Ready for some more signs that things are moving forward in Venezuela?
Rolling Out the Red Carpet
A couple of months ago, you could find the Nicolás Maduro regime sitting around mocking Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, and the United States in general. On Wednesday, they literally rolled out the red carpet for Energy Secretary Chris Wright and placed a U.S. flag outside the door.
March 2019: US closes its embassy in Venezuela
— Annmarie Hordern (@annmarie) February 11, 2026
February 2026: There is an American flag outside the presidential palace in Caracas pic.twitter.com/YOiDxEVGF3
Not only that, but they put on a concert for him, and Delcy Rodríguez met with him in Miraflores Palace.
Jajajac csm pic.twitter.com/vKx6VqMQ8N
— 🇻🇪Venezolano Libertario🗽🇦🇷🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@VenezolanoLiber) February 12, 2026
I was half-expecting Ms. Delcy to put on a MAGA hat and do a little dance with the secretary or something. Look at that big smile for President Trump.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright meeting today with the Acting President of Venezuela Delcy Rodríguez in the capital Caracas. pic.twitter.com/VZXYyiYpoy
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) February 12, 2026
Wright is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Venezuela in nearly 30 years. The regime that was once obsessed with imperialism is suddenly talking about win-win cooperation. Wright is in town for three days to meet with Rodríguez and various oil company executives, as well as to assess the current state of the oil industry overhaul. He's also pushing for the country to do more to open its economy to foreign energy companies.
The secretary said that he sees progress, but more is needed, and he emphasized the need for the country to eventually move to a more representative government. He also pointed out that progress is lacking in other areas. "You’ve still got political prisoners in jail here," he said. "You’ve still got relations here with China, with Russia, with Iran. Those are things to be transitioned."
Rodríguez and Wright took reporters' questions after their meeting. "We want to set the Venezuelan people and the economy free," he said.
#URGENTE | Secretario de Energía, Chris Wright, desde Miraflores:
— Orlando Avendaño (@OrlvndoA) February 11, 2026
“Queremos liberar al pueblo venezolano y a la economía”. pic.twitter.com/yXt6F0EYvT
Meanwhile, Over at NewsMax
While Delcy was entertaining the Energy secretary, her brother Jorge, the "National Assembly President," was sitting down for a cordial interview with U.S. media this week. Rob Schmitt traveled to Caracas and scored a one-on-one with Jorge, who sounds like a changed man. I guess watching your fearless leader get abducted by Delta Force in the middle of the night will do that.
He called the Maduro arrest a "traumatic event" but said, "The government of Delcy Rodriguez is actually looking...to stabilize the country completely and to make it all good and reconcile everybody, all the population of Venezuela."
Translation: We are doing everything Trump and Rubio tell us to so that there's not another "traumatic event."
There was a lot of talk of "win-win" situations for the U.S. and Venezuela and golden opportunities and fixing the country... as if his own family didn't have a heavy hand in what destroyed it in the first place. And some of his language sounded like he printed out Rubio's recent congressional testimony and memorized it almost word-for-word:
The only thing I could say is that there will not be an election in this immediate period of time where the stabilization has to be achieved. What we have agreed at the moment, what we're working on at the moment, is what we call the reinstitutionalization of the country so that every single institution of the country can again be brought to full power and full recognition by everybody.
The People are Stepping Up
I've mentioned this several times — slowly but surely, the people of Venezuela are getting braver and more willing to step up and speak out against the regime. Thursday is Día de la Juventud or Youth Day in the country, and young people, particularly college students who are part of the Federation of University Centers at the Central University of Venezuela (FCU-UCV), are calling for nationwide protests. They want freedom for all political prisoners and a transition to a new government ASAP. Many of them have only lived under socialism in their short lives.
This young lady, Rosa Cucunuba, is one of the leaders of the student movement. I've written about her before, but her quote about how she does fear the regime and has had to go into hiding at times, but she fears never living in a democracy more, went viral several weeks ago. It's in Spanish, but here's a video of her calling on people to rise up on February 12. "We will defeat the shadow," she says.
¡Mañana todos a la UCV! 🇻🇪
— Rosa Cucunuba (@rosacucunubaa) February 12, 2026
A las 10:00 AM, estudiantes, gremios, familiares de presos políticos y todos los venezolanos nos unimos en la Casa que Vence la Sombra por una Venezuela libre.
Que el Día de la Juventud sea el símbolo de nuestra unión. ¡
Venceremos la sombra. pic.twitter.com/74K7aTWQf7
The press is also becoming braver. Venevisión, a private media outlet that has chosen to self-censor during the regime's rule, is suddenly covering these student protests and marches. There's a cautious optimism in the air.
As for the Political Prisoners...
Well, all the news isn't good. Not totally and not yet. As Rubio has said countless times, the stabilization and transition will not be smooth or easy. Earlier this week, I pointed out that Juan Pablo Guanipa, one of Venezuela's top opposition leaders, was released from a detention center and re-arrested — or kidnapped, really — a few hours later because instead of going home, he joined a caravan and took to the streets to raise his voice against the regime.
His family didn't know where he was for a day or so, but he is now back home under house arrest. His son has spoken out, showing his gratitude for Trump and the United States, but it proves that the political prisoners and the population in general are still not free.
Last Friday, Jorge promised a crowd of people that the political prisoners would be free by the end of this week. So far, only 431 have been confirmed released by the human rights group Foro Penal. The week isn't over, but the regime is running out of time. There is a good chance that the amnesty bill they've promised will be passed soon — there's a second round of discussion on it scheduled for Thursday in the Chavista National Assembly — so we'll see what that brings.
I also want to mention that on Wednesday night, even with what happened to Guanipa, opposition members who have been released recently are still taking to the streets to protest the regime. It's been amazing to watch their bravery on social media.
Guerilla Removal
Last, I just want to mention quickly that Colombian Defense Minister Pedro Arnulfo Sanchez says that his country's guerrillas are moving back into Colombian territory, across the Venezuelan border. He says the new dynamics "have generated a perceptible change among Colombian criminal groups, who now prefer to leave Venezuela for their own survival." This news comes just a week after Trump hosted Colombian president Gustavo Petro at the White House, where the two leaders promised greater cooperation on security matters.
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