger to the United States,” Rubio stated. “I don’t think any American would dispute that we have cartels that pose a threat to the United States.”
“You&#8217;re saying that he (President Trump) can invoke this wartime power?” she queried, adding that the wartime power had only been invoked three times: the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II.
“I&#8217;m here to discuss foreign policy and what&#8217;s in the realm of the Department of State,” Rubio replied. “I think your question would be better directed at the Department of Justice. &#8230; You&#8217;re asking me a question about the domestic application of a law that&#8217;s best directed to the Department of Justice.”
“It’s not a complication,” she said, somehow confusing words.
“I can tell you that the United States is most certainly confronting terrorist and criminal organizations operating in our hemisphere that pose a grave danger to the United States. Anyone who believes that gangs that flood our country with fentanyl or cocaine are not threats to the United States, is not living in reality, and certainly does not reflect the opinion of most Americans,” he fired back.
Owned.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2357-new-tape-pretti-s-not-so-nonviolent-ice-protest-past?elementPosition=2&amp;row=5&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Then there was Senator Chris Van Hollen, who is just a mockery. Every time you see him, you think to yourself,  “It&#8217;s not possible for him to become more of a cucumber with eyeballs.” And yet there he is, becoming more of a cucumber with eyeballs, straight from the garden.
Van Hollen suggested it was oil executives pushing the change in Venezuela, saying, “ Mr. Secretary, simple yes or no question: Were you with President Trump during any of those conversations he had with people with oil interests in Venezuela about the possibility of deposing Maduro?”
“That&#8217;s not a simple yes or no question, but I can answer quickly,” Rubio responded. “And that is the president always elicits opinions from all sorts of people, including, for example, Chevron has an active license in Venezuela. They operate in Venezuela. They&#8217;ve been doing so even when the sanctions were in place. So of course you would ask Chevron, “What is your opinion of Delcey Rodriguez?” “What is your opinion of their economy and of their prospects?” But the notion that somehow the president authorized this challenge at the urging of oil executives is absurd. That never happened.”
“Mr. Secretary, I&#8217;m asking whether you were with the president?” Van Hollen persisted.
“That never happened. I couldn&#8217;t be with him because it never happened,” Rubio fired back. “The oil executives were not involved whatsoever in any of the planning on this matter.”
Owned.
By the way, Senator Chris Van Hollen, if you&#8217;re going to ask a question you don&#8217;t already know the answer to, you&#8217;re doing it wrong. (That is the first rule of lawyering: Don&#8217;t ask questions for which you don&#8217;t already know the answer.)
Rubio went on to make clear that criminal organizations are endemic to the Caribbean, Central America, and South America, saying:
<blockquote>We have a real reality in our region of these trans-national criminal terrorist organizations — that in many cases possess weapons that you ascribe to a nation state, not to a gang — who pose a grave threat to the national security of the United States, but also to the stability of the region. If you walk through the region, what is the primary threat in Colombia? Transnational criminal organizations. What is the threat to Mexico? What is the threat to the Caribbean basin? 
These groups have to be confronted. They have to be confronted forcefully. What&#8217;s the threat in Haiti? The systemic collapse. And that is these criminal gangs that basically control territory and threaten the ability to even form a government there in that regard. So it&#8217;s endemic throughout the region, and it ultimately impacts the United States through mass migration, through drug trafficking and other related criminal organizations. And so we need to have a force posture that can confront that.  </blockquote>
Senator Rand Paul, on the Republican side of the aisle, targeted Rubio over the Venezuela operation, calling it unconstitutional. “If a foreign country bombed our air defense missiles, captured and removed our president and blockaded our country, would that be considered an act of war?” he asked. 
“I will acknowledge you&#8217;ve been very consistent on all these points the entire career, no matter who&#8217;s in charge. I will point to two things. The first is it&#8217;s hard for us to conceive that an operation that lasted about 4.5 hours and was a law enforcement operation to capture someone we don&#8217;t recognize as a head of state, indicted in the United States, or wanted with a $50 million bounty —” Rubio began.  
“If it only took four hours to take our president, very short, nobody dies on the other side. Nobody dies on our side. It&#8217;s perfect. Would it be an act of war?” Paul asked. 
“We just don&#8217;t believe that this operation comes anywhere close to the constitutional definition of a war,” Rubio asserted. 
