Posted originally on CTH on January 28, 2026 | Sundance
Secretary of State Marco Rubio appears today before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to outline the current situation with U.S. policy toward Venezuela against the background of Nicholas Maduro being captured by the U.S. Dept of Justice. In essence, Western Hemisphere policy.
The Senate has been fraught with anxiety over the Trump administration focusing on the American continent and strengthening the U.S. position in the region. Stability in the Americas is against the interests of the corporate and banking benefactors who pay for control of Senate seats and use their influence therein.
Having come from the Senate, after fulfillment of his fourteen-year corporate obligations, Secretary of State Rubio acutely understands the voices behind those on the panel delivering the questions. Rubio outlines the goals and objectives of the Venezuelan operation by speaking directly to the concerns of the banking and financial community; in addition, he answers the questions posed by the performance actors put in place by the corporate strategists.
Video is prompted to 14:33 to cut out the narrative engineered talking points from the chair and vice-chair. Secretary Rubio outlines the BIG PICTURE. WATCH:
Posted originally on CTH on January 11, 2026 | Sundance
Energy Secretary Chris Wright appears on Face the Nation to discuss the current and future plans for oil production in Venezuela, while explaining how the current mechanism to sell the oil is operating.
[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: This morning, President Trump vowed that Venezuela now has the military protection of the US. This comes just one week after he said the US would run that country. Meanwhile, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado is expected to travel to Washington to meet with President Trump this week. For his part, Mr. Trump and his team met with dozens of US oil executives late last week, urging them to commit $100 billion to boost oil production there. Joining us now to discuss it all is the United States Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, good to have you here in person.
SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT: Thanks for having me, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Before I ask you about Venezuela, very quickly, these protests in Iran, not this country reliant on oil to keep its government-controlled economy afloat. The President has been briefed on military options. What is the US willing to do to help?
SEC. CHRIS WRIGHT: Certainly the President has been very outspoken about wanting to have freedom and rule of law and capitalism and great relations with the United States return. So we’ll see. I think his moral support has been strong. Certainly, he’s taken a strong stance against the mullahs in Iran in disabling their nuclear program. I think the people in Iran are rising up because they feel there’s a strong America that has their back. I won’t go into the specifics there, but we wish them well, and we’d love to see a free and democratic Iran again.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Will there be more interdictions of vessels carrying Iranian oil? Any more activity on that front?
SEC. CHRIS WRIGHT: I won’t reveal any change in position there.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, let me ask you about Venezuela,
SEC. CHRIS WRIGHT: Yes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: where you have been very focused and very central to the President’s policy. The President said that Venezuela now has the United States, the most powerful military in the world, to protect them. To protect them, we will. Is the United States military providing security guarantees for American companies?
SEC. CHRIS WRIGHT: We’re not doing that right now, but what we, what he means, is we’re changing the game for what’s happening in the ground in Venezuela. Venezuela has purchased $20 billion of Russian weapons. They got Cuban mercenaries there. They supply oil to Cuba. They, they harbor the Hezbollah’s headquarters for the Western Hemisphere. Venezuela has been a very dangerous, very destabilized place going down the tubes. And with the United States influence now by controlling the sale of their oil and therefore the flow of funds into the country, we think we’re going to, we will see relatively rapid change, improvement on the ground in Venezuela. This is a process. We’re only eight days into the process, but it’s off to a strong start.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, it’s off to a quick start. You had the oil executives at the White House just Friday. That the President, excuse me, the State Department yesterday had a security alert I want to ask you about because it specifically cited the risk to Americans in Venezuela, and it said armed militias are setting up roadblocks, searching vehicles for evidence of US citizenship or support for the US. The man who runs those militias is Diosdado Cabello, who is the Minister of the Interior. Is he ordering the hunting of Americans?
SEC. CHRIS WRIGHT: Not that we are aware of, but we should be cautious. Look, this is, as they say, eight days into a change into a change of leadership there. The interim authorities are trying to establish power. Collectivos have been running wild over, over Venezuela for, for over a decade. So, yeah, you’re not going to–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right. Well he controls them.
SEC. CHRIS WRIGHT: He does.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So is he safe in his position? Because right now the administration seems to be working with him.
SEC. CHRIS WRIGHT: We need to work with the people that have the guns today to ultimately move the country to a representative government and a better station. But what you’ve got to prevent in the mean term is a collapse of the nation. And I think the strong moves we’re making right now is to influence the people with the guns today, which is part of a process.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And you’re not concerned he’s going to undermine the more business minded President Delcy Rodriguez?
