MercoPress https://en.mercopress.com/ South Atlantic News Agency en Copyright 2026, MercoPress. https://en.mercopress.com/web/img/en/mercopress-logo.gif MercoPress http://en.mercopress.com/ <![CDATA[Lacalle Pou demands elections in Venezuela and reopens Uruguay's foreign policy debate]]> Former Uruguayan president Luis Lacalle Pou has called for a democratic transition in Venezuela and questioned the terms of the oil agreement reached between the United States and Delcy Rodríguez's government, in an intervention that has revived debate over Uruguay's international position.

]]> Sun, 06 Sep 2026 21:31:00 GMT <![CDATA[Investment banks warn the Venezuela deal will not bring down fuel prices]]> UBS argues that Venezuelan output will take years to recover and that the impact on prices will be limited in the short term Leading financial analysis firms have tempered the White House's forecasts on the Venezuelan oil agreement announced by Donald Trump on Friday, which grants a company part-owned by the US government control of seventeen fields holding some 65 billion barrels of reserves for a hundred years.

]]> Thu, 03 Sep 2026 08:41:00 GMT <![CDATA[Eight Months After Maduro's Capture, Venezuela's Oil Boom Has Outrun Latin America's Sovereignty Debate]]> Photo: EFE/Henry Chirinos When Colombian former President Gustavo Petro convened an emergency CELAC session in the first week of January, the assumption in most South American foreign ministries was that the region would answer the United States with one voice. Eight months later, the answer is still fragmented — and Venezuela's oil is flowing north at a rate not seen in two decades.

]]> Thu, 03 Sep 2026 00:31:00 GMT <![CDATA[Trump says Venezuela is “not ready” to hold elections and sets no timetable]]> “Delcy wants it, but they are not ready yet,” he said in the Oval Office, referring to acting president Delcy Rodríguez US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Venezuela does not yet meet the conditions to call elections, five days after announcing the agreement granting Washington majority control over a fifth of the country's oil reserves for a century.

]]> Wed, 02 Sep 2026 21:00:00 GMT <![CDATA[Venezuela's main airport reopens with temporary modules two months after the earthquake]]> Airlines that have resumed operations or will do so this week include Iberia, Copa, Avianca, Latam, American Airlines, Gol, Air Europa and Plus Ultra, alongside Venezuela's Conviasa and Laser. Simón Bolívar international airport, located in Maiquetía and Venezuela's principal air gateway, resumed domestic and international operations on Tuesday, two months after the double earthquake of June 24 destroyed its facilities.

]]> Tue, 01 Sep 2026 17:37:00 GMT <![CDATA[The Venezuelan oil concession goes to Alejandro Betancourt's firm, under investigation in Europe]]> Betancourt said in a statement that Venezuela is “blessed with an abundance of natural resources, hardworking people and untapped potential,” and thanked Trump and Rodríguez The White House on Monday identified the company that will operate seventeen Venezuelan oil fields for a century in partnership with the US government: North American Blue Energy Partners, owned by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt, who is under investigation in Switzerland and Spain over his alleged involvement in a scheme to launder funds from the state oil company PDVSA. There is no conviction against him.

]]> Tue, 01 Sep 2026 09:23:00 GMT <![CDATA[Maduro releases his first images from the Brooklyn jail, taken two months ago]]> Former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro released on Sunday, through his X account, the first known photographs since he entered the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, where he has been held since January. The images show him in sportswear making a victory sign.

]]> Sun, 30 Aug 2026 23:54:00 GMT <![CDATA[The US will control 55% of output from the new oil company in Venezuela]]> “We have secured majority US control of more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in Venezuela, at no cost to the American taxpayer,” Trump wrote US President Donald Trump announced on Friday an agreement with Venezuela's interim government granting Washington majority control over more than 65 billion barrels of proven Venezuelan crude reserves, around 21% of the country's total. Acting president Delcy Rodríguez confirmed the deal.

]]> Sat, 29 Aug 2026 04:58:00 GMT <![CDATA[Washington negotiates stakes in Venezuelan oil fields with leases of up to a century]]> The negotiation covers around a dozen fields holding some 90 billion barrels of proven reserves, close to a third of the roughly 300 billion Venezuela has certified, the world's largest The United States government is negotiating with Venezuela's interim administration to acquire stakes in a group of the South American country's oil fields, under arrangements that would include leases of up to a hundred years, the outlets Axios and Bloomberg reported on Thursday citing unnamed senior US officials.

]]> Fri, 28 Aug 2026 14:15:00 GMT <![CDATA[Colombia orders deportation of irregular migrants after a decade as the main host country]]> “The order to Migration is clear: first those committing crimes, second those who have not regularised their status, who in due course will have to be deported,” he said Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella has ordered coordinated operations between the migration authority and the police to begin this week to identify and deport foreigners without regular migration status, marking a shift from the policy the country has maintained for more than a decade as the main destination for Venezuelan migration.

]]> Mon, 24 Aug 2026 21:37:00 GMT