“But would it be an act of war if someone did it to us? Nobody dies. Few casualties. They&#8217;re in and out. Boom. It&#8217;s a perfect military operation. Would that be an act of war? Of course, it would be an act of war. I&#8217;m probably the most anti-war person in the Senate, and I would vote to declare war if someone invaded our country and took our president. So I think we need to at least acknowledge this is a one-way argument, one-way arguments that don&#8217;t rebound, that you can&#8217;t apply to yourselves, that cannot be universally applicable, are bad arguments,” Paul contended. 
Here’s why Senator Paul’s argument is bad: Who cares whether Venezuela considers it an act of war? The question is whether, constitutionally, you require a declaration of war in order to do this thing. Is it a war for the United States to perform a law enforcement grab-and-snatch of a person we do not recognize as the legitimate, rightful leader of a country? Do we need to declare war in America?  
Who cares what Venezuelans think about it? I don&#8217;t care what Nigerians think about. I don&#8217;t care what Israelis think about it. I don’t care what anybody thinks about it. We&#8217;re Americans; the American Constitution applies.  
The question that ought to be asked is not whether we would consider it an act of war if somebody did it to us; if we did, we would then have to wait and go through the constitutional mechanisms of declaring war. That&#8217;s what the question is about. It is not whether what we just did to Venezuela is an adversarial action. Of course it&#8217;s an adversarial action. The question is, constitutionally speaking, do you have to declare war in order to do this thing? Not whether in some random Platonic universe this is considered a definitional “act of war.”
That&#8217;s the point Rubio was making: Make the case that the operation constitutes a war under the definition of war in the Constitution, as opposed to a policing action or a law enforcement action.
It&#8217;s a cheap rhetorical trick that Senator Paul used there.
Rubio was asked about Cuba and said the Trump administration would not involve itself in an active regime change in Cuba. They would, of course, love to see the regime fall.
Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz asked, “Will you make a public commitment today to rule out U.S. regime change in Cuba?”
“Regime change?” Rubio answered. “Oh, no. I think we would love to see the regime change. That doesn&#8217;t mean that we&#8217;re going to make a change, but we would love to see a change. There&#8217;s no doubt about the fact that it would be of great benefit to the United States if Cuba was no longer governed by an autocratic regime.” 
“But you know what we mean by regime change,” Schatz persisted.  “We don&#8217;t mean I wish someone else were in charge. When we talk about regime change, we&#8217;re talking about using the power of the United States, usually kinetic power, but often other kinds of coercion. I&#8217;m not even saying that that&#8217;s always not in our interests; I&#8217;m just saying, I&#8217;m not asking you whether we would prefer a different kind of government. I&#8217;m asking whether you are trying to precipitate the fall of the current regime.”
“Yeah, but that&#8217;s statutory. The Helms-Burton Act, the U.S. embargo on Cuba, is codified. It was codified in law, and it requires regime change in order for us to lift the embargo,” Rubio pointed out.
Owned.
Senator Tim Kaine, the long-forgotten vice presidential candidate for Hillary Clinton, went after Rubio because Donald Trump supposedly said Iceland and not Greenland in his Davos speech. “We&#8217;re not mad at Iceland. They haven&#8217;t cost us any money. The president just mistook the two countries for each other, correct?” Kaine said.
Rubio then gave a deathless, hilarious reply, with a wink at the recent past: “Yeah, he meant to say Greenland. But I think we&#8217;re all familiar with the presidents who have verbal stumbles. We&#8217;ve had presidents like that before, some made a lot more than this one.”
Owned.
Rubio was also asked about Iran and again pointed out that the people of Iran deserve better than the current leadership:
<blockquote>And the core problem they face, unlike the protests you saw in the past on some other topics, is that they don&#8217;t have a way to address the core complaints of the protesters, which is that their economy’s in collapse. And the reason why there&#8217;s economies and collapse is because they spend all their money and all their resources building weapons and sponsoring terrorist groups around the world, instead of reinvesting it back into their society and as a result, have taken on massive global sanctions, which has isolated their economy and their country.
And so that&#8217;s what the Iranian people are demanding, is that they stop doing that and start caring about them and get these sanctions off of them, and this regime is unwilling to do it. So the core challenges, the protests may have ebbed, but they will spark up again in the future because this regime, unless they are willing to change and or leave, has no way of addressing the legitimate and consistent complaints of the people of Iran who deserve better. </blockquote>
Has there ever been a better Secretary of State?