SEC. CHRIS WRIGHT: Oh, of course we’re worried about things like that. We need to get stability among the leadership in Venezuela. So yes, of course we’re concerned about those things.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So tell me broadly, is the Trump administration’s goal here to acquire the state oil company, PDVSA, and to run it. Are you going to put Americans on the board? How is this going to work?
SEC. CHRIS WRIGHT: Well, again, it’s a process. The first thing to do is to reduce the damage to the United States, the inflow of guns and criminals and immigrants and drugs into the United States, the destabilizing of a key part of the Western Hemisphere. We need to stop that. That’s why we’ve entered into Venezuela. Certainly, part of the way to improve Venezuela and to improve the Western Hemisphere and improve the lives of Americans is to get their very corrupt 25 years in decline, oil industry back going again.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Does that mean the United States government is going to run it? The president says we’re going to run the country. Are we running this as like as an American state owned oil company essentially?
SEC. CHRIS WRIGHT: No. Today we are running the sale of their crudes. You know, we have a quarantine around their ability to ship oil outside of Venezuela. All of that goes through American crude marketers, and then that crude goes out into the market. We collect those funds and bring them back to Venezuela to better the lives of Americans and Venezuelans. But in the long run, what will happen with Venezuelan oil resources? Yeah, of course, quite likely you’ll see American companies’ expanded presence there. You’ll see growing production. Of course, you’re going to see more American involvement in there. But exactly how that’s going to work, that’s going to unfold over time.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So back in November, us, Judge backed a bid by an American hedge fund to purchase Citgo Petroleum. The Treasury still has to approve that deal. The hedge fund is actually run by a big Trump donor, Paul Singer. Do you want to preserve Venezuelan ownership of Citgo? Do you want to have America have a financial stake in it, like Trump bought a big portion of an intel company, do you want to own portions of oil companies?
SEC. CHRIS WRIGHT: Again, that’s going to be up to American businesses. That’s certainly a very real possibility. The Citgo sale is part of, is part of bringing redress to creditors of the United States for the Venezuelan Government. And of course, one, one of the capital providers in that transaction is a hedge fund provider you just mentioned. There’s lots of American investors and American refining entrepreneurs that are involved in that so to take Venezuelan owned refineries that are in the United States and legally through an auction process, transfer them to American owners and American entrepreneurs in the refining business. I think that’s fantastic.
MARGARET BRENNAN: There’s concern about corruption here, though. Will there be Americans installed on these boards? And how do you respond to these allegations that some Trump donors are going to get preferential treatment?
SEC. CHRIS WRIGHT: I can assure you that is absolutely not the case. Absolutely not the case. Think of what President Trump has done for the American oil and gas industry. He’s driven down the price of oil. He’s dramatically reduced–
MARGARET BRENNAN: There’s an over supply of oil. And now you’re going to put more on the market.
SEC. CHRIS WRIGHT: Exactly. That’s not- That’s not good for American oil and gas companies.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Because it makes it less profitable for them to actually go and invest in drill, baby, drill.
SEC. CHRIS WRIGHT: Exactly. Democrats and President Biden are fantastic for American oil and gas companies because they try to restrict the supply to something that’s essential to life, which only has one possible impact, which is to drive up prices and grow profitability. So President Trump is no, is no helper to the oil and gas industry. And certainly there’s no corruption, preferential placement of people. There’s none of that. I can assure you of that. I’m in the center of this.
MARGARET BRENNAN: How are you going to decide the contracts? Is the Treasury going to approve the Citgo dominance there in that–
SEC. CHRIS WRIGHT: That went through a large auction to buy it.
MARGARET BRENNAN
Are you going to brief to Congress the decisions you’re making about which firms get access?
SEC. CHRIS WRIGHT: Absolutely. All that was an auction open to all American firms. There were many bidders, including the coalition of bidders you mentioned. We want those assets to get as much money as possible, to go back to the creditors of the Venezuelan Government. And we want American refinery assets owned by Americans that are going to increase the throughput, drive down the price of gasoline in America.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay. So Secretary Rubio said there’s a three point plan, stabilize, rehabilitate, transition. This sounds indefinite, even when you heard some of those oil executives, Chevron’s leadership, they’re already in Venezuela, we should say, said it will take 18 to 24 months to even increase oil production by 50%. So how long is this American involvement? Because he’s saying there, it’s at least a year and a half, two years.
