U.S. and Venezuela Move to Restore Relations After Raid That Captured Maduro

Overview

• A U.S. delegation traveled to Caracas to assess reopening the embassy closed since 2019, and Venezuela said it will begin the process to reestablish diplomatic ties.
• President Donald Trump said he canceled a planned second wave of strikes, crediting cooperation from Venezuelan authorities and limited prisoner releases, with nine opponents freed and many others still detained.
• Trump met with oil executives, claimed 30 million Venezuelan barrels are en route to the United States, and touted $100 billion in investments that executives did not confirm.
• Operation Absolute Resolve used a cyber and electronic-warfare blackout and airstrikes on air defenses to enable low-flying helicopter insertions that seized Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores, who later pleaded not guilty in a New York federal court.
• The Pentagon reported several wounded U.S. service members, including the lead Chinook pilot recovering in a Texas hospital, while Havana and Caracas reported about 40 Venezuelan and 32 Cuban deaths that have not been independently verified.