US-VENEZUELA-CONFLICT-POLITICS-CONGRESS-RUBIO

The Adult In The Room: Rubio Owns The Senate

Ben Shapiro

Chris Van Hollen

Marco Rubio

Oil and Gas

Opinion

Rand Paul

U.S. Senate

The foundation that awards the Nobel Peace Prize has clarified that a Nobel, once awarded, cannot be “passed on.”
The Nobel Foundation made a statement on the non-transferability of its awards after Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado gifted her 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to President Donald Trump last week. The clarifications suggest that the foundation is concerned with being connected to the President of the United States despite numerous world leaders <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pax-trumpana-trumps-resume-for-winning-the-nobel-peace-prize">nominating</a> Trump himself to receive a peace prize.
“One of the core missions of the Nobel Foundation is to safeguard the dignity of the Nobel Prizes and their administration,” the foundation said in a <a href="https://x.com/nobelprize/status/2012826296875667648">statement</a> on Sunday.
“The Foundation upholds Alfred Nobel’s will and its stipulations. It states that the prizes shall be awarded to those who ‘have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind,’ and it specifies who has the right to award each respective prize. A prize can therefore not, even symbolically, be passed on or further distributed,” it said.
The statement followed a release the foundation published on Friday explaining the symbolism behind the award and how, no matter what happens to the physical prize itself, the original recipient of the prize is always considered a Nobel laureate.
“Regardless of what may happen to the medal, the diploma, or the prize money, it is and remains the original laureate who is recorded in history as the recipient of the prize,” the <a href="https://www.nobelpeaceprize.org/press/press-releases/the-nobel-prize-and-the-laureate-are-inseparable">release</a> states. “Even if the medal or diploma later comes into someone else’s possession, this does not alter who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.”
“A laureate cannot share the prize with others, nor transfer it once it has been announced. A Nobel Peace Prize can also never be revoked. The decision is final and applies for all time,” it continues.
The Nobel Foundation&#8217;s repeated clarifications on the Nobel symbolism come after Trump received the Nobel Prize from Machado, who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-ends-up-with-nobel-after-all-as-venezuelas-machado-gifts-prize-at-white-house">gave</a> Trump her prize after the United States used military force to raid Venezuela and arrest and extradite former dictator Nicolás Maduro. Maduro is imprisoned in New York on charges related to drug trafficking.
“I presented the president of the United States the medal, the Nobel Peace Prize,” Machado told reporters after meeting with Trump at the White House, “as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom.”

Nobel Foundation Panics After Machado Gifts Trump Her Award, Says Prize Cannot Be ‘Passed On’

