U.S. sends delegation to Caracas, Trump meets with oil executives

The U.S. State Department said in a social media post Saturday that U.S. Citizens should leave Venezuela immediately, as international flights have resumed.

"The security situation in Venezuela remains fluid," the statement said, adding that there are reports of groups of armed militias, known as colectivos, setting up roadblocks and searching vehicles for evidence of U.S. citizenship or support for the U.S.

Venezuela currently has the highest Travel Advisory level, Level 4, due to severe threats to Americans, the post said. 

President Trump said on social media Saturday that he is already making Venezuela "rich and safe again" one week after the capture of former President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. 

Mr. Trump did not offer any evidence on how the Venezuelan people were rich and safe within such a short time period, but he thanked "all of those people" for making this possible.

The president met with major energy companies at the White House on Friday and urged executives to commit to building out Venezuela's oil infrastructure. Mr. Trump said after the meeting that his administration is devising a formula to divvy up oil money and give the country some of the proceeds, "You know, Venezuela needs money. And we're going to make sure that they get money."

The president also signed an executive order on Friday protecting U.S.-held money derived from sales of Venezuelan oil.

President Trump signed an executive order on Friday protecting U.S.-held money derived from sales of Venezuelan oil.

In an order signed Friday, Mr. Trump — who has made clear that tapping Venezuela's vast oil reserves was a key goal in the U.S. ouster of former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro — is acting "to advance U.S. foreign policy objectives," the White House said in a fact sheet accompanying the order.

The order blocks any judicial process against Foreign Government Deposit Funds and prohibits transferring those funds unless authorized. It alsoaffirms the funds are "sovereign property of Venezuela held in U.S. custody for governmental and diplomatic purposes" and are not subject to private claims.

-CBS/AFP

President Trump told reporters he and the leaders of major oil companies "sort of formed a deal" to invest in Venezuela's beleaguered oil industry.

The terms of any potential deal are not clear. During the public portion of Mr. Trump's meeting with oil executives, the leaders of several major companies were noncommittal on entering Venezuela without major changes to the country's legal system, though Chevron's CEO said he's looking to ramp up the company's existing presence in the country.

"I had a great meeting with the oil executives, who sort of formed a deal," he told reporters. "They're going to be going in with hundreds of billions of dollars in drilling oil. And it's good for Venezuela. And it's great for the United States."

He also predicted that "a lot of money is going to be made" and "oil prices will come down."

President Trump pitched the leaders of the U.S.'s largest oil companies on entering Venezuela, though several of the oil executives who visited the White House did not appear to make firm public commitments to return to a country where they've had an unpleasant history.

Mr. Trump predicted that investing in Venezuela — which has some of the world's largest oil reserves — will generate "tremendous wealth" for oil companies and mend the country's "dilapidated" oil industry. He also promised "total safety, total security" for oil workers.

Currently, the only American oil company with a presence in Venezuela is Chevron, whose CEO Mike Wirth said he expects to boost production by 50% over the next 18 to 24 months.

It remains unclear whether other U.S. companies will take Mr. Trump up on the offer. Several foreign oil firms exited Venezuela in the mid-2000s, after former President Hugo Chávez demanded that they hand over majority stakes to Venezuela's state-run oil company — a history that industry executives brought up to Mr. Trump.

ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods described the country as "uninvestable" unless legal changes are made. He said the oil giant's assets in Venezuela were taken away during two different waves of nationalization.

"To reenter a third time would require some pretty significant changes," Woods said, though he said he's confident that the Trump administration will be able to make the necessary changes.

ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance also pointed to the company's prior struggles, noting that it is seeking $12 billion from Venezuela after its assets were effectively seized by Chávez.

"Good writeoff," Mr. Trump joked.

"It's already been written off," Lance quipped in response. 

During a meeting with oil executives at the White House, a reporter asked President Trump if it's more important to him to establish stability or democracy in Venezuela. 

"Well, you're talking about maybe the same thing," Mr. Trump responded. "You're talking about stability or democracy? I don't know, to me it's almost the same thing. We want stability but we do want democracy. Ultimately, it will be democracy." 

