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Delcy Rodriguez and her special relationship and confidence of the DJT administration as it seeks to restore economic prosperity to Venezuela after a disastrous experiment and mismanagement of the economy.

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Democrats continue to believe they lost in 2024 because they did not attack DJT enough. This fails to cite issues such as cost of living- surge in the third year of the Biden administration with 20% increase in prices and Biden failing to take notice and address this quickly. A wave of illegal immigration- the failure of Mayorkas, himself a Cuban immigrant in 1960, put in charge of Homeland Security and ICE, and Harris who was an attorney helping indigents in inner city San Francisco, to grasp the fears of border states and southern states. The failure to understand that the border was open and inviting waves of illegal immigrants, some with questionable backgrounds. This issue created a sense of unease in the fabric of society and American people. Other issues simply showed how Harris could not relate to the conservative people and average people in the country in the cultural aspect such as transgender, rural America. Biden pulling out suddenly, loss of rural vote- failure of Democrats since Obama to pay attention to rural voters, Harris not appealing to the white male vote in the US, are other factors that hurt Democrats. DJT gained with the shooting incident in Pennsylvania in which he survived, and the perception raised during a garbage truck and DJT photo that the Democrats derided, seen by the public as looking down on working class people. Democrats never really grasped how the political system had gone in reverse- the Republicans had put cultural aspect first and conservative now meant working class voters and white voters in rural areas/small towns, big cities, ( the Archie Bunker type of an earlier era who was now a Democrat, not the college educated and Ivy league Harvard type that had taken over the Democratic party). This continues to this day with some paradox as the business class and the billionaire class sit alongside the working class person in the Republican party DJT created. DJT did this in 2016 by pulling together workers hurt by Bush and Obama's policies favoring the educated classes and affluent, ignoring rural areas and farmers, and committing US to wars in the Middle East that squandered the Nations' resources and human lives. This was aggravated in the Biden/Harris/Mayorkas years by letting in migrants across the border by the millions that created a great deal of unease in the working classes. In this way labor unions or their rank and file left the Democratic party- a problem that plagues Democrats to this day, that Biden tried but failed to fix. The border issues had become complex by the latter part of the Biden administration because of the complete collapse of Venezuelan economy and the drug cartels in Mexico smuggling people and drugs across the border, for which the Biden administration or Harris had no answer.  It was the failure of administrations to continue the Monroe Doctrine in the form given by FDR as "Good Neigbor Policy," and JFK as the Alliance for Progress, allowing drug cartels and foreign European powers to intervene in the western hemisphere, desorying good governance in Mexico, Venezuela, Cuba and other nations in Latin America. By the second year of the DJT administration Venezuela, and the border were brought under control, and the situation in Mexico put in a new direction. ...

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The expected resignation of Tulsi Gabbard who never fit in with the US recommitment to the Monroe Doctrine in its Good Neighbor version of FDR and Alliance of Progress version of JFK for peace in the western hemisphere through the rule of law, democratic process and peaceful cooperation with the United States. Under DJT it also means reassessment and revisiting of the original reasons for the Monroe  Doctrine that were forgotten under the Reagan,Carter, Bush, Obama and Biden administrations for five decades. That of the US keepingout colonial powers of Europe from the western hemisphere bent on recolonization under president Monroe in 1824.  In the last 5 decades it was the involvement of Russia and China that created the conditions for Cuba, Venezuela and a bad form of governance, failures in the rule of law, through drug cartels operating in Mexico, Colombia, and other Latin American countries.

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Venezuelan leader Machado leaves Venezuela for Oslo Norway in a boat to Curacao then flight to Bangor Maine and on to Oslo

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Daniel Harding as LA Philharmonic conductor 2026 with parallel career as France Airbus pilot.  Having two rigorous careers is exceptional. Daniel Harding of Oxford, England, conducted the Swedish Philharmonic for many years. He now replaces Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel at LA Philharmonic. Gustavo Dudamel joins the NY Philharmonic as conductor. Of his career as pilot for Air France he says-

"[What] I love about going to work for Air France is that I put on my uniform … and I’m part of the team. And knowing another world, how other people work and having a completely different role is healthy. I’ve learned things about myself and conducting in a year that I didn’t learn in 29 years before as a conductor.”