General

Nobel Peace Prize

World

January 3, 2026, will go down in history as the day Venezuelans recovered something many had believed lost: hope.
That hope did not come from abstract promises, but from the capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro — the first sign in decades that Venezuela may veer off the trajectory of authoritarian rule, <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/700568/decade-distress-clouds-venezuela-future.aspx">economic collapse</a>, and <a href="https://www.unrefugees.org/emergencies/venezuela/#:~:text=About%20the%20Crisis%20in%20Venezuela&amp;text=The%20humanitarian%20crisis%20in%20Venezuela,Latin%20America%20and%20the%20Caribbean.">mass exile</a> that has defined the country for 26 years.
Despite this renewed optimism, many critics of the Trump administration have suggested the operation was somehow unethical or misguided.
Those critics miss the point entirely. Toppling Maduro has paved the way for long-term stability grounded in free-market capitalism and the rule of law to take root in Venezuela. If these forces are allowed to flourish, they will reshape the military, political, and economic structures that guide the country, and allow Venezuela to fully re-enter the global community.
It is no accident that authoritarians controlled Venezuela for as long as they did. To topple a regime from the inside, you need either a massive popular uprising or some kind of military coup. Maduro made sure both were impossible in Venezuela.
A 2013 law banned the sale of firearms and ammunition to civilians and imposes prison sentences of up to 20 years for unauthorized possession. Over the past decade, the Maduro regime aggressively <a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/Latin-America-Monitor/2013/0807/Gun-control-Can-Venezuela-regulate-the-flow-of-arms">disarmed the population</a>, ensuring that ordinary citizens have no means to resist a usurping government or defend a democratic transition.
That means no uprising would succeed without the military’s involvement. Which is why in recent years Maduro expanded the Venezuelan officer corps, which reportedly boasts over <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/maduro-is-out-its-unclear-who-is-running-venezuela-2026-01-04/">2,000 generals and admirals</a> — more than double the number in the United States.
In a system saturated with generals, no single faction can act decisively without broad internal backing. Plotting a coup becomes exponentially harder when success requires the loyalty of dozens, if not hundreds, of senior figures rather than a centralized command.
And, because so many of those officers have been <a href="https://www.occrp.org/en/project/revolution-to-riches/how-venezuela-bought-military-loyalty?utm_source=chatgpt.com">rewarded</a> with lucrative posts or interests in vast sectors of the economy, it would be difficult for an opposition faction or reform-minded general to rally enough support within the officer corps to mount a successful coup.
Fortunately, the fact that the Venezuelan military is more a patronage program than a fighting force allowed American forces to topple Maduro in just 88 minutes.
That was a major step in the right direction, but hardly a guarantee of future success.
Even with Maduro gone, any Venezuelan regime that hopes to endure will need the military’s buy-in. And because Maduro spent years purchasing officers’ loyalty, it won’t be easy for an opposition leader to swoop in and take control.
That’s why Maduro’s de facto vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, was left in power after Maduro’s capture. Many expected opposition leader María Corina Machado — whose coalition overwhelmingly won the <a href="https://ar.usembassy.gov/assessing-the-results-of-venezuelas-presidential-election/">2024 elections</a> — to assume leadership. Instead, President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/us/politics/trump-venezuela-machado.html">declined to back her</a>, arguing she lacked sufficient internal support.
Allowing Rodríguez to serve as a temporary bridge likely reduces the number of officers required to defect at once, lowering the coordination threshold needed to maintain stability. And, at a time when the American body politic is highly suspicious of “regime change” and “forever wars,” respecting this reality ostensibly diminishes the need for troops on the ground.
Moreover, immediate installation would have been politically toxic for Machado. A staunch defender of democratic rule, she must earn her mandate from Venezuelans, not appear as a foreign appointee marching into Miraflores on the heels of American troops.
If Machado is to translate political momentum into lasting change, she will need to leverage Venezuela’s greatest asset: its oil reserves. The country holds an estimated <a href="https://www.opec.org/assets/assetdb/asb-2025.pdf">300 billion barrels of proven reserves</a>, the largest in the world.
But Venezuela’s oil is not an easy prize. Most of it is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/05/venezuelan-crude-oil-appeals-to-us-refineries">heavy or extra-heavy crude</a> — dense, sulfur-rich, and costly to extract, transport, and refine. <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/dispatches/what-it-takes-to-revive-venezuelas-oil-and-gas-industry/">Oil production has fallen</a> from roughly 3.2 million barrels per day in 2000 to about 1 million today, and <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-big-oil-has-a-long-road-ahead-in-venezuela-the-fallen-angel-of-global-crude-markets-192628377.html">experts agree</a> that rebuilding lost capacity will take years of sustained investment and technical rehabilitation.
Reviving the sector will require tens of billions of dollars in <a href="https://www.cfr.org/expert-brief/increasing-venezuelas-oil-output-will-take-several-years-and-billions-dollars">long-term investment</a>. But American companies will not make multi-billion-dollar investments based on speeches, personalities, or election cycles. They will invest if they believe the rules of the game will endure. In this sense, Venezuela’s recovery is inseparable from free-market reform and the rule of law.
This is why the transition underway is about far more than replacing one leader with another. It is about replacing an economic model. Venezuela’s oil sector — and its broader economy — cannot recover without sustained private investment, and sustained private investment requires credible commitment to free-market capitalism, property rights, and the rule of law. Anything less signals instability and thus keeps capital on the sidelines.
Incentives are aligned in a rare and encouraging way. American companies want stability, predictability, and enforceable contracts. Venezuelans want lasting freedom, prosperity, and insulation from the return of authoritarian socialism. Both depend on the same outcome: a durable shift away from state control and toward a market-based system that cannot be easily undone. The more Venezuela commits to capitalism, the safer long-term investment becomes. And the more capital flows in, the harder it becomes for any future government to reverse course without catastrophic cost.
That alignment matters. It creates a feedback loop in which economic openness reinforces political durability, and political durability reinforces economic confidence. This — not ideology, not personality, and not short-term geopolitics — is the most important driver of Venezuela’s future.
Venezuela’s trajectory depends on balancing three forces: military power, political legitimacy, and market-driven recovery. Mismanaging any one of them risks collapse. The United States and its allies must avoid the temptation to pursue oil while tolerating authoritarian continuity. That path would only produce a new class of kleptocrats.
Done correctly, however, this moment offers a rare alignment of interests. Venezuelans want dignity and self-government. Investors want stability and lawful capitalism. And the United States has an opportunity to support a transition that is neither naïve nor imperial, but grounded in realism.
The door is open. What comes next will decide whether hope can walk through it and materialize as the liberty and prosperity millions of Venezuelans, like myself, have been praying, yearning, and working for decades.
Olga Benacerraf de Strulovic is a J.D. Candidate at the University of Chicago Law School. She was born and raised in Venezuela&#8217;s capital city of Caracas, and was one of many Venezuelans who fled the country during Nicolás Maduro&#8217;s rule. 
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The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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With Maduro Gone, Will Venezuelans Choose Freedom?