A consumer advocacy group is criticizing Trump's meeting with oil executives as a giveaway to Big Oil.

Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen's energy program, called the U.S. military's removal of Venezuelan leader Nicholas Maduro "violent imperialism" and said Trump's goal appears to be to "hand billionaires control over Venezuela's oil."

U.S. taxpayers are likely to shoulder much of the risk of drilling and exporting the heavy crude oil from Venezuela, Slocum said.

"While Trump works to ensure Big Oil's risks are covered by the U.S. public, Americans suffering with high home heating and electricity prices will see no relief," he said.

Trump is meeting with oil executives at the White House on Friday in hopes of securing $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela's ability to fully tap into its expansive reserves of petroleum.

President Trump is meeting with executives from major U.S. oil companies at the White House.

Click here to follow live coverage of the meeting.

Mr. Trump said on Truth Social that he will meet with Gustavo Petro, the Colombian president, at the White House during the first week of February.

"I am sure it will work out very well for Colombia, and the U.S.A., but, cocaine and other drugs must be STOPPED from coming into the United States," the president wrote. "Thank you for your attention to this matter!"

Mr. Trump spoke with Petro by phone on Tuesday amid the escalation of tensions in the region following the overnight capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro last week.

A delegation of U.S. officials arrived in Venezuela on Friday to carry out "technical and logistical assessments" to renew diplomatic ties with Caracas, State Department and Venezuelan officials said.

The small team of U.S. diplomats and diplomatic security officials traveled to Venezuela to make a preliminary assessment about the potential re-opening of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, the State Department told the Associated Press in a statement.

The government of interim President Delcy Rodriguez acknowledged the visit and said it "has decided to initiate an exploratory diplomatic process with the government of the United States of America, aimed at re-establishing diplomatic missions in both countries," Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said in a statement.

He said a delegation of Venezuelan diplomats will be sent to the U.S. to "fulfill the corresponding tasks." It did not say when.

Diplomatic ties between the U.S. and Venezuela broke down in 2019 under ousted leader Nicolas Maduro.

Dilsia Caro slept on the ground Thursday night outside the Venezuelan prison where her husband has been held since 2023 for posting a WhatsApp status update critical of the government.

She rushed to the Rodeo 1 penitentiary after the government announced the release of a "large number" of prisoners. On Friday, about 30 family members were gathered outside the prison, and small groups waited outside other prisons.

"When I heard the news, I broke down," Caro, 50, told AFP. But the hours passed and there was still no news of her husband Noel Flores.

The human rights group Foro Penal said it confirmed the release of only eight prisoners. Former presidential candidate Enrique Marquez and opposition leader Biagio Pilieri were among those confirmed freed.

Spain, meanwhile, confirmed the release of Venezuelan-Spanish lawyer activist Rocio San Miguel and four other Spaniards, who were immediately flown out of Venezuela to Madrid.

Another rights group reported that 11 prisoners were released. 

Exiled Venezuelan opposition figurehead Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia said on Friday that any democratic transition in the country must recognize his claimed victory in 2024 presidential elections, declared to be won by Maduro.

"Democratic reconstruction in Venezuela depends on the explicit recognition of the electoral result of July 28, 2024," Gonzalez Urrutia told Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez during a call, according to a statement released by the Venezuelan's press team. 

When President Trump announced the capture of Nicolás Maduro, he justified the operation in part by framing it as a move to recover assets that he claims were stolen from U.S. companies. 

"Venezuela unilaterally seized and sold American oil, American assets and American platforms, costing us billions and billions of dollars," Mr. Trump said. 

Mr. Trump "talks about them taking our oil — the oil itself was never 'our oil'," Samantha Gross, director of the energy security and climate initiative at the nonpartisan Brookings Institution, said, adding that the nation's vast crude reserves "belong to the government of Venezuela."

What's also true, however, is that U.S. oil companies had contractual agreements with Venezuela to extract, process and transport its oil, and to share in the oil sales revenue.

Read more here.