SEC. CHRIS WRIGHT: They’ve been there for 100 years, and likely, Chevron’s going to be there 50 years from now.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But the United States government, how long does that role continue?
SEC. CHRIS WRIGHT: You heard the third part of Rubio’s question, which is transition. We want to bring a representative government to the people of Venezuela. I think then you’ll see the full sovereignty back to the government of Venezuela. We don’t have a legitimate government of Venezuela today. We’d like to move and get there, but America–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Is there a timeline?
SEC. CHRIS WRIGHT: 25 years, this country has gone in decline. President Trump out of the box, creative intervention has allowed us to change the game. But, yeah, I don’t know the timeline of that. It’s not weeks, it’s more months. Could be a year or two could be more.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay. Secretary Wright, thank you for your time today.
Posted originally on CTH on January 11, 2026 | Sundance
I first read and listened to the following account a few days ago and hesitated to share the story because what was described sounded surreal. However, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has also shared these details giving the account some level of potential authenticity that did not exist before.
What is described about the attack on the compound of Nicolas Maduro is quite remarkable. All electronic countermeasures, including radar were rendered ineffective after initial U.S. military strikes.
Then a wave of drones moved in and began targeting specific infrastructure. Then a network of Venezuelan aircraft was destroyed on the ground. Then the helicopters arrived and the technology with the U.S. soldiers’ weapons was unlike anything the Cuban/Venezuelan military had ever encountered.
Maduro was being protected by approximately 300 armed soldiers. One of Maduro’s guards survived with injuries and gave an account in Spanish [LINK] that was also shared in English translation [LINK] The original video is below the transcript.
[TRANSCRIPT] – This account from a Venezuelan security guard loyal to Nicolás Maduro is absolutely chilling—and it explains a lot about why the tone across Latin America suddenly changed.
Security Guard: On the day of the operation, we didn’t hear anything coming. We were on guard, but suddenly all our radar systems shut down without any explanation. The next thing we saw were drones, a lot of drones, flying over our positions. We didn’t know how to react.
Interviewer: So what happened next? How was the main attack?
Security Guard: After those drones appeared, some helicopters arrived, but there were very few. I think barely eight helicopters. From those helicopters, soldiers came down, but a very small number. Maybe twenty men. But those men were technologically very advanced. They didn’t look like anything we’ve fought against before.
Interviewer: And then the battle began?
Security Guard: Yes, but it was a massacre. We were hundreds, but we had no chance. They were shooting with such precision and speed… it seemed like each soldier was firing 300 rounds per minute. We couldn’t do anything.
Interviewer: And your own weapons? Didn’t they help?
Security Guard: No help at all. Because it wasn’t just the weapons. At one point, they launched something—I don’t know how to describe it… it was like a very intense sound wave. Suddenly I felt like my head was exploding from the inside. We all started bleeding from the nose. Some were vomiting blood. We fell to the ground, unable to move.
Interviewer: And your comrades? Did they manage to resist?
Security Guard: No, not at all. Those twenty men, without a single casualty, killed hundreds of us. We had no way to compete with their technology, with their weapons. I swear, I’ve never seen anything like it. We couldn’t even stand up after that sonic weapon or whatever it was.
Interviewer: So, do you think the rest of the region should think twice before confronting the Americans?
Security Guard: Without a doubt. I’m sending a warning to anyone who thinks they can fight the United States. They have no idea what they’re capable of. After what I saw, I never want to be on the other side of that again. They’re not to be messed with.
Interviewer: And now that Trump has said Mexico is on the list, do you think the situation will change in Latin America?
Security Guard: Definitely. Everyone is already talking about this. No one wants to go through what we went through. Now everyone thinks twice. What happened here is going to change a lot of things, not just in Venezuela but throughout the region. {SOURCE}
.
It sounds like the U.S. Delta Force was moving like this:
An insider from Venezuela’s security forces says US troops were like nothing they’d ever seen — overwhelming firepower, advanced tech, total dominance. After Trump’s Fox News warning on taking on the cartels, Latin America is watching how powerful US forces truly are. 🇺🇸🇻🇪”
Posted originally on CTH on January 10, 2026 | Sundance
Energy Secretary Wright asked Chevron CEO Mike Wirth to give some information about the current status of the Venezuelan oil industry. Chevron has been on the ground in Venezuela for a long period of time and has significant infrastructure investment already in place.