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LIVE UPDATES: Trump Warns Of Dangers Of Aligning With Venezuelan Opposition, Cites Iraq As Example

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Liberals have taken many radical, nonsensical positions in recent years. Few are as baffling as their outrage over President Trump’s removal of Nicolás Maduro, the illegitimate, narco-terrorist dictator of Venezuela — a move the long-suffering citizens of Venezuela are openly cheering.
But not so among progressives, such as the clueless governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, <a href="https://x.com/GovPritzker/status/2007864220017115141?s=20">who claims</a> Trump&#8217;s action was designed, &#8220;To distract from Epstein, the explosion of health and homeowners insurance costs, and the tariffs that are decimating small businesses &#8230;&#8221;
Or Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who downplays Maduro’s tyrannical brutality <a href="https://x.com/AOC/status/2007472955882692798">by claiming,</a>&#8221; It’s about oil and regime change. And they need a trial now to pretend that it isn’t. Especially to distract from Epstein + skyrocketing healthcare costs.&#8221;
So, who exactly are Pritzker, AOC, and others of their ilk defending? Why are they saying we should have left him in power?
In 2023, Joe Biden&#8217;s State Department produced a 76-page <a href="https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/528267_VENEZUELA-2023-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf">assessment</a> of specific human rights abuses committed by Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his thugs (many of whom were apparently Cuban mercenaries) against their hapless victims. The assessment documents a staggering range of abuses, including:
<blockquote>&#8230;unlawful or arbitrary killings… enforced disappearance; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by security forces; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest or detention by security forces… political prisoners… punishment of family members for alleged offenses by a relative… use of children by illegal armed groups; serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom, including violence or threats of violence against journalists… harassment of domestic and international human rights organizations; extensive gender-based violence… trafficking in persons… and the worst forms of child labor.</blockquote>
The report makes for a tough read, given its summation of the viciousness, cruelty, and ruthlessness of Maduro and his henchmen. 
Want more? What about the details in the federal <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1422326/dl">criminal indictment</a> of Maduro issued by a grand jury in New York?
The superseding indictment charges Maduro and a host of other confederates with running a drug cartel “to import tons of cocaine into the United States.” Makes sense from Maduro’s point of view: his disastrous policies turned Venezuela into an economic basket case, making a once-prosperous country a bankrupt third-world hellhole. Thus, Maduro had to get money from somewhere to line his pockets and finance his depredations.
According to the indictment, Maduro essentially turned the Venezuelan government into a massive drug and illegal weapons smuggling operation, doing everything from using Venezuelan law enforcement to protect his distribution system to issuing “diplomatic passports to drug traffickers” and providing “diplomatic cover for planes used by money launderers to repatriate drug proceeds.”
All of the money was used to enrich himself, his family, and the “political and military elite” who kept him in power. That also included partnering “with some of the most violent and prolific drug traffickers and narco-terrorists in the world,” extremely dangerous criminal cartels and terrorist groups that have kidnapped and murdered Americans, like FARC, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Zetas, or Cartel del Noreste, and Tren de Aragua.
By the way, the Caribbean drug smugglers that our military has been taking out? Part of the indictment talks about the 200 to 250 tons of cocaine “trafficked” to the U.S. annually by Maduro and his cartel cronies through “maritime shipments…north from Venezuela’s coastline using go-fast vessels, fishing boats, and container ships.” Additionally, “air shipments were often dispatched from clandestine airstrips, typically made of dirt or grass, and also from commercial airports under the control” of Maduro and his corrupt officials.
I don’t think the majority of Americans have a lot of sympathy for the criminals smuggling drugs on these “go-fast vessels, fishing boats, and container ships.”
From the drugs poisoning our citizens, especially our youth, to the citizens of Venezuela who have been censored, arrested, tortured, and killed, Maduro has been a scourge who has caused untold harm and suffering.
The political parties and both sides of the political aisle may disagree on many domestic issues. But when it comes to the removal of Nicolás Maduro Moros, progressives, liberals, and Democrats, along with conservatives and Republicans, should be praising the president for finally taking action to rid our hemisphere of this menace.
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Hans von Spakovsky is a Senior Legal Fellow in the Meese Institute for the Rule of Law at Advancing American Freedom.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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Why Are Democrats Defending A Narco-Terrorist Dictator?