President Trump vows U.S. intervention in Venezuela will pour billions of dollars into the country's infrastructure, revive its oil industry and deliver a new age of prosperity.

At a market in the capital, though, utility worker Ana Calderón simply wishes she could afford ingredients to make soup.

"Food is incredibly expensive," she said, noting rapidly rising prices that have celery selling for twice as much as a few weeks ago and a kilogram (2 pounds) of meat going for more than $10, or 25 times the country's monthly minimum wage. "Everything is so expensive."

Venezuelans digesting news of Maduro's capture are hearing grandiose promises of future economic prowess even as they live through the crippling economic realities of today.

"People are hopeful and expecting that things are going to change but that doesn't mean that things are going to change right now," said Luisa Palacios, a Venezuelan-born economist and former oil executive who is a research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University.

People typically work two or more jobs just to survive, and still cupboards and refrigerators are nearly bare. Children go to bed early to avoid the pang of hunger; parents choose between filling a prescription and buying groceries. An estimated eight in 10 people live in poverty. 

Colombia's left-wing President Gustavo Petro told CBS News on Thursday – a day after speaking with President Trump on the phone – that he hoped an ongoing dialogue with Mr. Trump would "stop a world war."

Petro said in an interview with CBS News correspondent Lilia Luciano that any attack on his country by the U.S. would start a civil war in Colombia, and "would be dumb policy."

Petro – whose country borders Venezuela – and Mr. Trump spoke days after the capture of Maduro in an overnight U.S. military raid in Caracas, Venezuela's capital. After their call, Mr. Trump said he and Petro would meet at some point at the White House.

Luciano asked Petro if he trusts President Trump's intentions in Venezuela.

"I think he believes in shared governance, but not separate from the idea of retaining control of the oil," Petro responded.

Read more here.

A fifth oil tanker linked to Venezuela was interdicted by U.S. forces in the Caribbean, U.S. Southern Command confirmed on Friday.

Two U.S. officials confirmed to CBS News that the Coast Guard, supported by the Navy, was in the process of seizing the Olina oil tanker.

"Once again, our joint interagency forces sent a clear message this morning: 'there is no safe haven for criminals,'" U.S. Southern Command said in a statement on X.

Read more here.

CEOs from these companies will be attending the meeting with Mr. Trump: Chevron, Exxon, Conoco Phillips, Continental, Halliburton, HKN, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Trafigura, Vitol Americas, Repsol, Eni, Aspect Holdings, Tallgrass, Raisa Energy and Hilcorp.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum will be at the meeting. Wright also met with several oil executives earlier this week.

White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said they will discuss "investment opportunities that will restore Venezuelan oil infrastructure."  

Read more here.

Pope Leo on Friday called for world governments to "respect the will" of the Venezuelan people and said nations must "safeguard the human and civil rights" of Venezuelans, Reuters reported.

In the pope's annual audience with the Vatican diplomatic corps, which traditionally amounts to his yearly foreign policy address, he called for a peaceful political solution that keeps in mind the "common good of the peoples and not the defense of partisan interests."

Leo also critiqued U.S., Russian and other military incursions in sovereign countries, denouncing how nations were using force to assert their dominion worldwide, "completely undermining" peace and the post-World War II international legal order.

"War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading," Leo said.

He didn't name countries that have resorted to force, but his speech came amid the backdrop of the Venezuela operation, Russia's war in Ukraine and other conflicts.

"A diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force, by either individuals or groups of allies," he said. "The principle established after the Second World War, which prohibited nations from using force to violate the borders of others, has been completely undermined." 

-CBS/AP

Senior oil executives from a number of producers, refiners and at least one oilfield services company are expected to meet with President Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright at the White House Friday, according to a source familiar with the meeting and a White House official. 

Companies whose executives are expected to attend include: Halliburton, Chevron, Exxon, ConocoPhillips, Valero, Marathon and Continental. The executives only are expected — not their staff, according to the sources.

President Trump announced on his Truth Social platform overnight that he has "cancelled the previously expected second Wave of Attacks, which looks like it will not be needed."