Wirth notes that with current personnel (3,000) and equipment (4 locations) on site, Chevron could likely double capacity almost immediately, however, from there it would take approximately 18-months to gain more significant outputs.
President Trump asked if Chevron was in a position of advantage from already having their people and material already in operation, Wright noted generally yes, they do; however, the opportunities for industrial capacity gains are significant.
Posted originally on CTH on January 10, 2026 | Sundance
During the energy roundtable, Secretary Rubio made remarks outlining the three phases within the U.S. policy toward Venezuela. Essentially the core of the policy is: (1) Stabilization; (2) Transition, and (3) a Return to sovereign representative democracy.
The initial phase is ‘stabilization,’ where the U.S. government is working with existing leadership in Venezuela under tight controls and clear expectations. Reconciliation of political factions is supported. The U.S. leverage is maintained by financial and economic control, provided by the threat of U.S. military. Venezuela’s oil production pays for U.S. oversight.
The second phase involves ‘transition’, where the civic and governing responsibilities are shared between the existing Venezuelan leadership and aligned policy of the U.S. government. In the transitional phase the economic wealth is apportioned to the people of Venezuela with oversight by the U.S. government.
The third phase ‘sovereign representative democracy’ happens when the reformed government holds legitimate elections to decide the representative form of government, the voice of the people, within Venezuela. The U.S. influence then begins to withdraw, and new sovereign political leadership takes control.
Posted originally on CTH on January 10, 2026 | Sundance
President Trump, Vice-President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio participate in a roundtable discussion with major oil and gas executives on the issue of energy investment in Venezuela.
The primary concern for oil executives is stability within Venezuela. The Maduro government previously seized the assets of U.S. oil companies, and the investment required to restart the industry at scale are significant.
Posted originally on CTH on January 9, 2026 | Sundance
She really doesn’t have much choice. President Trump has shown the Venezuelan government how the U.S. can put a complete stranglehold on the South American country if they do not adhere to the transition plans of Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the enforcer.
Following the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s new government under Delcy Rodríguez has begun releasing political prisoners in a bid to foster unity and peace. The change in Venezuelan politics comes directly as the result of President Trump using the military to block oil shipments, the major source of revenue for the nation.
The move seems to indicate a potential shift in Venezuela’s political landscape, though compliance with the Trump administration is likely happening through gritted teeth.
MIAMI – The interim government of Venezuela is releasing of “an important group” of Venezuelan and foreign political prisoners to guarantee unity and peace, according to Jorge Rodríguez, the president of the parliament and brother of the new president in charge of the South American country.
Rodríguez, who also represented now-deposed Venezuelan ruler Nicolás Maduro for years in political negotiations with the opposition and the United States, indicated Thursday that the government of his sister, Delcy Rodríguez, was working together with the rest of the state institutions to carry out what he defined as “a unilateral gesture” of the executive branch.
The measure comes three days after the swearing-in of Delcy Rodríguez, former vice president of Maduro’s government, following the armed, Saturday morning incursion of U.S. military forces in Caracas that culminated in the arrest of the socialist ruler and his wife Cilia Flores, and some 100 deaths.
Jorge Rodríguez, recently ratified as leader of the national parliament, avoided referring to those released as prisoners for political reasons and said that these releases were taking place simultaneous to his announcement, made at noon on Thursday.
[…] Rodríguez thanked, at times with a broken voice, the mediation of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva, the government of Qatar, the former president of Spain José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and the institutions of the Venezuelan state that responded “in a prompt manner” to the order of his sister and interim president.
[…] Regarding the economic agreements between the United States and Venezuela, including the sale of crude oil from the South American country, Rodríguez insisted that it is only a “commercial transaction” between two countries with these ties for “many years. (more)
Meanwhile, back in Washington DC, the established UniParty is working earnestly on a public relations campaign to install their selected candidate, María Corina Machado.
Apparently, the Jeb Bush aligned Republican supporters of Maria Machado will be using the roadmap previously deployed by Volodymyr Zelenskyy to visit Congress, create a narrative and then work to influence the White House to support Mrs. Machado. The professionally Republican want Venezuela to be the next Ukraine.
Thankfully, President Trump and Secretary Rubio appear immune to the congressional pressure campaign. While they have spoken in nice diplomatic terms about the WEF-aligned Maria Machado – there is no indication the Trump administration is going to change current approaches.
As of right now, the Trump/Rubio approach is to leverage the U.S. control over the wealth and income of Venezuela (oil production and exports), while retaining stability in the structures of government and pressuring the Delcy Rodriquez administration toward strong institutional reform and eventually a new election.