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Guardian's Essay on the War and how it has undone Iran pushed it back by decades with internal suppression of dissent, the diversion of vital resources that could be used for building the economy and standards of living, failing to build a sovereign investment fund like Norway and other countries setting aside money for a rainy day. Much of the young educated voters and business in markets is in the cities in Asia and this class has to be integrated into development to create advanced developed nations instead of a small class of people controlling the nation's resources under an ideological or religious sectarian leadership. It failed in Spain in the Franco years, and now in Venezuela and Iran, Pakistan, because it does not grasp what happened in Asia- in China, in India, in South Korea where even under communist (China), military (South Korea), the integration of the students, middle class business, all sectors of society, leads to all sections of society building advanced societies improving education, healthcare, and modernization infrastructure, joining Europe and the US to build the future of science and technology. ...

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US sets up diplomatic ties to Venezuela March 6 2026. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum visits Caracas and is shown here with Delcy Rodriguez.

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US orders a "total and complete" blockade of sanctioned oil tankers around Venezuela, December 16 2025.

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The NYT covers the GAESA tourism enterprise of Cuba (that operates independent of the government of Cuba) that overinvested in Tourism at the expense of agriculture industry and infrastructure during the Obama administration, leading to collapse with Trump's 2014 embargo on Cuba. GAESA controls about 50% of Cuba's economy, run by military and people from Castro's family.  That left 121 hotels built in the boom years of tourism at 30 percent occupancy. The Iberostar high rise hotel is one of these hotels that rises over dilapidated housing in Havana, the Cuban capital. The investment in tourism by the GAESA enterprise that runs about 50% of the Cuban economy is 13 times what is spent on healthcare and education, says the NYT. The Castro family, Raul Castro family, runs this business venture that was started when the Soviet Union as sponsor of Cuba had collapsed by 1991. The NYT says this 'devolved' the ideas and promise of the revolution. "Devolved?" What kind of word to describe a complete loss of faith, and enormous failure with severe hardship for the Cuban people? It means the whole idea of communism or Marxist revolution has been proven false, even as it survives in Mexico and parts of Latin America. One can be against the Batista regime- similarly against corrupt regimes in Latin America or Asia- that ruled Cuba before the Castro Cuban revolution and still look for better choices and alternatives than what Castro came up with as an answer to Cuba's needs. Much of Latin America is suffering from the same problems of dictatorships and turning to Marxist alternatives - particularly the alternative put forward by Castro in Cuba- that has also destroyed the Venezuelan economy with Chavez's turn to Castro's Cuban revolutionary slogans and ideology. That came up with temporary solutions for the poorer sections of society, yet failed badly for all sections of society in the long term. How else can one explain one fourth of Venezuela's population and about the same of Cuba's leaving the country, some of those who left the critical human capital that would form the core of the human input to combine with capital and technology for advancing the economy. If Cuba were like the Dominican Republic or other parts of the Caribbean to depend on tourism for its national income then would it not be better to have friendly relations with the US, the main source of tourism revenue. The Obama administration was only holding up a failed idea by holding out a helping hand to tourism in Cuba knowing full well that a change to a Republican administration would simply lead to heavy investments in tourism at the neglect of infrastructure, public services and the economy, of health and education, to become large economic losses. This is what has happened.  As China and India have proven and are proving there are no magical ways to economic development- the same route that was traveled by the nations of Northern and Western Europe with scientific advances, technological advances, have to be taken, the same route that was traveled by the US in its industrial revolution and building of infrastructure, that same route has to be taken by all nations. It does not have to take a time period of centuries as in Europe. The US accomplished it faster with new technologies and vast human and natural resources over 100 years, Japan in 50 years, China in 30 years. India in 25 years ongoing.There is room for intelligent solutions to problems, for speed and tapping into new technologies, yet the same inputs of land, labour, capital and technology have to be put together for development. For states or regions, cities, within China and India, the same inputs, the same access to foreign investment and new technologies is the only route to rapid development. Long range plans are set in motion, decades of stable efficient, clean governance is put in place, and alliances are built with the nations of Europe and with the US. This road is traversed though hard work as Japan and China have done, and India today is thoroughly engaged in. ...

