Posted originally on CTH on March 5, 2026 | Sundance
An interesting reaction from Beijing highlights an evaluation of risk from the lack of oil flowing from Iran.
According to most evaluated data, China was buying more than 80% of Iran’s shipped oil. That’s according to data from 2025 as analyzed by Kpler and published in January by Reuters.
Iranian oil always had limited buyers due to U.S. sanctions. However, China purchased on average 1.38 million barrels per day of Iranian oil last year, according to Kpler. That represented about 13.4% of the total 10.27 million bpd of oil it imported by sea.
With President Trump previously cutting of discounted oil from Venezuela, two things unfolded. First, the Venezuela oil was no longer sold with non-petrodollar currencies; Venezuela oil is now being sold on the standard oil market. Secondly, with the Venezuela oil disrupted China would become even more dependent on Iranian oil shipments if they wanted to retain the discounted rate.
How big is the financial difference?According to Reuters, “Iranian Light crude has traded at around $8 to $10 a barrel below ICE Brent on a delivered basis to China since December.” … “That means Chinese refiners save about $8 to $10 a barrel if they buy Iranian Light rather than non-sanctioned oil.”
Additionally, as noted before Operation Epic Fury began, “Iran has a record amount of oil on the water, equivalent to around 50 days of output, as China has bought less because of sanctions and Tehran seeks to protect its supplies from the risk of U.S. strikes, Kpler said.”
Buying discounted oil from Venezuela, Iran and Russia resulted in billions of dollars saved by China. The only production venue not currently disrupted would be purchases from Moscow. This increases the dependency, but the purchase price may no longer carry any discounted value, at least not at the previous rate.
India was purchasing a significant amount of Russian oil for its own refinery use and sale back into the global market. China and India would now be bidding for what is likely a more valuable Russian export. No more discounts put the “teapot” refining operations in Shandong, China, into a squeeze. This also highlights the decision by China to limit refined exports.
[VIA NBC] – China’s government has told the country’s largest oil refiners to suspend exports of diesel and gasoline as an escalating conflict in the Persian Gulf disrupts the arrival of crude from one of the world’s largest producing regions.
Officials from the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planner, met refinery executives and verbally called for a temporary suspension of refined product shipments that would begin immediately, according to people familiar with the matter. They asked not to be named, as the discussions are not public.
The refiners were asked to stop signing new contracts and to negotiate the cancellation of already-agreed shipments. The people said. An exception was made for jet and bunker fuel held in bonded storage and supplies to Hong Kong and Macau, they added.
[…] China has a vast refining sector, but much of its production is funnelled to serve domestic demand, meaning it is not a critical supplier. Across Asia, it ranks third for seaborne exports, behind South Korea and Singapore. However, Beijing’s precautionary curbs reflect efforts across the import-dependent region to prioritise domestic needs as the crisis in the Middle East deepens. (read more)
Posted originally on CTH on February 25, 2026 | Sundance
During the State of the Union address, President Trump surprised the audience with the introduction of helicopter pilot Eric Slover who was severely wounded in his legs during the successful raid in Venezuela to capture Nicholas Maduro.
Chief Warrant Officer 5 Eric Slover was repeatedly struck in the leg and hip by hostile fire as he was preparing to land. As his helicopter approached the target area, Venezuelan defense systems opened fire, and Slover was struck four times in the leg. The Chinook was also hit, but still flyable.
So, he kept flying. “One bullet after another. He absorbed four agonizing shots, shredding his leg into numerous pieces,” President Trump noted. Despite his wounds, Slover brought the aircraft and his team back to safety. Slover maintained control of the aircraft despite his wounds, executed the insertion, and ensured his crew successfully executed their objectives. He then piloted the aircraft back to the USS Iwo Jima. Within three hours, another team of helicopters would exfiltrate the assault team.
Slover is still recovering from his wounds and was standing with the assistance of a walker when he received the award. A total of seven Americans were wounded in the operation.
Posted originally on CTH on February 5, 2026 | Sundance
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman, Tom Cotton, outlines via his X account that he has reviewed the intelligence community whistleblower complaint being used in a ridiculous effort to impeach DNI Tulsi Gabbard and finds it “not credible.”
The entire construct of this CIA-NIC ‘whistleblower’ operation is transparent. We have outlined the basic parameters of the entire fiasco {GO DEEP}. The intelligence community/Lawfare operation is a replay of the 2019 intelligence community/Lawfare operation used to frame Donald Trump during the 2019 impeachment effort.
