https://www.scmp.com/rss/524323/feed The latest news and top stories on Delcy Rodriguez, the interim president of Venezuela. Following the abduction of leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife in a US military operation on January 3, 2026, Rodriguez was sworn in as the country’s leader to ensure administrative continuity. A lawyer and career diplomat, she has previously served as vice-president, minister of foreign affairs, and president of Venezuela's Constituent National Assembly. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Khushboo Razdan Khushboo Razdan When Marco Rubio was confirmed as US Secretary of State last year, fireworks of optimism went off in New Delhi. Given his years as a senator championing a pro-India, staunchly anti-China posture, policymakers anticipated an unprecedented alignment. However, as Rubio arrives in India on Saturday for a four-day visit spanning Kolkata, Agra, Jaipur and New Delhi, he enters a relationship strained by transactional politics, structural deadlock and mounting strategic unease over Washington’s recent... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3354590/rubio-expected-brief-new-delhi-xi-trump-summit-during-india-trip?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3354590/rubio-expected-brief-new-delhi-xi-trump-summit-during-india-trip?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 May 2026 19:41:40 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The first direct commercial flight between the United States and Venezuela departed a bit early on Thursday on its way to the capital of the South American country, seven years after the US Homeland Security Department ordered an indefinite suspension, citing security concerns. The resumption of a commercial flight between the two countries comes months after the US capture of then-president Nicolas Maduro in a stunning night-time raid on his residence in Caracas in early January. It also comes... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3352078/first-direct-us-venezuela-commercial-flight-7-years-heads-caracas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3352078/first-direct-us-venezuela-commercial-flight-7-years-heads-caracas?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Apr 2026 15:00:52 +0000 Reuters Reuters The International Monetary Fund and ⁠the World Bank said on ⁠Thursday they had resumed dealings with Venezuela, which had been paused since 2019. The move paves the way for a full IMF assessment of Venezuela’s economy for the first time in some 20 years and could eventually unlock billions of dollars in ‌funding via frozen special drawing rights. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement that the Fund, guided by the views of a majority of its members, was now dealing with... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3350384/imf-says-it-restoring-relations-venezuela?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3350384/imf-says-it-restoring-relations-venezuela?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Apr 2026 23:50:14 +0000 Reuters Reuters Venezuela’s government and its political opposition are seeking to coordinate their legal defence of the oil-rich country’s United States assets, after Washington’s official recognition of ‌interim president Delcy Rodriguez raised questions about who could represent the country in US courts. Lawyers for Rodriguez’s government and the opposition asked Manhattan-based US Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn on Monday to pause for 45 days a case in which creditors are seeking to seize funds linked to... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3349197/venezuelas-government-opposition-may-cooperate-safeguard-us-assets?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3349197/venezuelas-government-opposition-may-cooperate-safeguard-us-assets?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Apr 2026 19:47:22 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The United States on Wednesday lifted sanctions on Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez, according to an Office of Foreign Assets Control entry on the Treasury Department website. The newly announced sanctions relief is the latest US recognition of Rodriguez as a legitimate authority in Venezuela ever since the US military captured her predecessor, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife on January 3 in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. The pair have since been taken to New York to face drug... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3348729/us-lifts-sanctions-venezuelas-acting-president-rodriguez-who-praises-trump?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3348729/us-lifts-sanctions-venezuelas-acting-president-rodriguez-who-praises-trump?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Apr 2026 02:09:16 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Ousted Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro cut a relaxed figure Thursday as he returned to a federal court in New York for his second appearance since his capture by US forces in an extraordinary nighttime raid. During the one-hour hearing, the judge indicated he would not dismiss the case over Maduro and his wife’s apparent inability to afford their legal bill without aid from the Venezuelan government. The former leader, 63, and wife Cilia Flores have been held in a Brooklyn jail for almost... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3348055/venezuelas-maduro-back-court-after-shock-capture-us-forces?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3348055/venezuelas-maduro-back-court-after-shock-capture-us-forces?