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At this point in May (May 22, 2026) a glimmer of hope appears for settling both the crisis in Hormuz and the Ukraine war. Pakistan, Turkey and China following DJT visit to China may be pushing Iran to lower the scale of the conflict. China's first priority was to be accepted by the US at the Beijing meeting as an equal power with the US, and keen to show its willingness to bear responsibility for peaceful resolution in conflict zones as a sign of its maturity as a world power. Much of this is not shown in the media as it is mostly done behind the scenes in communications that the media knows nothing about. Note that even in the depths of the Cold War during the Hungarian revolution of 1956 and Soviet action in Budapest, the US and the Soviets when their economies were not intertwined as the US and China are today, were still talking to each other to limit the conflicts to low level conflict. Hong Kong takeover, China's actions near Taiwan, China's presence in Latin America, Chinese cooperation with Iran, and Russia on Ukraine, China's economic competition in rare earths, are relatively smaller levels of friction considering 1950's Soviet's and the US. At the same time China and the Us are aware of a new bloc emerging in Oslo in May, where India is merging its economy with the Nordic economies of Sweden, Denmark and Norway, and of the European Union and Germany, creating a new bloc of 2 billion people that can only grow rapidly with India's potential to exceed growth rates of 20% in the 600 million Eastern region for a decade. EU would make the shift to strategic partnership with India displacing the vital role the European Union has played in China's growth and economy. This would create new pressures for Russian president Putin to decide it is time to listen to a friend India and de-escalate lower the level of conflict with an initial peace deal that would lead to more talks on a final settlement. Because Russia would have a harder time tackling both India and Germany at the same time. NYT shows on the same day May 22 a report on Russia and a report by the Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Sonegard that say the elites in Russia and Putin were by January 2026 having very serious discussion to change the administration, bring Igor Sechin as negotiaor to end the Ukraine conflict before serious, possibly irreversible damage, to the Russian economy. Sweden's Sonegard says that between 2020 and 2024 Russian economy declined by 8%, not grew by 13% as official figures show, inflation is much higher than 5% as official figures show, and credit is tightening, bankruptcies expected, growth even with oil prices up down to 0.4% for 2026. During 20 years running Russia Putin's No. 1 priority, his life's mission was to restore, then exceed by a large margin the living standards of the Russian people. Having at such great cost accomplished the goal of gaining recognition as a Northern Power in Europe, having gained much of Russian speaking eastern Ukraine, Putin could wisely with self respect wind down Ukraine conflict for good. The US gains something similar to Northern Power status for Russia in its recommitment to the Monroe Doctrine, with Russia withdrawing from any involvement- and China tacitly doing the same-  in the western hemisphere. With that the US can tackle its own losses that match Russian losses in lives- loss of more American lives than in the Korean and Vietnam and WWI combined to drug smuggling from Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and restoring rule of law in Cuba, Venezuela, and through drug cartel free Mexico good governance in Mexico.  ...

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Cordoba and Gurman cover the Justice Department case against Raul Castro, 94 years, of Cuba who runs the country. Jim Ratcliffe of the US government visited Cuba recently to let the Cuban government know that it had to make changes and there was a limited window. Raul Castro was defense minister, and is brother of Fidel Castro, the revolutionary who fought to overthrow the government of dictator Batista, made some short term improvements, but failed badly for the Cuban people with a policy that confronted the US and brought foreign powers to the western hemisphere. China could remain communist, keep Mao's memory, and adopt the market system, to develop the modern economy it has because of adopting western ideas, science and technology. And build what is otherwise a free market economy, and became a key trade partner, briefly an ally of the US as the Soviet Union collapsed- nothing like this happened in Cuba. Tourism was used simply as a way to protect the rest of the completely centralized economy and a state within a state built through an elite that ran a separate section of the armed forces under Raul Castro, kept a regimented society. Even that has failed. Nowhere in Latin America is there so many signs of failure, and it has also brought down societies that copied the rhetoric and nationalist slogans such as Venezuela and Colombia. In some parts of Mexico the Cuban rhetoric still sounds good but the reality is starkly different, Mexico itself is run on a model closer to that in the US, and Mexico has serious problems in civil society relating to immigration and drugs in its relationship with the US. ...

