Global & US Headlines
Trump & Rodriguez Hold First Post-Maduro Call, Signal U.S.–Venezuela Oil Partnership
On 14 Jan 2026, Donald Trump and interim Venezuelan president Delcy Rodriguez spoke for the first time since U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro, opening direct negotiations on oil, trade and security after weeks of open conflict.
Focusing Facts
- The call, confirmed by both sides, lasted over an hour on 14 Jan 2026 and was publicly praised by Trump as “tremendous progress.”
- Maduro was seized on 3 Jan 2026 in a U.S. raid that left at least 80 dead, including Venezuelan soldiers and Cuban security advisors.
- A U.S. official said the first sale of Venezuelan crude under U.S. control netted about US$500 million into U.S.-held accounts.
Context
Washington’s sudden embrace of Rodríguez echoes the 1989 U.S. ouster of Panama’s Manuel Noriega—followed, after a brief showdown, by cooperative ties with the successor government of Guillermo Endara. Like the 2003 Coalition Provisional Authority’s control of Iraqi oil revenues, today’s U.S. management of Venezuelan crude signals a recurring pattern: military force to unseat a leader, rapid installation of a compliant interim figure, then resource leverage to shape domestic politics. The episode sits at the intersection of two long arcs: the 200-year-old Monroe-Doctrine reflex of U.S. dominance in Latin America and the 21st-century global scramble for secure energy amid declining conventional reserves. Whether Rodríguez can satisfy both domestic power blocs and U.S. demands will determine if this moment becomes a brief occupation footnote—like Haiti 1994—or a structural realignment akin to Saudi-U.S. oil cooperation forged in 1945. On a century scale, the precedent of outright extraterritorial arrests of sitting heads of state may normalize a new extrajudicial modality of great-power policing, with ripple effects for sovereignty norms far beyond Caracas.
Perspectives
Major Western wire & broadcast outlets
Reuters via The Star, Deutsche Welle, India Today, TRT World — Frame the Trump-Rodriguez phone call as an unexpectedly cordial diplomatic opening that could stabilise Venezuela and reboot bilateral relations around oil, trade and security. Stories lean heavily on White House talking points and official quotes, glossing over the legality of Maduro’s abduction and the civilian death toll, thereby soft-pedalling U.S. intervention.
Anti-intervention / Russian-aligned & libertarian outlets
RT, News From Antiwar.com — Cast the call as part of Washington’s bid to take permanent control of Venezuela’s oil after a bloody U.S. raid that ‘kidnapped’ Maduro and killed scores, portraying Rodriguez as operating under duress. Coverage underscores U.S. imperialism narratives and highlights casualty figures and resource grabs that feed their audiences’ scepticism of U.S. motives, while giving limited attention to possible benefits for ordinary Venezuelans.
Global-South & Asian outlets wary of U.S. power
Al Jazeera, South China Morning Post, The Straits Times — Emphasise Rodriguez’s tightrope walk—meeting Trump’s demands for oil access while avoiding backlash from Maduro loyalists—and portray the call as a pragmatic but fragile step under significant U.S. pressure. By spotlighting Washington’s leverage and Venezuela’s concessions, these reports may amplify perceptions of U.S. dominance and Venezuelan weakness, which resonates with audiences critical of Western hegemony even if it downplays Rodriguez’s agency.