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CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez on Thursday in Caracas to discuss economic cooperation and intensifying efforts against drug trafficking, a U.S. official confirmed to The Daily Wire. 
The official told The Daily Wire that the meeting focused on &#8220;trust building measures and laying the groundwork for continued communication and room for collaboration between the two governments.&#8221; Rodriguez, who spoke with President Donald Trump during a phone call on Wednesday, became the interim leader of Venezuela after American forces captured dictator Nicolás Maduro.
“At President Trump’s direction, Director Ratcliffe traveled to Venezuela to meet with interim President Delcy Rodriguez to deliver the message that the United States looks forward to an improved working relationship,&#8221; a U.S. official told The Daily Wire. &#8220;During the meeting in Caracas, Director Ratcliffe discussed potential opportunities for economic collaboration and that Venezuela can no longer be a safe haven for America’s adversaries, especially narcotraffickers.”
The official added that the trip was part of the continuation of Trump&#8217;s &#8220;aggressive foreign policy.&#8221; Ratcliffe and &#8220;a small team&#8221; met with Rodriguez and other Venezuelan officials for about two hours, according to the official. Ratcliffe reiterated the need for Venezuela to crack down on drug trafficking, including the violent Tren de Aragua. The official added that the trip showed Ratcliffe is willing to take risks.
The New York Times was the first outlet to report on the trip.
Before Maduro&#8217;s capture, the CIA carried out a reported strike on a Venezuelan port that U.S. officials said was used to load drugs onto boats bound for North America.
Earlier this month, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-leverages-oil-deal-to-make-venezuela-buy-american">announced</a> a controversial oil deal with Venezuela in which the country would provide the United States with between 30 million and 50 million barrels of sanctioned crude oil. With the money made from oil sales, Trump said that Venezuela would purchase American agricultural, medical, and electrical equipment. 
Ratcliffe’s meeting with Rodriguez came after Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-ends-up-with-nobel-after-all-as-venezuelas-machado-gifts-prize-at-white-house">met</a> with Venezuela opposition leader María Corina Machado. 
“María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done,&#8221; said Trump. &#8220;Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you, María!”
Top Trump officials have reiterated the administration’s commitment to long-term democratic elections in Venezuela; however, the president has not set a timeline for when elections might take place.
​​“We have to fix the country first. You can’t have an election. There’s no way the people could even vote,” Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-predicts-quick-but-expensive-venezuela-oil-rebuild-we-have-to-nurse-the-country-back?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=23&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Predicts+Quick%2C+But+Expensive+Venezuela+Oil+Rebuild%3A+‘We+Have+To+Nurse+The+Country+Back’">said</a> in an interview last week. “No, it’s going to take a period of time. We have to nurse the country back to health.”