Mr. Trump said Venezuela "is releasing large numbers of political prisoners as a sign of 'Seeking Peace,'" which he called "a very important and smart gesture."

The president said the U.S. and Venezuela "are working well together, especially as it pertains to rebuilding, in a much bigger, better, and more modern form, their oil and gas infrastructure," and that he waved off the second set of attacks due to Venezuela's cooperation with his administration.

"However," he added, "all ships will stay in place for safety and security purposes."

President Trump is scheduled to meet with oil industry executives Friday afternoon as he pushes U.S. oil companies to invest in Venezuela.

The meeting is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

Mr. Trump has pitched Venezuela's oil wealth as a way to financially fuel the country's economic recovery — and deliver benefits for energy consumers and oil companies. In an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity that aired Thursday, he said he's expecting oil companies to spend at least $100 billion to "rebuild the whole oil infrastructure" in the South American country. He mentioned that amount again in an overnight post on his Truth Social platform.

The president told Hannity he's meeting with executives from the "top 14" oil companies. Energy Secretary Christopher Wright also met with oil executives earlier this week.

Chevron is currently the only major U.S. oil company with a presence in Venezuela. It remains unclear whether any other firms plan to enter the market imminently. 

Some experts say drawing in foreign investment could take years due to a combination of high costs, political instability and a history of the Venezuelan government nationalizing oil assets. And Venezuelan crude oil tends to be heavy and tough to refine, though some refineries on the Gulf Coast are equipped to process it.

President Trump briefly spoke Thursday with CBS News' Robert Costa about his overarching policy on Venezuela and about how he defines his foreign policy as responsive to threats. 

Mr. Trump called the operation to remove Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro from power "incredible the way it worked out."

"It was an incredible military maneuver," Mr. Trump told CBS News. "It had a tremendous impact on everything. The impact has been incredible."

When asked about his policy big picture, and whether it underscores the possible emergence of a "Trump doctrine," the president said he's not trying to pursue a specific ideology.

"No, it's a doctrine of 'don't send drugs into our country.' That's what the doctrine is," Mr. Trump replied. "Don't send drugs into our country."

President Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity that Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado could be coming to visit him in Washington at some point next week.

"I look forward to saying hello to her. That would be a great honor," the president said.

Machado has sought to cultivate a close relationship with Mr. Trump, dedicating her Nobel Peace Prize to him and praising the U.S. military's operation to remove Maduro. But Mr. Trump declined to back Machado as a possible post-Maduro leader of Venezuela last weekend, saying: "She's a very nice woman, but she doesn't have the respect."

Machado told CBS News earlier this week that Venezuelans are "very grateful" to Mr. Trump. Pressed on why he appeared to dismiss her as a political leader, she suggested there could be lingering worries about Venezuela's stability and the risk that armed groups could "resist a peaceful transition." But she called it a "united country" and argued most members of the military and police "support an orderly transition to democracy."

In her own interview with Hannity on Tuesday, Machado indicated she may give Mr. Trump her Nobel.

"I certainly want to give it to him and share it with him," she said.

When asked about that Thursday, Mr. Trump responded, "I've heard that she wants to do that, that would be a great honor." 

President Trump says he thinks the U.S. could be overseeing things in Venezuela for "much longer" than a year, in the wake of Maduro's capture.

He told The New York Times Wednesday evening that "only time will tell" how long Washington will be running Venezuela. Asked if that could last three months, six months, a year or longer, he responded that, "I would say much longer."

Mr. Trump has said that he intends to temporarily "run" Venezuela since shortly after the mission to capture Maduro. The U.S. has left Maduro regime loyalist Delcy Rodriguez in place as interim president, but administration officials have said they plan to maintain leverage over the country's government through U.S. restrictions on oil exports.

The president said he expects the U.S. to be taking Venezuelan oil for years.

"We will rebuild (Venezuela) in a very profitable way," Mr. Trump told the Times. "We're going to be using oil, and we're going to be taking oil. We're getting oil prices down, and we're going to be giving money to Venezuela, which they desperately need."