If Mrs. Maria Machado wins the election, then she will carry the support of the Venezuelan people into office. Winning a legitimate election is a better outcome than being installed and domestically/geopolitically being viewed as a puppet of the U.S. government.
♦ Stabilize the government. ♦ Push strong democratic reform. ♦ Keep Cuba, Iran, China and Russia out of the influence equation. ♦ Control oil sales to ensure financial returns and benefits to the Venezuelan people, while ♦ planning and organizing free and fair elections.
Posted originally on Jan 8, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |
China became Venezuela’s largest oil purchaser through oil-for-debt deals. Socialism failed, and the nation was desperate for funds, especially after being ostracized from Western trade. Beijing supplied Venezuela with credit in exchange for heavily discounted crude. China’s access to cheap oil from Venezuela came to a sudden halt after the US takeover.
China was purchasing around 778,000 barrels a day before Maduro’s capture. Venezuela had borrowed up to $100 billion from China in loans since 2007, using PDVSA crude sales to ChinaOil as collateral. Venezuela agreed to ship fixed volumes of crude to Chinese buyers through small “teapot” refineries. While the average output was 778,000 bpd DAILY, exports reached 952,000 bpd at the end of 2025. These flows accounted for 4% of China’s total oil imports.
China is now looking to Iran and Russia for crude, furthering the disconnect between the East and West. Cargoes secured in Asian waters can cover two and a half months of China’s demand, easing any immediate shocks. Yet, Venezuela still owes China around $19 billion in outstanding debt that was largely secured by long-term crude imports.
China is enraged. Foreign Ministry spokespeople Mao Ning and Lin Jian demanded Venezuela retain “full and permanent sovereignty” over its natural resources and accused the US of “seriously breaching” international law. China’s “legitimate rights and interests in Venezuela must be protected,” according to state media. China’s United Nations representative reiterated this statement, demanding that the US “cease its bullying and coercive practices.”
🚨🇺🇸🇻🇪🇷🇺 U.S. TRIES TO SEIZE VENEZUELAN OIL TANKER, SO RUSSIA RESPONDS WITH A SUBMARINE
You thought this was just about oil? It’s now a full-on naval showdown.
The U.S. is actively trying to seize the Marinera, a Russian-flagged tanker (formerly Bella 1) carrying sanctioned… pic.twitter.com/5BNUO9qtmx
Russia stepped in to protect China’s short-term investments using a military submarine to protect an oil carrier from US forces. However, US forces successfully boarded and seized the cargo ship. There was no direct conflict between Russia and the US, but “direct” is key as Russia is showing its willingness to oppose Western influence.
PURE INSANITY
Mark Carney claims Venezuelan Oil is Welcome ZERO risk to Canada 🇨🇦
WHY?
Canada offers DECARBONIZED oil. That makes our Product 10X more competitive.
Canada’s Carney chimed in to offer clean Canadian oil as an alternative. No one cares if the oil is clean; everyone wants the best deal.
Rest assured China will ensure it is repaid. Yet, the Trump Administration may not permit repayment in crude. The situation is unfolding and tensions are rapidly rising. The international community is split on America’s actions, with even America’s European allies condemning the move. Europe is now painting Trump with the same brush as Putin by insisting he will continue nation-building and expanding the great American Empire. The models pointed to geopolitical upheaval during the first week of January as we move toward the pinnacle of the panic cycle set to explode in 2026.
Posted originally on CTH on Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth deliver remarks to the media following a briefing of Senators on the ongoing Venezuela operations.
As noted by Secretary Rubio, the U.S. is now in control of all Venezuela oil production and distribution. WATCH:
Further to Rubio’s remarks: Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday that the United States will sell Venezuelan oil “indefinitely” after completing sales of the crude currently accumulating in storage there.
Wright said the proceeds from those sales would be “deposited into accounts controlled by the U.S. government” and then “flow back into Venezuela to benefit the Venezuelan people.”
“Instead of the oil being blockaded, as it is right now, we’re gonna let the oil flow … to United States refineries and around the world to bring better oil supplies, but have those sales done by the U.S. government,” he said at Goldman Sachs’ Energy, CleanTech & Utilities Conference.
“We’re going to market the crude coming out of Venezuela, first this backed-up stored oil, and then indefinitely, going forward, we will sell the production that comes out of Venezuela into the marketplace,” Wright added. (read more)
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