Our Tuesday Sociedad Media Now daily newsletter features the latest on the slow start to oil deals promised for major U.S. companies in post-Maduro’s Venezuela, the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. & Paraguay on a civil nuclear pact, and the flashy headline in this week’s edition to Newsweek.
Venezuela Oil Deals Stall as U.S. Energy Department Draws Fire
CARACAS — Eight months after Trump promised to “rapidly rebuild” Venezuela’s oil industry, not a single new U.S. deal has closed — and insiders are blaming the Energy Department for favoring cautious oil majors over MAGA-aligned “wildcatters” pushing for faster access.
A senior U.S. official put it bluntly to Axios: “We have no new concessions. No new deals. It is absolutely a problem” — even as Mauricio Claver-Carone, Trump’s own former Venezuela adviser, piles on, saying flatly that “Energy won” the internal turf war, “and now they own this.”
U.S. & Paraguay Sign Civil Nuclear Cooperation Pact, Deepening Ties as Washington Courts Rare Taiwan Ally
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed a Strategic Civil Nuclear Cooperation memorandum with Paraguay’s Vice President Pedro Alliana on Tuesday, extending a U.S. push this year to deepen alliances across Latin America while countering Chinese and Russian regional influence — notable given Paraguay is one of the few remaining countries worldwide to maintain full diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
The signing lands the same week Paraguay’s Congress formally rebuked Brazil’s Lula over historical remarks on the War of the Triple Alliance, underscoring how differently Asunción is positioning itself toward Washington versus its regional neighbor right now.
“Trump Was Right”: Newsweek Flashes Trump Headline On Venezuela
MIAMI — Newsweek’s latest cover declares “TRUMP WAS RIGHT (ABOUT VENEZUELA)” — six months after Maduro’s capture, the chaos a wide range of skeptics predicted, from congressional Democrats to independent analysts warning of an Iraq-or-Libya-style collapse, simply never materialized.
Oil exports hit a seven-year high, inflation eased to single digits, and even Venezuela’s own opposition acknowledges repression has diminished, even as the country absorbed a genuine, unplanned shock from June’s devastating earthquakes.