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Mar 2026 19:26:45 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The American flag was raised on Saturday over the US embassy in Venezuela for the first time since 2019, a move that highlighted the recent shift in relations between the two countries since then President Nicolas Maduro was captured by American troops in January. Though the flag is now waving, the building is undergoing renovations and it remains unclear when it will fully reopen. The move comes after several statements from US President Donald Trump in support of Maduro’s successor, acting... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3346631/american-flag-raised-us-embassy-venezuela-first-time-2019?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3346631/american-flag-raised-us-embassy-venezuela-first-time-2019?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 20:43:46 +0000 Lucy Quaggin,Mark Magnier,Xinmei Shen Lucy Quaggin,Mark Magnier,Xinmei Shen US President Donald Trump called on Iran’s armed forces on Thursday to surrender or face the consequences and urged the nation’s diplomats to request asylum at their postings around the world. “I’m once again calling on all members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the military and the police, to lay down their arms,” Trump said. “So you’ll be perfectly safe with total immunity, or you’ll face absolutely guaranteed death, and I don’t want to see that.” Speaking at the White House at a sports... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345628/trump-says-he-must-be-involved-picking-irans-new-leader-khameneis-son-unacceptable?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345628/trump-says-he-must-be-involved-picking-irans-new-leader-khameneis-son-unacceptable?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Mar 2026 17:14:18 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Venezuelan opposition leader and winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize Maria Corina Machado said on Sunday that she will return to Venezuela in the coming weeks and that elections will be held in the South American country. Machado did not set a date for her return but said one of the objectives will be to prepare “for a new and gigantic electoral victory”. In a message shared on social media, the politician called on her supporters to “strengthen the unity of Venezuelans that began with the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3345059/venezuelas-opposition-leader-machado-will-return-country-coming-weeks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3345059/venezuelas-opposition-leader-machado-will-return-country-coming-weeks?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Mar 2026 22:44:21 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Venezuela’s National Assembly on Thursday unanimously approved a long-awaited amnesty law that could free hundreds of political prisoners jailed for being government detractors. But the law excludes those who have been prosecuted or convicted of promoting military action against the country - which could include opposition leaders like Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, who has been accused by the ruling party of calling for international intervention like the one that ousted former... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3344082/venezuela-approves-amnesty-law-could-free-hundreds-political-prisoners?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3344082/venezuela-approves-amnesty-law-could-free-hundreds-political-prisoners?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Feb 2026 04:48:47 +0000 Reuters Reuters The top commander overseeing US forces in Latin America, General Francis Donovan, and senior Pentagon official Joseph Humire made a surprise visit to Venezuela on Wednesday for security talks, US officials said. The trip is the first by a US military delegation since US ‌forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in an audacious raid last month and whisked him to New York to face drug-trafficking charges. The visit was first reported by Reuters. Venezuela’s government said the US military... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3343955/top-us-commander-makes-surprise-visit-venezuela-weeks-after-maduro-capture?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3343955/top-us-commander-makes-surprise-visit-venezuela-weeks-after-maduro-capture?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Feb 2026 02:37:23 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse President Donald Trump boasted on Friday about a secret US “discombobulator” weapon that can block Russian and Chinese defence systems, as he met the elite troops who captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Trump’s comments at the Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina marked the first time he has talked about the mysterious device at a public event, after previously letting some details slip in interviews. “They even talk about the discombobulator, because they never got a shot off,”... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3343546/trump-hails-us-discombobulator-weapon-he-meets-maduro-op-troops?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3343546/trump-hails-us-discombobulator-weapon-he-meets-maduro-op-troops?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Feb 2026 20:57:22 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Venezuela’s Nobel peace laureate Maria Corina Machado said on Monday that armed men “kidnapped” a close ally shortly after his release by authorities, following ex-leader Nicolas Maduro’s capture. The country’s Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed later that same day that former National Assembly vice-president Juan Pablo Guanipa, 61, was again taken into custody and put under house arrest, arguing that he violated the conditions of his release. Guanipa would be placed under house arrest “in... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3342858/venezuela-frees-several-opposition-members-after-lengthy-politically-motivated-detentions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3342858/venezuela-frees-several-opposition-members-after-lengthy-politically-motivated-detentions?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Feb 2026 22:39:52 +0000 Laura Zhou Laura Zhou Venezuela will ensure that Chinese energy, trade and investment interests in the South American country are secure, its envoy to Beijing has said. The reassurance from Remigio Ceballos comes amid growing concern in Beijing that last month’s unprecedented US assault on Venezuela might complicate China’s ties with the resource-rich country and the wider region. “China and Venezuela are trusted partners who share mutual trust. Both nations are sovereign states, and their bilateral relationship... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3342261/month-after-maduro-abduction-venezuela-moves-reassure-china-its-investments-are-safe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3342261/month-after-maduro-abduction-venezuela-moves-reassure-china-its-investments-are-safe?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Feb 2026 13:01:40 +0000 Reuters Reuters Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez ‌on Friday announced a proposed “amnesty law” for hundreds of prisoners in the country, and said the infamous Helicoide detention centre in the capital Caracas, which rights groups have long denounced as the site of prisoner abuse, would be converted into a centre for sport and social services. “May it be a law that serves to heal the wounds left by political confrontation, violence and extremism. May it serve to restore justice in our country and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3341915/venezuela-proposes-free-hundreds-prisoners-turn-torture-prison-sports-hub?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3341915/venezuela-proposes-free-hundreds-prisoners-turn-torture-prison-sports-hub?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Jan 2026 01:05:39 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez on Thursday signed a law that opens the nation’s oil sector to privatisation, reversing a tenet of the self-proclaimed socialist movement that has ruled the country for more than two decades. The reform will undoubtedly be her government’s signature policy as it positions the oil sector – Venezuela’s engine – to lure the foreign investment needed to revamp a long-crippled industry. Rodriguez enacted the measure less than a month after the brazen... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3341748/venezuela-opens-oil-industry-private-investment-line-us-demands?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3341748/venezuela-opens-oil-industry-private-investment-line-us-demands?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Jan 2026 22:13:19 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he had informed Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, that he would open up all commercial airspace over Venezuela, and Americans would soon be able to visit Trump said he instructed his transport secretary, Sean Duffy, and US military leaders to take steps to open Venezuelan airspace for travel by the end of the day. “American citizens will be very shortly able to go to Venezuela, and they’ll be safe there,” the Republican president... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3341744/trump-says-hes-reopening-venezuelan-and-americans-soon-can-visit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3341744/trump-says-hes-reopening-venezuelan-and-americans-soon-can-visit?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Jan 2026 19:01:04 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse More than 100 political prisoners were freed Sunday in Venezuela, where detainees are slowly being released under pressure from the United States, the non-governmental organisation Foro Penal said. “At Foro Penal we have verified 104 releases of political prisoners in Venezuela today,” the NGO wrote on social media. Foro Penal had earlier reported 80 political prisoners being released Sunday. Director Alfredo Romero said on X that the group was verifying the identities of those released from... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3341183/least-80-political-prisoners-released-venezuela-rights-group-leader-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3341183/least-80-political-prisoners-released-venezuela-rights-group-leader-says?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Jan 2026 17:30:30 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Venezuela’s interim president will soon visit the United States, a senior US official said Wednesday, further signalling US President Donald Trump’s willingness to embrace the oil-rich country’s new leader. Delcy Rodriguez would be the first sitting Venezuelan president to visit the United States in more than a quarter of a century – aside from presidents attending United Nations meetings in New York. She said on Wednesday that she approached any dialogue with the United States “without... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3340785/us-says-venezuelas-interim-president-visit-relations-shift-post-maduro?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3340785/us-says-venezuelas-interim-president-visit-relations-shift-post-maduro?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Jan 2026 05:15:15 +0000 Brian Y. S. Wong Brian Y. S. Wong For all his bombast, few could have imagined the sound and fury with which Donald Trump has taken to foreign policymaking in his second presidential term. Over the past 12 months, the US president has laid bare American ambitions to lay claim to territories within its near periphery deemed to be of strategic significance. From Greenland – a mineral-rich autonomous territory of Denmark – to Panama, a critical maritime trade choke point, the White House has made its geopolitical appetite... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3340443/trumps-blunt-interventions-risk-undermining-us-interests?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3340443/trumps-blunt-interventions-risk-undermining-us-interests?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Jan 2026 12:30:08 +0000 Reuters Reuters Trump administration officials had been in discussions with Venezuela’s hardline Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello months before the US operation to seize the country’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, and have been in communication ‌with him since then, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. The officials warned Cabello, 62, against using the security services or militant ruling-party supporters overseen by him to target the country’s opposition, four ‍sources said. That security... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/politics/article/3340277/maduros-capture-venezuela-us-spoke-minister-who-his-loyal-ally?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/politics/article/3340277/maduros-capture-venezuela-us-spoke-minister-who-his-loyal-ally?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Jan 2026 14:39:46 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said on Friday her country was starting a “true transition” to democracy and would become free with support from the US and President Donald Trump. Trump, however, has sidelined Nobel laureate Machado and backed former vice-president Delcy Rodriguez as interim leader of the oil-rich country following the January 3 US military operation that seized Nicolas Maduro. “We are definitely now into the first steps of a true transition to democracy,”... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3340230/machado-says-venezuela-will-be-free-support-trump?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3340230/machado-says-venezuela-will-be-free-support-trump?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Jan 2026 19:58:14 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to US President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday even as he has questioned her credibility to take over her country after the US ousted leader Nicolas Maduro. The Nobel Institute has said Machado could not give her prize to Trump, an honour that he has coveted. Even if it the gesture proves to be purely symbolic, it was extraordinary given that Trump has effectively sidelined Machado, who... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3340073/venezuelas-machado-says-she-presented-trump-her-nobel-peace-prize-medal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3340073/venezuelas-machado-says-she-presented-trump-her-nobel-peace-prize-medal?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Jan 2026 22:07:32 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had held a “long call” with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez, the first known contact between the two leaders since the ousting of Nicolas Maduro. “We just had a great conversation today, and she’s a terrific person,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. He later said on social media that he and Rodriguez had discussed “many topics”, including oil, minerals, trade and national security. “We are making tremendous progress,” Trump... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3339937/trump-praises-terrific-new-venezuela-leader-after-call?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3339937/trump-praises-terrific-new-venezuela-leader-after-call?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Jan 2026 23:06:14 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg As Russian President Vladimir Putin focuses his attentions on Moscow’s war in Ukraine, his strategic allies around the world have been left feeling neglected – or worse. In Venezuela, officials now think their years-long security relationship with Moscow was a paper tiger. They’re not alone: From Damascus and Tehran to Havana, over the last 13 months authoritarian regimes which previously benefited from their close ties to the Kremlin have found Russian support lacking when it mattered... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3339890/how-putins-focus-ukraine-war-leaves-allies-venezuela-iran-and-cuba-exposed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3339890/how-putins-focus-ukraine-war-leaves-allies-venezuela-iran-and-cuba-exposed?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Jan 2026 10:28:27 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Washington announced on Monday that Venezuelan opposition figure Maria Corina Machado will meet US President Donald Trump this week as pressure grew on the interim leadership in Caracas to speed up the release of political prisoners. Machado has been sidelined by Washington since US forces seized long-term authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro on January 3 and the Trump administration announced it would be “running” Venezuela. Disregarding Machado and her understudy Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, Trump... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3339651/trump-meet-venezuela-opposition-leader-machado-white-house-thursday?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3339651/trump-meet-venezuela-opposition-leader-machado-white-house-thursday?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Jan 2026 20:11:21 +0000 Richard Heydarian Richard Heydarian America’s capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro in a special operation sent shock waves across the world. With characteristically bombastic rhetoric, US President Donald Trump hailed Operation Absolute Resolve as “an assault like people have not seen since World War II” and “one of the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American military might” in history. His deputies were quick to add that the operation also showed the long arm of the US justice system by accusing... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3339093/us-action-venezuela-fuels-asias-fears-collapsing-rules-based-order?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3339093/us-action-venezuela-fuels-asias-fears-collapsing-rules-based-order?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Jan 2026 12:30:11 +0000 Reuters Reuters US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he might block ‍ExxonMobil from investing in Venezuela after the oil major’s CEO called the country “uninvestable” during a White House meeting last week. Exxon CEO Darren Woods told Trump that Venezuela would need to change its laws before it could be an attractive investment opportunity, during the high-profile meeting on Friday with at least 17 ⁠other oil executives. Trump had urged the group to spend US$100 billion to revitalise Venezuela’s oil... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3339537/trump-says-might-keep-exxon-out-venezuela-after-ceo-called-it-uninvestable?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3339537/trump-says-might-keep-exxon-out-venezuela-after-ceo-called-it-uninvestable?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Jan 2026 03:45:29 +0000 Reuters Reuters US President Donald Trump on Sunday said no more Venezuelan oil or money would go to Cuba and suggested the Communist-run island should strike a deal with Washington, ramping ‍up pressure on the long-time US nemesis and provoking defiant words from the island’s leadership. Venezuela is Cuba’s biggest oil supplier, but no cargoes have departed from Venezuelan ports to the Caribbean country since the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro by US forces in early January amid a strict US oil... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3339517/trump-says-no-more-venezuelan-oil-or-money-go-cuba-pushes-deal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3339517/trump-says-no-more-venezuelan-oil-or-money-go-cuba-pushes-deal?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Jan 2026 16:57:12 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse When explosions boomed in the night and US warplanes roared in the sky over Caracas, Jorge Suarez and his companions rushed fearfully for their guns. For these members of the colectivos – armed loyalists of the leftist leadership – the US raid that ousted Nicolas Maduro as their president was the most dramatic challenge yet. “We’re not used to it – it was like a bestseller, like something out of a film,” said Suarez, in black sunglasses and a cap bearing the slogan: “Doubt is treason.” “We took... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3339438/venezuelas-furious-streets-forces-are-angry-armed-and-asking-questions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3339438/venezuelas-furious-streets-forces-are-angry-armed-and-asking-questions?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Jan 2026 09:00:27 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse US President Donald Trump said on Friday he called off a second wave of attacks on Venezuela after the government, whose leftist president was removed by Washington, began releasing prisoners. Trump made the comments as he prepared to meet major oil corporations that he said will invest at least US$100 billion in Venezuela, which has the world’s largest oil reserves. Trump was implicitly making clear he is ready again to use force to get his way in Venezuela, which he has vowed to force to... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3339400/trump-cancelled-second-attacks-venezuela-after-prisoner-release-eyes-oil-investments?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3339400/trump-cancelled-second-attacks-venezuela-after-prisoner-release-eyes-oil-investments?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Jan 2026 15:11:14 +0000 Xinlu Liang Xinlu Liang China said on Friday it would continue to offer its firm support to Venezuela after its ambassador met the country’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez. She described her meeting with Chinese ambassador Lan Hu as “cordial” and thanked Beijing for its condemnation of the abduction of former leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. “We value China’s firm and consistent stance in strongly condemning the serious violation of international law and Venezuelan sovereignty,” Rodriguez... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3339375/china-says-it-still-deeply-committed-venezuela-ambassador-meets-new-leader?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3339375/china-says-it-still-deeply-committed-venezuela-ambassador-meets-new-leader?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Jan 2026 12:30:24 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Venezuela released a number of imprisoned high-profile opposition figures, activists and journalists - both citizens and foreigners - on Thursday in what the government described as a gesture to “seek peace” less than a week after former president Nicolas Maduro was captured by US forces to face drug-trafficking charges. US President Donald Trump, who has been pressuring Maduro allies now leading the country to fold to his vision for the future of the oil-rich nation, said the releases came at... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3339245/venezuela-releasing-significant-number-prisoners-bid-seek-peace?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3339245/venezuela-releasing-significant-number-prisoners-bid-seek-peace?