MIAMI – Following the U.S. raid in Caracas by special operators on Feb. 3, 2026, resulting in the capture of former dictator Nicolás Maduro, the interim government of Delcy Rodríguez is rearranging the internal security apparatus of the Venezuelan regime amid relentless pressure from Washington.
Hundreds of Cuban elite security forces and medical professionals provided expertise to the Venezuelan government in exchange for subsidized oil exports from the country’s reserves.
The arrangement was a hallmark of the socialist bloc’s collaboration between the two governments and has remained a thorn in the side of U.S. foreign policy for decades.
At least 32 Cuban security personnel were killed in February’s military operation, according to the government in Havana.
The announcement comes as Rodríguez begins to reorganize the Venezuelan armed forces and rid domestic institutions of political influences long held during the Chávez and Maduro regimes, as officials in Washington pursue a decisive blow to the Cuban-Venezuelan alliance.
Assembly President Confirms Release of Political Prisoners After Passing of General Amnesty Bill
MIAMI – Jorge Rodríguez issued remarks to the media on Saturday, assuring residents that “at this moment” there are “hundreds of releases” resulting from the Amnesty Bill that was promulgated on Thursday.
The bill aims at “national reconciliation,” said Delcy Rodríguez on Thursday, following the bill’s approval by lawmakers.
“The people deprived of their liberty are already being released under the Amnesty Law,” the assembly’s president confirmed, as critics of the regime remain skeptical of whether the country’s leadership will faithfully carry out the ruling by the nation’ legislative body.
In a TV broadcast on the state-run Venezolana de Televisión (VTV), Jorge Rodríguez addressed relatives of detainees, who have camped out in front of the national detention center, known as Zona 7 in Caracas, including the infamous El Helicoide detention centre, awaiting the release of their loved ones.
Relatives have gone on hunger strike for the last week as Venezuela’s non-governmental human rights organization, Foro Penal, estimates that hundreds more political prisoners are currently detained by the regime.
Top Venezuelan Official Wanted by U.S. Government
MIAMI – A high-profile Venezuelan government official, Tarek El Aissami, who served as Minister of Industries and National Production & later Minister of Petroleum until 2023, is being sought after by U.S. authorities.
El Aissami also served as the nation’s vice president under the now deposed dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On Saturday, El Aissami’s name appeared on the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement website as ‘captured,’ but media outlets have not reported any confirming reports on the matter from government officials.
Images of El Aissami in handcuffs being detained by Venezuelan authorities were released in April 2024.
El Aissami resigned from his position as minister of petroleum at least a year earlier, but analysts suggest that he may have been pushed out under pressure from the regime.
El Aissami was later charged with corruption by the Maduro government and accused of siphoning off funds from the dysfunctional state-run oil company, the P.D.V.S.A.
U.S. authorities are now seeking El Aissami’s extradition for violating OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) sanctions, and suspect the former minister of overseeing a criminal smuggling network linked with organized drug trafficking groups in the region.
Critics and opposition groups to the regime in Caracas also speculate that El Aissami could have ties with the Muslim extremist group, Hezbollah.
However, such claims have not been confirmed by any government.
