Overview
- Venezuela’s transitional authorities announced the release of numerous detainees, described as a gesture in search of peace, which the White House cited in pausing a larger second operation.
- Trump said he will meet oil executives at the White House and touted at least $100 billion in planned investments, as U.S. officials outlined plans to control Venezuelan oil sales and secure 30–50 million barrels for the United States with proceeds steered toward U.S. goods.
- Nicolás Maduro remains in U.S. federal custody after his transfer to New York, where he pleaded not guilty in his initial Manhattan court appearance and his attorney signaled plans to contest the operation’s legality and U.S. jurisdiction.
- EU figures and other critics cast the intervention as violating international law, while Trump told the New York Times he does not need international law and that only his own sense of morality and mind constrain him.
- Analysts warn that sanctions and a tightened oil blockade are rapidly straining Venezuela’s finances, with some estimates suggesting weeks before potential insolvency that could disrupt state functions and worsen humanitarian pressures.