He added that the remaining leaders of Venezuela are "giving us everything that we feel is necessary" even though they had all been loyal to Maduro.

The Senate moved Thursday toward limiting President Trump's ability to strike Venezuela, after the U.S. leader took unilateral action against the South American country. 

After two previous unsuccessful attempts, the Senate voted 52 to 47 to advance a war powers resolution, days after the U.S. captured Maduro and his wife in a nighttime raid that came not only as a surprise to the former president, but also to Congress. 

Five Republicans joined all Democrats in support of the measure. The GOP senators voting in favor include Todd Young of Indiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Josh Hawley of Missouri.

Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, introduced his latest resolution in early December. It would require "the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Venezuela that have not been authorized by Congress." 

Kaine said on the Senate floor Wednesday: "The indication from the administration [is] that this is not a few days or a few weeks, it's likely a few years of U.S. occupation and involvement in this country." 

"This is not an arrest warrant. This is far bigger than that," he said of the mission to capture Maduro and fly him to New York on drug charges.

President Trump said Thursday that the Senate's vote to restrict his ability to strike Venezuela could harm national security.

"This Vote greatly hampers American Self Defense and National Security, impeding the President's Authority as Commander in Chief," he said in a post on Truth Social. 

He also called the War Powers Act unconstitutional and called out the handful of Republicans who supported the measure, saying other Senate Republicans should be ashamed of them.

Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who was among the five GOP senators who voted to advance the resolution, responded to the president by saying he sees the issue as "a constitutional debate" rather than "an anti-Donald Trump" stance.

"This debate is bigger than this particular president. I've had the same opinion under President Obama, President Biden, the last President Trump," Paul told reporters outside the Capitol after the vote to push forward the resolution.

Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance said at a press conference that he spoke to the Republican senators who voted to advance the measure and, in large part, "their argument was based more on a legal technicality than any disagreement of policy."

After the Senate advanced Thursday's war powers resolution, Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California told CBS News he believes it picked up GOP support because "the circumstances have changed" since similar measures failed last year.

He said that "it became very clear in the aftermath of this military operation that this was really about oil," arguing that if the primary goal was just to apprehend Maduro, "it would not have required us to essentially commit to running a country for the indefinite future or seizing its oil."

Even if the resolution ultimately passes the House and Senate, Mr. Trump is likely to veto it, Schiff acknowledged on CBS News' "The Takeout." But he argued that it could "force a real debate" about the president's use of military force.

Schiff said he's concerned "we could really see ourselves getting bogged down" in Venezuela, despite the lack of U.S. forces on the ground right now. He said that it could start with diplomatic staff returning to Caracas, followed by security to protect those staff, and "pretty soon, you've got a major presence in the country."

"Let's face it, there's not going to be a way to run another country at a distance," he said.

A Chinook helicopter pilot who also helped plan the mission to capture Maduro was wounded multiple times in the leg during the operation, U.S. officials told CBS News on the condition of anonymity to discuss national security matters.

The helicopter the pilot was flying — a heavy, twin-rotor MH-47 Chinook — was struck by hostile fire during the operation. Although it was damaged, it remained airborne and completed its run.

The Chinook was the lead aircraft in a formation of U.S. Army helicopters tasked with inserting the assault team in the Maduro capture mission. They were carrying a force of Delta Force commandos as they slipped toward Caracas in the overnight operation —  at first, largely unnoticed. As the aircraft drew closer to the heavily fortified compound where Maduro was believed to be holed up, the calm broke and Venezuelan defensive positions opened fire. U.S. helicopters responded with their own suppressive fire, according to the U.S. officials.

A Pentagon official told CBS News on Tuesday that two U.S. service members were still recovering from injuries sustained during the incursion, which the Defense Department dubbed Operation Absolute Resolve.

"They are receiving excellent medical care and are well on their way to recovery," the Pentagon official said. "Five additional service members suffered injuries but have already returned to duty. The fact that this extremely complex and grueling mission was successfully executed with so few injuries is a testament to the expertise of our joint warriors."

The New York Times first reported the details of the engagement with the Chinook and the pilot being wounded.

Read more here.