Even setting aside the insufferable politics of it all, our national enemies must be laughing at us and how easy it is to identify the background of the super-secret, classified and “highly sensitive” national security information regarding Venezuela that underpins the baseline for the CIA-NIC effort.
If a simple website can put it together, then certainly our enemies know our own intelligence community is leveraging the rules and regulations around CIA assets to frame domestic political lawfare operations.
It is stunningly embarrassing on a national level.
Dear Senator Tom Cotton, you are Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. You are a member of the Gang of Eight. You have all the clearances.
Please take a few hours and go to the House Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) scif; sit down with the October 2019 deposition from ICIG Michael Atkinson and read it.
Access should not be a problem with HPSCI Chairman, Representative Rick Crawford, also being a fellow Arkansan.
Read how then ICIG Atkinson gained authority to change the CIA whistleblower rules to facilitate the false claim by CIA National Intelligence Council, Russia desk analyst Eric Ciaramella.
Look at how Ciaramella coordinated with then HPSCI Chairman Adam Schiff, while former AAG of the NSD, Mary McCord, was working as staff on the background structure of the Trump impeachment operation.
Remind yourself of the context. In 2019, ICIG Atkinson was Mary’s former office counsel in the NSD (2016). They worked together on the Trump surveillance in 2016 (Page FISA) and then again in 2019 on the pathway to create an anonymous CIA whistleblower complaint.
What you will notice from that 2019 deposition is the similarity to the whistleblower complaint pathway and IC operation you just reviewed today.
Ciaramella was one of the key authors of the 2017 ICA from his office desk inside the CIA (per Brennan’s instructions to the NIC). Ciaramella was also the anonymous CIA whistleblower in the Trump impeachment 2019. See the issue?
Then ask yourself, if we the ordinary American people can see this stuff and put it together… then what exactly does that say about the SSCI role in oversight?
Posted originally on CTH on February 1, 2026 | Sundance
President Trump and Secretary Rubio are walking carefully through a process to keep Venezuela stable and authentic to the true intents of the Venezuelan people. Toward that end, both Trump and Rubio have been very careful with Maria Corina Machado, the exiled opposition leader who claims to be the legitimate voice of the people.
Machado is loved by the United Nations, the American leftists and DC control agents. However, to avoid Machado becoming Venezuela’s Zelenskyy, President Trump and Secretary Marco Rubio are working through a three-stage process that would culminate in secure national elections to coincide with Maria Machado’s return. If she wins the hearts and minds, she will have legitimacy.
If you listen carefully to her phrases and omissions, you can clearly see where the trepidation from Trump and Rubio comes from. There are a lot of platitudes and pretenses within Venezuelan politics. Video and Transcript Below:
[TRANSCRIPT] – MARGARET BRENNAN: And we’re joined now by Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, and it is amazing to see you here in person after so long.
MARÍA CORINA MACHADO: Likewise. Thank you very much.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio this past week. He said the U.S. now does not intend to have any military action or presence inside Venezuela, except for maybe at a reopened embassy there. Is that a good idea to take that military pressure off when the Maduro regime is effectively still in place?
MACHADO: Well, first of all, I have to say that on behalf of the Venezuelan people, we’re very, very grateful to the American people, and the first hand- first and foremost, to President Trump, to the secretary of state, and also to your leaders in Congress. I mean, the- the degree of support and care that we’ve felt in this fight at this moment is enormous, and I think it is clear on the- on the behalf and well being of the American people, but also of the Venezuelan people, and I would say the whole hemisphere. I do not think that the pressure is being taken away. Actually, everything Delcy Rodríguez is currently doing is because she’s complying with instructions she’s getting from the United States, and important steps are being taken. So I think that the message has been delivered, and so far, we’re seeing the results in the actions taken by the regime, and also in the mood and energy that is growing within the Venezuelan population.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Are you, or is anyone in your movement, in touch with Delcy Rodríguez, who’s the acting president of Venezuela now?
MACHADO: No, not directly.
MARGARET BRENNAN: No. Why not?