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Jan 2026 22:14:25 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse From AI deepfakes to recycled, outdated images, a surge of visual misinformation has inundated social media platforms after US forces seized Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a stunning raid on his Caracas home. Collectively racking up millions of views, the fake or misleading posts underscore a new digital reality in which hyperrealistic misinformation competes for attention with – and often drowns out – authentic images and videos following major news events. Soon after Maduro’s capture,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3339097/ai-deepfakes-flood-social-media-after-dramatic-us-raid-maduro?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3339097/ai-deepfakes-flood-social-media-after-dramatic-us-raid-maduro?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Jan 2026 16:00:19 +0000 Meredith Chen Meredith Chen BBC journalists have reportedly been instructed not to describe America’s abduction of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro as a “kidnapping”, according to a British newspaper columnist. The editorial instruction was unveiled on Monday by Owen Jones, a commentator with more than a million followers on social media. Jones said a memo from BBC management had been passed to him. According to an image Jones uploaded with his post, the guidelines told BBC journalists to use “captured” when referring to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3338946/bbc-journalists-reportedly-told-avoid-saying-us-kidnapped-venezuelan-leader-maduro?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3338946/bbc-journalists-reportedly-told-avoid-saying-us-kidnapped-venezuelan-leader-maduro?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Jan 2026 11:12:32 +0000 Ling Xin Ling Xin China risks losing access to satellite tracking stations and other sensitive technology infrastructure in Venezuela after the United States seized control of the country’s leadership and snatched its president, Nicolas Maduro, taking him to New York for trial. Beijing’s embedded assets – from satellite ground stations to oilfield systems and telecommunications networks – could be compromised after US President Donald Trump said Washington would “run” Venezuela and “fix oil infrastructure” in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3338844/chinas-sensitive-technology-risk-after-trump-abducts-venezuela-leader-maduro?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3338844/chinas-sensitive-technology-risk-after-trump-abducts-venezuela-leader-maduro?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Jan 2026 05:06:58 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The Venezuelan government has sought to show its people and the world that the country is being run independently and not controlled by the United States following its stunning weekend arrest of President Nicolas Maduro. Lawmakers aligned with the ruling party, including Maduro’s son, gathered in the capital, Caracas on Monday, to follow through with a scheduled swearing-in ceremony of the National Assembly for a term that would last until 2031. Delcy Rodriguez, who served as vice-president to... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3338856/venezuela-seeks-show-it-operating-free-us-control?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3338856/venezuela-seeks-show-it-operating-free-us-control?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Jan 2026 04:40:14 +0000 Connor Mycroft Connor Mycroft Venezuelan Manny Reimi was queuing for Hong Kong’s Peak Tram on Saturday with his cousin and her family, whom he had not seen in 15 years, when news broke that the United States had captured Nicolas Maduro, the president of his homeland. The 37-year-old father of two, who relocated from Venezuela to Hong Kong in 2011 and now runs a consultancy and artificial intelligence-related start-up in the city, said the family felt “exhilarated”. One nephew even confessed that he had wished for Maduro’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3338816/maduros-capture-sparks-hope-concern-among-venezuelans-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3338816/maduros-capture-sparks-hope-concern-among-venezuelans-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Jan 2026 01:30:19 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Venezuelans on Saturday scrambled to understand who was in charge of their country after the US military captured President Nicolas Maduro, ousting the strongman who had outlasted a botched coup attempt, several army mutinies, mass protests and economic sanctions in the vast nation of 29 million. “What will happen tomorrow?” asked Juan Pablo Petrone, a resident of Venezuela’s capital of Caracas. As fear gripped the city, streets quickly emptied save for long lines snaking from supermarkets and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3338647/power-vacuum-caracas-venezuelans-wonder-whos-charge-after-maduro-capture?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3338647/power-vacuum-caracas-venezuelans-wonder-whos-charge-after-maduro-capture?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Jan 2026 02:06:32 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is ready to declare a state of emergency over the threat of US “aggression”, following a spate of deadly US strikes on suspected Venezuelan drug boats, Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez said on Monday. Rodriguez told foreign diplomats that Maduro had signed a decree giving himself “special powers” as head of state to act in matters of defence and security in the event the United States “dares to attack our homeland”. A government source, however, told Agence... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3327297/venezuelas-maduro-ready-declare-state-emergency-over-us-aggression?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3327297/venezuelas-maduro-ready-declare-state-emergency-over-us-aggression?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Sep 2025 20:57:17 +0000