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NYT's Simon Romero looks at Cumano in Venezuela, and the breakdown of water, electricity,  industry, and education systems in this city. How efforts to solve inequality without a grasp of how a modern economy works can lead to something worse. And how good intentions are not enough, lack of understanding and knowledge of of a government (Chavez and successors), on how industry, infrastructure for water and electricity, education and healthcare works is dangerous. Immersion in the rhetoric (Chavismo) makes things worse. Appeals to Simon Bolivar (history), mass communication (Alo Presidente), religious symbolism (socialist motherland and victory) and us vs them, (the marginalized poor and the established elites), mean little and take an entire nation backwards for making industrial progress and infrastructure building,  creating a strong modern economy. It in fact turns out to be dangerous and counterproductive, breaking up the very productive forces that are needed to build a modern economy. The Japanese visited and carefully studied the US transformation into an industrial advanced economy in the 1890's Meiji era, the Chinese visited and studied the Japanese plus the US transformation into industrial advanced economies in the 1990's, and Indians visited and studied the Japanese, Chinese, and American transformation into industrial advanced economies by 2014 in Gujarat State, to spread that model to all states to achieve the goal of building infrastructure, manufacturing, and modernization. America made some careful choices under Lincoln, TR, FDR, Truman and Eisenhower to achieve this transformation. Bringing factory labor, farmers, professional classes, and factory owners together under FDR with his first experiment in New York state building modern institutions with Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, and industrial interests, then repeating this across 51 states in the Union as president of the US. Frances Perkins documents this in her book "The Roosevelt I Know." ...

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Gerard Baker of the WSJ writes about not getting involved in unnecessary wars and prudent interventions where necessary. He does not bring up the nuclear issue which is the only issue this war was about- is that a prudent intervention where necessary? The other issue is what the Anglo-Saxon,Saxon world and the Europeans think and feel about the Jewish state after the experience deeply unsettling  of World War II for western civilization itself. Throughout 2026 in Britain, UK, Australia and Canada, and in the  European Union, the people have stood by the Jewish people and the Jewish state while also respecting the rights of Palestinian people. Iran's hostility towards the Jewish state, to its elimination, is the reason for the conflict. Is prudent intervention necessary for the US in this context and what is the Anglo-Saxon and European attitude to defending western civilizations thoughts and sentiment?  What does a nuclear weapons state do to the situation in the Middle East- the Arab states and Israel? This is the main reason for the US involvement even as it is committed to no unnecessary wars. A naval blockade during Iranian closure of the Straits is not an escalation, the US did not bomb Kharg Island only imposed a naval blockade. The US is able to sustain this kind of blockade for a long period as it showed in Venezuela and shows in its backyard in Latin American particularly where it is essential that the US stop all drug smuggling on the seas. The Editorial Board of the WSJ has sent warnings to the DJT administration that it would be a mistake to not address the nuclear issue now and to separate it to a subsequent stage as mediators Pakistan and Turkey have arranged for reasons that are not in the US interest- because that would leave Iran to renege on promises and go for nuclear weapons  third time and repeat the failures of the Obama administration. It can be noted that the WSJ reflects the views of the business community in the US which is thoughtful and not prone to overreach or US interventions. Baker is not part of it after resigning as Editor in Chief in 2018. Yet the members of the Board include- Henninger, McGurn, Strassel, Riley, Finley, Noonan, Taranto, O'Grady, Jenkins and many others. It is unlikely that all of these members would have a drastic and strongly interventionist attitude. ...

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US president DJT is allowing sales into the markets in the US that process heavy Venezuelan oil so that the money can be deposited into an account that will be used for the rebuilding of Venezuela's economy and for the people of Venezuela. "This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States."

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The Carter Center finds that Democracy was thwarted in Venezuela when the Oppoostiion Candidate won by as much as 67% of the vote compared to 30% for Maduro and the Venezuelan regime. After over 300% inflation and 8 million refugees Venezuela's situation had deteriorated to the point that no government could win with such dire conditions for the economy.  Most essential goods and services difficult to find. This is the situation that the US faced as it asserted the Monroe Doctrine in the face of drug trafficking gangs in Mexico and Venezuela pushing drugs and migrants across the US borders. The drug and migration crisis in the US reached levels that led to the election of DJT in the US in 2025.