MACHADO: Well, we had offered, since we won the election by a landslide, that we were willing to- to agree in the terms of a negotiated transition, they refused. On the contrary, they decided to unleash the- the- the most cruel, brutal repression wave. There are- as you know, there have been thousands of political prisoners, and they had not demonstrated any willingness to- to stop this cruelty, until January 3rd arrived and- and happened when it happened. So it sent a clear message to them, and they’re starting to realize that things have changed for good. So eventually they might understand or- and even very soon, that it is in their best interest to- to accept that transition is unstoppable.
MARGARET BRENNAN: A transition that you hope involves a democratic election at some point. Did Secretary Rubio give you any kind of timeline for the American plans?
MACHADO: What I do have very clear is that the end result is the same. What we want, what the Venezuelan people have voted and struggled and fight for with huge cause and sacrifice, and what the United States government and President Trump also desires. It is a very complex process. I mean, this is a criminal structure that has intertwined with the enemies of the West, Russia, Iran, China, Cuba, extremist terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah, Hamas, the cartels, the guerrilla, all in association with the Maduro regime and Delcy Rodríguez and others. So it’s a process of dismantling this structure in the- in a way that it’s most orderly under control possible in the short term. And yes, the end game has to be, or the end step has to be, a electoral process in which we can have legitimate power. So I’m talking about a legitimate national assembly, governors, mayors and certainly president.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But for the people in Venezuela still living under that regime, what has actually changed for them, and do they have the patience to wait for what you’re talking about, which is basically just hoping that the Rodríguez government does what Donald Trump tells them to do?
MACHADO: Well, it’s more than hoping. We’re seeing the results, the actions. Are we there yet? Not. And- and I think it’s a good point, what you mentioned, patience. How much patience can the Venezuelan people have? Because, I mean, there were over 1,000 political prisoners on January the 1st. Still, there are over 700. Not one military prisoner, political prisoner has been liberated. There are men and women that have been in prison for years. Even the three police of the Policía Metropolitana have 23 years in prison, and they have not been liberated- released yet.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And Secretary Rubio has said it’s not happening as fast as America wants it to.
MACHADO: Absolutely. And in- in our case, we want that to happen immediately. Imagine, you know, the mothers of- of- of many of these innocent prisoners have been in vigils for over 23 days and nights. This is something that was unthinkable, Margaret, before January 3rd, and it shows that Venezuelan people are getting more and more empowered, more and more confident that this process will eventually lead to a- to a legitimate government based on the will of the people, but certainly we need to move there and leave evidence that there’s no way back.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah, well, President Trump has talked a lot about Venezuela’s oil and its natural resources. Do you support the law that was just passed that allows the Venezuelan Government to privatize the oil industry?
MACHADO: Well, first of all, I do not recognize the National Assembly as a legitimate power. It has not been recognized by the Venezuelan people, not even by the American- by the U.S. government.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Not legally, but effectively they–
MACHADO: Yeah, but whatever comes from that National Assembly has no legality. So- because this is an illegitimate power. So certainly, these so-called reforms introduce positive signs in terms of what we, the Venezuelan people, want in the future. We don’t want socialism. We don’t want the state owning every single, you know, facility or production center. We want private property, but that requires rule of law, long term guarantees for foreign investment, for local investment. But one thing that is the most important of all, in my opinion, you need to have people, talent, specialized, professional, willing to work and develop these enterprises. What happened with the Venezuelan specialized talent? It was forced to flee the country, almost a third of our population, and these are people that are working all around the world. So imagine if a Venezuelan engineer working in Ghawar, the- the largest oil field in Saudi Aramco, would he leave his job and go back to Venezuela, where Delcy Rodríguez, who is part of the cartel, is in- and who originally fired him is in power? Of course, not.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, you raised this point, but President Trump just said on camera that United States is going to start peeling back some of these sanctions so that Americans can travel back to Venezuela. He’s lifted the air restrictions–
MACHADO: –Well, I think–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –is it safe to go?–
MACHADO: I think it is important to take steps. I think these are signals directed to several actors. First and foremost, to the regime, saying this is going to move forward. There is no way back. And- and- and the regime knows that no American citizen or Venezuelan citizen is going to go back to a country that’s still under the power of Maduro regime and the cartel. That’s not going to happen. But- but these kinds of actions, I think, give the correct signals in terms that this is going to move ahead. And I do trust the president in what he has said regarding how much he cares about the Venezuelan people, that’s something that I think it was quite significant in our conversation.
MARGARET BRENNAN: If you return to Venezuela now, would you be imprisoned, and has the American government said that they will protect you, they will guarantee your safety?
