U.S.-Venezuela relations

Alex Saab made his initial court appearance after being deported over the weekend by acting President Delcy Rodríguez as part of a purge of insider businessmen who are believed to have enriched themselves through corrupt dealings with Maduro.

The decision marks a stark reversal for Alex Saab, who Maduro fought tooth and nail to bring home after his previous international arrest in 2020.

Venezuelan lawmakers have approved a bill to regulate mining as the country seeks to attract leery foreign investors to a once-private industry that has long been exploited by criminal groups with ties to the government.

Though the U.S. flag is now waving, the building is undergoing renovations and it remains unclear when it will fully reopen.

Venezuela’s Orinoco River Basin is a wild land of lush forests, grasslands and a vast delta of jungle wetlands teeming with wildlife. During the rainy season, the Orinoco is the world’s third-largest river by discharge. But this region – which Venezuelans rely on for water and hydropower – is facing a growing environmental disaster.

Wright arrived in Caracas on Wednesday and was meeting with acting President Delcy Rodríguez at the Miraflores palace. He plans a three-day trip that includes meetings with officials and oil executives. The U.S. Energy Department says he also visits oil fields tied to a U.S.-Venezuela energy deal.

President Donald Trump says he has informed Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodríguez that he’s going to be opening up all commercial airspace over Venezuela and Americans will soon be able to visit.

At his first Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing since U.S. forces seized Nicolás Maduro, Secretary of State Marco Rubio warns the U.S. could still use force to pressure Venezuela's government.

When the Trump administration sent in a team of U.S. special forces on Jan. 3, 2026, to extract Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, the operation fell short of full-scale regime change. Despite years of U.S. antagonism toward Venezuela’s government, the broader political coalition that Maduro led was allowed to remain intact under the guidance of longtime Maduro ally Delcy Rodríguez.

To understand what’s happening and what it means for U.S. consumers and the American energy industry, The Conversation U.S. checked in with Amy Myers Jaffe, a research professor at New York University and senior fellow at Tufts University who studies global energy markets and the geopolitics of oil.

The United States and Venezuela are exploring the possibility of restoring diplomatic relations. On Friday, a delegation from the Trump administration arrived in Venezuela. The U.S. diplomats and their security detail are making a preliminary assessment about reopening the U.S. Embassy in Caracas.