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  US reaches agreement that would restore oil supplies and bring down oil prices. The supply chains may have to be reconstituted for replacing much of the 20% of the oil that flows through Hormuz if the US, Europe,China and India, Japan, rest of the world are to gain from this experience. The only way to understand the change of mind of the DJT US government and the Saudis/UAE/Qatar for bringing an end to the war without immediately fulfilling required nuclear conditions is from the Saudi point of view it has sought to avoid damage to its oil facilities from Iranian drone and missile attacks. From the US point of view it may see that the US + ramped up Venezuelan production by 2027-2028 with increased push for supplies in other parts of the world with better security than Hormuz, could make up for most of the loss in supply from Hormuz. For the remainder acceleration of the renewal energy in Europe and in China, India could reduce dependence on oil from Saudis/Iran.  US Energy Information Administration forecast is for oil prices currently $103 for Brent crude oil to stabilize at $89 at the end of 2026 and $79 in 2027. The year started in 2026 at $60 per barrel. The UAE oil agency ADNOC says it would take 4 months to get 80% of production back on stream and full flows by 1st quarter 2027. Rystad Energy estimates repair and restoration at oil facilities to cost $58 billion. The MAGA base which opposed wars by Bush and Obama in the region would then look at it this way. The billions that Obama poured into Iran for Iran to rebuild its nuclear program would not happen again, as the US would continue its sanctions till all nuclear materials are removed from Iran. Iran would stall in negotiations that are now put off with only a Memorandum to show for commitment of Iran- though an agreement would only be a piece of paper that Iran may not implement as the failed Obama agreement showed- but yet not have the billions of dollars to support its nuclear program. It would give the US, Israel, and the world 10-15 years in which to respond to another nuclear program by Iran. Iran will need $270 billion to repair the damage to industrial facilities, which shows the cost of the war for the Iranian people just to get a nuclear weapon is prohibitive, considering that the Iranian economy was already in trouble before the war. Inflation and the overall economy will be in difficult shape for many years. Public sentiment in Iran may change the future course of Iran away from the course currently pursued. The entire Middle East  region has not benefitted from its dependence on oil. For the rest of the world finding alternative sources of supply is the best way and EU, China, India should accelerate renewable technologies and goals for energy independence shortening the transition from fossil fuels. ...

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Eni and Repsol the Italian and Spanish energy companies are owed $6 billion by the Venezuelan government for natural gas they supply from fields in Venezuela to the Venezuelan people. About 40% of natural gas supplies come from Ei and Repsol. Venezuela has not paid these companies as the economy collapsed. Eni and Repsol have continued the supplies because of the devastating impact on the people it it were cutoff. Under the new US arrangement where new companies can join Chevron as producers Eni and Repsol are planning to increase oil production in the country with some of the oil going to pay for the $6 billion owed.

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To get a right grasp of the situation as a whole from the bigger picture than the headlines, is to know that even in the current chaotic immigration handling of both parties, the US comes out a winner in long term by 2034. That it gives for the younger generation a better future. Congress's Budget Office economic report shows GDP higher by 2% from the higher immigration of 5.2 million added to the US workforce by 2034. US productivity higher by 0.2% and residential investment including construction up by a whopping 10%. The younger profile of immigrants will help the US compete with India's younger population, and as China ages to have what it and Europe is aspiring to have- a younger population. The best way to look at the immigration issue is for the short term- manage it better by organized method of immigration without chaotic border crossings by allowing potential immigrants to apply from their home country, a step taken by the Biden administration. What it or any Republican administration could not control is the immigration that happens from countries the US is at war with or in conflict with. It is important to recognize that this is what happened with Venezuela the largest component of the immigration border crossings in 2023. It was made worse by actions of both parties Democrats and Republicans and made worse in 2017 by more severe sanctions on Venezuela under the Trump administration.  Also part of the problem is Venezuelan mismanagement- providing oil at pennies a gallon, hurting imports and spiralling inflation that only worsened under US sanctions after 2017. Long term- To reflect that US sanctions on top of mismanagement by Venezuela is a warning for all developing countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia and for the US. It meant 7 million refugees a staggering quarter of Venezuela's population fleeing the country, that burdened neighbors Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile. By 2022-2023 many of these refugees were making their way up the Darien Gap to the US. Yet within this tragic situation for Venezuelan people how could the US best respond is to close the border as president Biden has proposed with McConnell and the Lankford effort in the Senate, which was blocked by the House under Mike Johnson. This gives time to assess the situation, correct US laws on asylum and parole that allowed this chaotic way to proceed under actions of both parties.And not let this destabilize the US by understanding that while Venezuela has suffered for its role in the crisis the US will ultimately have come out a winner, as pointed out by the Congressional Budget Office projections. CBO projections of this immigration impact by 2034 of increasing the workforce population by 5.2 million will provide higher GDP, more tax revenues, and higher productivity than without this group of Venezuelan and other immigrants in this special situation of 2022-2023. For the Immigration projections discussion given by Phillip Swagel, Director of the Congressional Budget Office see page 51 of the Budget and Economic Outlook 2024 to 2034. For this search for term Congressional Budget Office or CBO which brings up the report on PDF and turn to page 51 or just click on Original Article on Lyrarc.   ...