US Seizes Russia-Flagged Tanker After Chase Across Atlantic

CIA Director Meets With Venezuela’s Interim Leader As U.S. Shifts Policy

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Venezuela opposition leader María Corina Machado gifted her 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to President Donald Trump at the White House Thursday.
Machado met with the president a day after Trump spoke with Venezuela&#8217;s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, over the phone. Machado had previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nobel-peace-prize-winner-dedicates-award-to-trump-for-his-decisive-support">dedicated</a> her award to Trump last year “for his decisive support of our cause.”
“I presented the President of the United States the medal, the Nobel Peace Prize,” Machado told reporters on Thursday, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-machado-venezuela-maduro-nobel-peace-prize-ed23992bccabf128b7e849259d3c29a8">Associated Press</a>. She said Trump deserved the accolade “as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom.”
Trump thanked Machado for the award and complimented the opposition leader in a post on Truth Social.
“It was my Great Honor to meet María Corina Machado, of Venezuela, today. She is a wonderful woman who has been through so much,” <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115902023696178994">said</a> Trump. “María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you María!”
Top Trump officials have repeated the administration’s commitment to long-term democratic elections in Venezuela, however, the president has not placed a timeline on when elections might happen. Securing trustworthy democratic elections is one of the top priorities of Machado, whose party has been kept out of power in part due to election rigging by Venezuela’s Communist regime.
After ousting former Venezuela strongman Nicolás Maduro earlier this month and forcibly extraditing him to New York to face trial on drug-related charges, the Trump administration has left Rodriguez to steady the Venezuela government while using an oil embargo to force Caracas to align itself with U.S. interests.
Trump has declined to pressure Rodriguez to turn over the government to the opposition. The White House was reportedly convinced prior to Maduro’s arrest that Machado did not have the sway among Venezuela’s government and power brokers to stabilize the government. Some of the reforms that Washington has tasked Caracas with include ridding foreign influence from nations such as China and Cuba from Venezuela’s government.
Washington has kept up pressure on Venezuela by restricting Caracas&#8217; ability to sell oil on the international market. The United States has seized at least half a dozen oil tankers loaded with Venezuelan crude. The ships belong to a “ghost fleet” of foreign vessels that often use deception to carry sanctioned goods.
Instead, Washington has struck a deal with Rodriguez’s administration and will handle the sale of Venezuelan oil on international markets. The Trump administration says it can secure a higher price for Venezuela while keeping influence over Caracas by controlling the flow of its most important export.

María Corina Machado

Trump Ends Up With Nobel After All As Venezuela’s Machado Gifts Prize At White House

Global Politics

The U.S. military seized another Venezuelan-linked oil tanker in the Caribbean early Thursday morning, as federal authorities intensified enforcement against sanctioned vessels tied to the Maduro regime. 
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said a Coast Guard tactical team conducted a pre-dawn raid of the motor tanker Veronica, the sixth sanctioned vessel seized by the Coast Guard in recent weeks. The operation went smoothly, and the ship was seized without incident, Noem said. 
“As another sanctioned ghost fleet tanker, Motor Tanker Veronica had previously passed through Venezuelan waters, and was operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean,” Noem posted on X, sharing footage of the operation. 
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Early this morning, a Coast Guard tactical team conducted a pre-dawn boarding and seizure of Motor Tanker Veronica in the Caribbean. As another sanctioned ghost fleet tanker, Motor Tanker Veronica had previously passed through Venezuelan waters, and was operating in defiance of… <a href="https://t.co/MyWyQGH1h0">pic.twitter.com/MyWyQGH1h0</a>
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sec_Noem/status/2011803374807547909?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2026</a></blockquote>
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“As we’ve now demonstrated through multiple boardings, there is no outrunning or escaping American justice — period. Our resolve is unshakeable and our mission coordination has never been better. America&#8217;s Coast Guard remains Always Ready to apply the full force of its unique authorities and specialized capabilities against this threat anywhere, anytime,” she added. 
U.S. Southern Command <a href="https://x.com/Southcom/status/2011798070816612578">said</a> that Marines and sailors assigned to Joint Task Force Southern Spear took part in the seizure after launching from the USS Gerald R. Ford. The task force is focused on disrupting drug trafficking and other illegal activities in the Western Hemisphere. 
“The Veronica is the latest tanker operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean, proving the effectiveness of Operation Southern Spear yet again,” Southern Command said. “The only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully.”
Trump has promised that American companies will invest billions to rebuild Venezuelan oil fields. 
Last week, the Coast Guard seized a tanker flying a Russian flag that had previously bypassed an American blockade. The ship, the Marinera, had been on the run for two weeks and was set to be escorted by a Russian submarine and warships. 
The operation came a few hours ahead of President Donald Trump’s meeting with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. The meeting is expected to focus on Venezuela’s future following the capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro earlier this month. Trump has said he doesn’t expect Machado to have enough support to become Venezuela’s next leader.

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Another Venezuelan-Linked Oil Tanker Seized As U.S. Enforces Trump Blockade

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