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On Thursday President Donald Trump announced that progress is being made in restarting Venezuela’s oil production capacity following the capture of the country’s former Dictator Nicolas Maduro.
Relations between Venezuela and the United States have been, to put it mildly, extraordinary! We are dealing very well with President Delcy Rodriguez, and her Representatives. Oil is starting to flow, and large amounts of money, unseen for many years, will soon be greatly helping the people of Venezuela. Marco Rubio, and all of our Representatives, are doing a fantastic job, but we speak only for ourselves, and don’t want there to be any confusion or misrepresentation. There is a story about a man named Harry Sargeant III in The Wall Street Journal. He has no authority, in any way, shape, or form, to act on behalf of the United States of America, nor does anyone else that is not approved by the State Department. Without this approval, no one is authorized to represent our Country. Thank you for your attention to this matter! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP
The President called out an article by The Wall Street Journal, published Wednesday, saying that the individual Harry Sargeant III, a Florida energy mogul, has no control over U.S./Venezuelan relations. The article implied that Trump’s international policy toward Venezuela is based on a foundation of personal financial gains for his associates.
“Sargeant is now in position to be the latest of the president’s allies to reap a windfall based on his second-term policies and actions. He is also deeply unpopular within the Venezuelan political opposition, much of which considers him an apologist for the oppressive regime. Thor Halvorssen, a Venezuelan activist, called Sargeant ‘the American supervillain in Venezuela’s regime story’ who gives priority to his personal profit above all else,” The Wall Street Journal wrote.
“This is the greatest investment opportunity since the collapse of the Soviet Union,” Sargeant said in an interview from his mansion in Gulf Stream, an exclusive neighborhood on Florida’s east coast known for its Vanderbilt-family estates. “This is what I’ve been after all along.”
The article went on to detail Sargeant’s financial associations with Republicans as well as other individuals in the corporate sector. It appears Trump is attempting to get ahead of any potential pay-to-play accusations by the Democrats.
On Wednesday Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez spoke with U.S Energy Secretary Chris Wright during a press conference after a meeting at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas.
That WSJ story about Sargeant appeared on The Wall Street Journal minutes before the article which detailed Washington’s industrial progress in Venezuela.
“Energy Secretary Chris Wright said ‘enormous progress’ is being made with Venezuela’s regime in the transformation of its decrepit oil industry, but that the objective is an end to sanctions and a transition toward democracy,” the WSJ said.
Interestingly, on Thursday the acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez affirmed that Maduro is still the legitimate ruler of the South American country.
Embed from Getty Images“I can tell you President Nicolás Maduro is the legitimate president. I will tell you this as a lawyer, that I am. Both President Maduro and Cilia Flores, the first lady, are both innocent,” acting President Delcy Rodríguez told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker in Caracas, in her first interview with an American journalist since taking office.
Image credit: CARACAS, VENEZUELA – FEBRUARY 11: Interim President of Venezuela Delcy Rodríguez meets with U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright at Palacio de Miraflores, on February 11, 2026, in Caracas, Venezuela. This is the highest U.S. Government visit to Venezuela after the capture of Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores on January 3. The U.S. Treasury Department issued a general license to facilitate the exploration and production of oil and gas in Venezuela on February 10, 2026. (Photo by Jesus Vargas/Getty Images)
More political prisoners remain incarcerated in Venezuela despite previous releases. Venezuelans are now protesting for their release, something that would have formerly risked persecution.
“Student demonstrators gathered on the campus of the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas on Thursday to demand the release of all of the country’s political prisoners, the return of exiled activists and a full transition to democracy. ‘Who are we? Venezuela! What do we want? Freedom!’ they shouted,” The Guardian reported Thursday.
Many political prisoners were released directly following Dictator Maduro’s capture. ZeroHedge also detailed a bill that was passed by Caracas at the end of January to release political prisoners:
Venezuela’s U.S.-backed and CIA-installed interim president Delcy Rodriguez has unveiled a sweeping amnesty bill that could pave the way for the release of hundreds of detainees, in a first major political move since former President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were ousted and whisked off to New York earlier this month.
“We have decided to push ahead with a general amnesty law that covers the whole period of political violence from 1999 to the present day,” Rodriguez announced Friday. She issued her address before a who’s who of government figures, including judges and federal magistrates, that the National Assembly would take up the bill “with urgency”. There are believed to currently be at least 700 inmates deemed political prisoners nationwide.
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