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Marco Rubio has shown an exceptional grasp of Latin America from his days representing Florida in the Senate, about a decade in the Senate when he has closely followed events and acquired a deep knowledge of Latin America. His answers at Congressional hearing were exceptionally good, and showed an ability and earnest desire to get good results for the Venezuelan people, sharing aninterest in the good for Latin America being a person of latin American origin who speaks fluent Spanish as a native language. Points made by Venezuela in answering questions from senators in the US Senate hearings- All of Latin America welcomed the US action to remove Maduro from Venezuela.  It affects Colombia and neighboring countries. Colombian rebel groups control parts of Venezuelan territory and operate from there.  Multiple administrations had deals with Maduro. Maduro kept none of the deals including the one with Biden for free and fair elections.  To be realistic in situations such as Spain, Paraguay, there were transitions before safe and fair return to normalcy and democratic government returned after decades of dictatorship. RUbio showed an exceptional grasp of the Latin Ameican situation and reminded senator Murphy that he had been in the Senate for decade and worked with the senators now on the other side to remove Maduro amd nothing had worked. Venezuela is a rich country , the most affluent in Latin America. It does not need money from the US. Before the Chavez dictatorship it was a country with democratic forms of government, and a country friendly to the US.  The action taken was a quarantine not a blockade. By controlling oil going out of Venezuela the lifeline for the country the US has control over its finances and the economy, budgets, the government finances. The immediate task was getting the oil out of the country as there was no place to put it and US had it sold at market prices not sent to China at a 20% discount for which Venezuela got nothing except paying off debt to China. The current authorites are cooperating with the US on the budget, they have to submit budget requests and the US approves it item by item and an audit agency is being set up including Ex-Im. Bank an other options to make sure the money is being spent on salaries and for the Venezuelan people. The money goes to an account for Venezuela at the US Treasury Department. In 4 weeks a lot has been accomplished. What happens in 6 months - for that actions are more important than words, it should be a marked improvement over today. Including setting up the US diplomatic presence in Caracas which means talking to the government on the ground, talking to civil society, talking to the Opposition.  ...

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Maria Machado met US president DJT at the White House for lunch as the two leaders discussed the situation in Venezuela. The US is moving step by step towards long term goals for the benefit of the Venezuelan people. It is acting quickly where necessary and at the same time with confidence in the final goal of making life better for all Venezuelans, aware of how decades of mismanagement and ideologic rhetoric, the failure of the party systems that existed before the entry of Chavez in 1992 and 1998 three decades back, created the wrecked national economy of today with exorbitant inflation and a fourth of the population to leave the country. Looking back (on Britannica.com) one sees in its history a century of conflicts and chaos between conservatives, liberals, and the military, from 1850 to the 1950's. Only a 50 year period of relative quiet and democracy ending with mismanagement and corruption separates that period from today, showing how difficult a situation the US and DJT face in turning Venezuela around after centuries of Spanish colonial rule till the French revolution. For this reason alone the US takes one step at a time towards the long term benefit of the Venezuelan people knowing the nature of the task and the Monroe Doctrine's overall goal for the western hemisphere. ...

