Tag: venezuela

Venezuela’s Machado Says in Close Talks with US Over Her Return

Posted on by 2026news

Venezuela’s main opposition leader María Corina Machado said she’s “coordinating” her return to the country with the US, without giving a date.

Machado, speaking at a press conference in Madrid on Saturday, said she’s in “permanent” contact with officials in the Trump administration and “trusts” the phased process Washington is pushing in her home country.

“My return to Venezuela is intended to ensure that we channel Venezuelans’ anguish and yearnings for democracy in a civic and organized manner, centered around an electoral process,” Machado said.

Conversations with the US have been “detailed and frank” and kept “private” in agreement, Machado said, adding that this also applies to her opinion on certain issues, when requested.

Peace Prize

She thanked US President Donald Trump for “risking the lives” of US citizens to secure change in Venezuela, and defended her offering of the Nobel peace prize to him as a “mandate” of the Venezuelan people.

In early March, Machado said she would return within “the next few weeks,” following Nicolás Maduro’s Jan. 3 capture by US forces.

Her arrival would test interim President Delcy Rodríguez’s tolerance for dissent and the US’s commitment to back the opposition leader it once pledged to protect. Machado had stayed largely in hiding after the 2024 election that Maduro claimed he’d won and the world acknowledged her party won.

Rodríguez has moved swiftly to approve new energy legislation and release political prisoners, welcoming US officials and companies aiming to open its economy.

Consequences

Machado said Rodríguez is only taking steps to dismantle corruption in the government to comply with US demands and not because of a “change of heart.”

“They are very well aware of consequences from the US if they fail to deliver,” she said.

Machado said “free and fair” elections are key to secure stability and peace for an “orderly transition” in the country. “Venezuela’s society is clamoring for an electoral calendar and specific dates,” she said.

Machado has been touring cities in Europe, meeting French President Emmanuel Macron, Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten and Italy’s premier Giorgia Meloni this week. Machado declined an invitation to meet Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who has signaled support for Rodriguez.

Since removing Maduro from power in early January, the US government has moved to ease oil and financial sanctions in Venezuela, as it looks to help reinsert the country into the financial markets and secure its oil production amid the energy disruption caused by the Iran war. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-18/venezuela-s-machado-says-in-close-talks-with-us-over-her-return

Trump announces sanctions relief to ease oil prices, says Iran war to end ‘very soon’

Posted on by 2026news

President Donald Trump said the U.S. is waiving oil-related sanctions on certain countries in an effort to ease crude prices, as he estimated the war with Iran would end “very soon.”

“So in some countries, we’re going to take those sanctions off until this straightens out,” Trump said Monday in remarks to reporters in Doral, Fla.

The president spoke after U.S. stocks 

SPX+0.83%

 staged a comeback and oil prices 

CL.1-7.10%

BRN00-6.99%

 retreated from highs as investors priced in the possibility of a coordinated emergency release of oil reserves. Oil futures were falling another 10% on Monday night.

Trump didn’t name countries on which his administration is mulling the reduction of sanctions. Earlier Monday, Reuters reported that the White House was weighing further easing of sanctions on Russia. The U.S. has allowed India to buy Russian oil without being penalized by the Trump administration. Trump spoke with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Monday.

Trump predicted a “short-term excursion” in Iran but also suggested U.S. involvement there would continue.

“We could go further, and we’re going to go further,” he said.

Earlier Monday, Trump told a CBS reporter that the conflict with Iran could end soon, saying he thought the war was “very complete, pretty much.” He said Iran has no navy, communications or air force.

And there were signs Monday that the wealthy countries that make up the Group of Seven were discussing an emergency release of crude reserves.

U.S. and global benchmark prices both climbed to nearly $120 a barrel at their peaks in overnight trading, before retreating from those highs as investors priced in the potential G-7 action.

Futures Movers: Oil prices pull back from highs near $120 a barrel on talk of G-7 emergency release of crude reserves

The G-7 development helped ease concerns over disruptions to the global flow of oil resulting from the Iran conflict. Energy ministers from the group are planning a virtual meeting Tuesday to discuss a possible release of oil reserves to address supply disruptions triggered by the Iran war, sources told CNBC.