MACHADO: Well, you know, things are changing very fast in Venezuela. If they had captured me before I left, I probably would have been disappeared or worse. Right now, I don’t think they would dare to kill me because of the United States presence and pressure and actions. I don’t know how much possibility of moving I would have inside Venezuela, certainly they would be very afraid, because the- the regime knows the connection, the intimate connection we have, you know, the Venezuelan people and- and the leadership that won the election, the legitimate government.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You won that election along with Edmundo González at the top of that ticket, even the Trump administration recognized it. Secretary Rubio testified that to Congress, but then the president of the United States stood up there and said to the public that even though you had won that election, you didn’t have the public support. And I wonder if you can understand why they made that calculation, that you and your party who won an election couldn’t be that transitional government that would do all the things you’re talking about?
MACHADO: Well, Margaret, I will concentrate in what he told me in a private conversation, looking each other in the eyes, and I, and I truly believe he understands the nature of this regime. They all know that Delcy Rodríguez is a communist that no one can trust. Not even, you know, the people surrounding her right now does. I mean these are individuals that have strong ties with Russia, Iran, China, Cuba. I mean, she is doing what she’s doing because United States is putting enough pressure for them to understand that she has no other option. If that, if that pressure were taken away, she would turn around and go back to where loyal- her loyalty is with these regimes are the enemies of America. So no one is naive here. I think she’s doing part of the dirty job of dismantling her own regime and entourage, but that’s a- there’s a limit to it. For what you said before, you know, people have to be taken account on- of. They have to be involved. And the Venezuelan people, 90% of our people want the same. Not only this regime to go immediately, but we want to live in a country with human dignity, with solidarity, with justice, with freedom. This is all about bringing our kids back home, having our families together. It’s about saving lives.
MARGARET BRENNAN: What role would you want in a future Venezuelan government? Because even President Trump says you may have a role in the future. Would you run for president?
MACHADO: I will be president when the time comes. But it doesn’t matter. That should be decided in elections by the Venezuelan people. I wasn’t allowed to run in the last election, as we mentioned before, because Maduro was afraid to running against me, and he thought Edmundo was not a threat, because nobody knew who he was. And in less than three months, we managed to put the whole country supporting him, because this is- this is matter of freedom. I mean, this is a spiritual fight, an existential fight for Venezuela. Unlike other diasporas, and I want to stress this, our people around the world, here in the United States, want to go back. Go back and live in a country where they’re safe, but most of all, where there is a future in freedom and democracy. So if we want those hundreds of thousands and millions of Venezuelan to go back, we need to have a secure and precise timeline through which this transition will advance.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And we don’t know when yet–
MACHADO: Not yet–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –from the Trump administration at all.
MACHADO: Not yet. But I’m sure there is, and the secretary of state and many other members of the government, by instructions of the president, a clear willingness to move as fast as possible within, you know, control and order and understanding the complexity of such a criminal structure, but understanding that the voice of the people is what brings legitimacy to this process.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Before I let you go. You know, the last time we spoke, you had made this daring, covert escape by land, sea and air from Venezuela to go and receive that Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. You’ve kept those details private, you said, for safety reasons, but you did say you broke your back, you talked about being lost at sea, that you feared that you might lose your life at one point. After all of that, why did you give your Nobel Peace Prize to President Trump after you’d already dedicated it to him?
MACHADO: Look, I think this is a matter of justice, and it’s a matter of what’s in the superior interest of our country. We the Venezuelan people, are truly grateful for what he has done, and we’re confident in what he will do in the- in the days, weeks and months to come.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You believe he supports you.
MACHADO: I do. Because it is- it has to do first and foremost with you, the American people, and how dismantling this criminal structure not only saves millions of Venezuelan lives, it also saves lives in the Americas. And once Venezuela is free, then the Cuban regime will follow. The Nicaraguan regime will follow, even the Iranian regime that has turned Venezuela into its safe haven and satellite only three hours away from Florida. I mean, this has huge consequence for the Western Hemisphere, for United States. So I think this is a win-win situation for investment, for business opportunity, for security reasons, and certainly for migration tensions and crisis. So Venezuela will be free, and I know I will host you soon in a wonderful country that is very grateful to yours.
MARGARET BRENNAN: María Corina Machado, thank you very much for your time today. We’ll be right back.
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}
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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.
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