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Raul Castro of Cuba indicted by the US Justice Department May 20, 2026 for Cuban Americans killed when civilian flights helping Cuban refugees in the waters near Cuba were shot on orders from Raul Castro, as minister of defense. Only towards the end of this news report by Perry Stein and Karen De Young of the Washington Post is it clear that this indictment is on Cuba Independence Day March 20, which in 1902 marks the setup of the Republic of Cuba, at the end of the US military takeover of Cuba from the Spanish during the Spanish American War. Cuba under Castro does not use this day but the day of the Communist takeover in 1959 of January 1, and celebrates as Day of the Revolution, July 26, the day when the attack on the Moncada military barracks started the Revolution against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. Only the Obama administration similar to its failures in addressing the Iran nuclear weapons crisis refused to recognize 1902 date as the Cuban Independence Day, all other administrations before did. Under the Monroe Doctrine of 1824 the US clearly considered Latin America as its neighborhood and would not accept any foreign power in its neighborhood, making the Platt amendment attached to the Cuban 1902 Constitution permitting US intervention simply an addition. That the Monroe Doctrine was proven right in 2 ways is not mentioned by the Washington Post or by the elite media. What it did was to prevent European colonial powers from intervening and restoring colonial type rule to Spanish colonies in Latin America. It was welcomed by the British as it had no such designs, objected to by the Spanish Dutch and the French who had such designs for their colonial Empires. It was resented by Cubans naturally but Cubans did not consider that US is the only power who even when it pushed the Spaniards out of Cuba and Philippines in the Spanish American War of 1900 after centuries of Spanish occupation, the only power who prepared Cuba for Independence within 4 years in 1898. Which European colonial power could do this? The other reason for the Monroe Doctrine is in the Platt Amendment attached to the Cuban Constitution which committed the Cuban government to implement and maintain programs the US introduced to control yellow fever and infectious diseases. In 1934 FDR removed the Platt Amendment under a "Good Neighbor Policy. It is the relaxation of the Monroe Doctrine by future American adminstrations that has brought so much suffering and pain to North America, for the US and Mexico with illegal immigration and drugs, corrupting governance in Mexico and creating social political strife in the US, more deaths from drugs than the Vietnam, Korean and WWI combined. Today's Cuba's economy and the Venezuelan economy that copied Cuba's example has completely collapsed, one fourth of the people left the country taking with them the vitally important skills, and leading to economic hardships for the people. This would not have happened if the Monroe Doctrine implemented under the Good Neighbor ideas of FDR and the Alliance for Progress of JFK was kept in place. This shows that Cuba's Independence happened when the Americans supported Cuban rebels fighting for independence in 1898 just as the Indian Independence was won in 1947 from the British under Labour's PM Clement Attlee in 1945 taking action. Four years of American rule in Cuba to prepare it for independence as a transition is far better than 4 centuries of Spanish rule, and 2 years of British rule as a transition 1945-1947 under Attlee (who replaced Churchill in 1945 and setup the NHS) is better than 2 centuries of British colonial rule. In this sense America is with the Cuban people, just as the average British public and working class is with the Indian people.   ...

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A large blackout leaves Venezuela's capital Caracas and parts of the country in complete darkness. The blackout was the result of problems at the El Guri hydroelectric dam in eastern Venezuela. Venezuela's power grid has deteriorated rapidly from lack of investment, corruption leading to siphoning off of funds for investment in new turbines and technology, and mismanagement with the power company run by people with little experience in power generation. Initially Electricidad de Caracas was  bought by AES Corporation in the U.S. in 2000, then nationalized by president Hugo Chavez in 2007. The lack of investment is also a result of policies that subsidize power making it practically free, just as in the case of gasoline. 70% of Venezuela's electricity comes from El Guri hydroelectric dam. Hyper inflation estimated at an astounding 1 million percent is ruining Venezuela's economy leading to 3 million refugees into neighboring Colombia and other countries. ...

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In a Fox News Interview with Sean Hannity Venezuela's Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado says her stand-in Edmundo Gonzalez won by 70% of the vote in the 2024 election. In 2026 she says she would get 90% of the vote. She tells Hannity:  "I do want to say today, on behalf of the Venezuelan people, how grateful we are for his courageous mission.” She wants to share the Nobel Peace Prize with DJT.   Secretary of State Marco Rubio, points out that one reason the US is working through the interim leadership is that most of the Opposition has left Venezuela. DJT has said "it would be very tough" for Machado to become the leader of Venezuela because of the military, gangs and other militias that Chavez and Maduro have created that would disrupt the country's transition. DJT's view is that “We have to fix the country first. You can’t have an election. There’s no way the people could even vote...No, it’s going to take a period of time. We have — we have to nurse the country back to health." The key is maintaining the county's stability after Maduro and this is what the US president intends to do first. Secretary of State Marco Rubio pointed to this, that most of the Opposition is now outside Venezuela, sadly. Rubio told NBC Meet the Press - “We are dealing with the immediate reality. The immediate reality is that, unfortunately and sadly, but unfortunately the vast majority of the opposition is no longer present inside of Venezuela. We have short-term things that have to be addressed right away.”  For getting the right result to restore Venezuela and the US to carry out the Monroe Doctrine in the best possible way- the US is taking each step carefully to achieve good results well into the future. ...