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Local officials in Minneapolis slammed federal agencies Friday for excluding them from the probe into an immigration officer’s fatal shooting of a woman, as public outrage grew ahead of planned weekend protests.Officials in the midwestern state of Minnesota said their law enforcement agencies have been excluded from the investigation into the killing of motorist Renee Good by a federal immigration officer on Wednesday.A local prosecutor said Friday that federal investigators had taken Good’s car and the shell casings from the scene.The Trump administration has sought to paint the victim as a “domestic terrorist,” insisting that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent who fatally shot her was acting in self-defense.Cell phone footage apparently taken by the officer who fired the fatal shots shows him interacting with Good as he approaches and circles her car, and her saying, “I’m not mad at you.”After he passes in front of the car, another agent can be heard ordering Good to exit the vehicle before she tries to drive off and shots ring out.The White House insisted the video gave weight to the officer’s claim of self-defense — even though the clip does not show the moment the car moved away, or him opening fire. “This is not the time to bend the rules. This is a time to follow the law… The fact that Pam Bondi’s Department of Justice and this presidential administration has already come to a conclusion about those facts is deeply concerning,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, told a briefing on Friday. “We know that they’ve already determined much of the investigation,” he said, adding that the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, within its department of public safety, has consistently run such investigations.”Why not include them in the process?” Frey said.On Thursday, US Vice President JD Vance said that the ICE officer, named in US media as Jonathan Ross, had “absolute immunity” — a claim disputed by local prosecutors.Court filings seen by AFP showed that in June 2025, Ross was dragged 100 yards along a road by a car driven by a man who was the subject of immigration enforcement activity.”When the FBI, when the federal agencies, say they won’t share evidence with the local authorities, the public can’t trust that it’s going to be a true, transparent investigation,” said local Patrick O’Shaughnessy, 43.- ‘Get out’ -Minnesota officials have said that local investigators were initially invited by the FBI to participate in the inquiry into the shooting of Good, but were subsequently blocked from taking part.Good, 37, was shot in the head as she apparently tried to drive away from ICE in the Midwestern US city as officers approached her car, which they said blocked their way.Good was one of four people who have been killed by ICE since Trump launched his immigration crackdown. Good’s wife Becca Good told local media that they had gone to the scene of immigration enforcement activity to “support our neighbors.””We had whistles. They had guns,” she said.Local prosecutor Mary Moriarty, the Hennepin County attorney, said “our goal must be that a thorough investigation is completed at the local level.””The FBI currently has, for example, Ms Good’s car, the shell casings and witness interviews.”Moriarty unveiled an online evidence portal, calling for submissions so that all available leads could be compiled.She added that she hoped federal authorities would reconsider and “at least” give local detectives access to evidence.Protest action continued Friday with hundreds gathering at a federal facility that has become a focal point of anti-ICE demonstrations with at least one detention seen.Federal immigration officers armed with pepperball guns and tear gas clashed with the noisy crowd.There were some 1,000 weekend protest gatherings planned across the United States, according to organizers.”You can’t trust anything that (the Trump administration) say, they have their own agenda, and I think they’re drunk on power quite clearly,” said master gardener Kate Netwal, 66.

A Virginia man pleaded not guilty on Friday to planting pipe bombs near the Democratic and Republican Party headquarters on the eve of the January 6, 2021 US Capitol riot, US media reported.Brian Cole Jr, of Woodbridge, Virginia, was arrested in early December after a nearly five-year manhunt.Cole, 30, entered a plea of not guilty in a federal district court in Washington to charges of interstate transportation of explosives and malicious attempt to use explosives, CNN and other media outlets said.His arrest was the first breakthrough in a case that spawned numerous conspiracy theories among the far right.Prosecutors, in a filing with the court, said Cole had confessed in interviews with the FBI to planting the bombs and believed the 2020 presidential election was stolen from President Donald Trump.Democrat Joe Biden won the 2020 vote but Trump continues to falsely claim that he was the rightful winner.The pipe bombs — placed outside the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee offices in Washington on the evening of January 5 — failed to detonate.The devices were discovered by authorities the next day as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in a bid to prevent congressional certification of Biden’s election victory.The FBI released numerous photos and video clips of a masked and hooded suspect over the years and eventually increased the reward for information leading to an arrest to half a million dollars.The failure of law enforcement to swiftly solve the case birthed a number of conspiracy theories, including baseless accusations that the bomber may have been a US Capitol Police officer.After taking office for a second time last January, Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people charged or convicted of taking part in the assault on the Capitol.

US President Donald Trump pressed top oil executives Friday to invest in Venezuela’s vast reserves, but was met with a cautious reception — with one major CEO dismissing the country as “uninvestable” without sweeping reforms.Trump told the industry leaders that his administration — not Caracas — would decide which firms are allowed to operate in Venezuela following the stunning capture of president Nicolas Maduro.”We’re going to be making the decision as to which oil companies are going to go in… (we’re) going to cut a deal with the companies,” Trump said at the White House, arguing that foreign firms had faced no meaningful protections under Maduro. “But now you have total security. It’s a whole different Venezuela,” he added.Trump said oil companies would “deal with us directly,” signaling that the US government would attempt to cut the oil-rich, cash-poor Latin American nation completely out of the loop when it came to exploiting its own resources. Despite Trump’s assurances, ExxonMobil chief executive Darren Woods struck a note of skepticism, saying major reforms would be needed before companies could justify returning to Venezuela.”We’ve had our assets seized there twice and so, you can imagine, to re-enter a third time would require some pretty significant changes,” he said. “If we look at the legal and commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela — today, it’s uninvestable.”The White House meeting came less than a week after US forces seized Maduro, with Trump making no secret that control of Venezuela’s oil was central to his actions. Opening the session, he said the talks would focus on how US companies could rapidly rebuild the country’s dilapidated oil industry and boost production by millions of barrels a day.Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Energy Secretary Chris Wright attended alongside executives from Chevron, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Trafigura, Vitol Americas and Repsol, among others.While some of those executives appeared more open to investing than ExxonMobil, analysts told AFP that Trump’s push to revive Venezuela’s oil industry rests on shaky economic and strategic ground.Experts warned that vast reserves on paper do not translate into quick or profitable production, pointing to outdated infrastructure, political instability, heavy crude that is costly to extract, and investor unease in a world shifting away from fossil fuels.”There’s lots of talk about the size of the reserves — 300 billion barrels of proved reserves — but what’s often missing from the conversation is how realistic it is for those to be economically extracted,” said Rich Collett-White, an energy analyst at Carbon Tracker.- Further strikes cancelled -Trump had earlier claimed on his Truth Social platform that “at least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL.” Wright has said Washington will control Venezuela’s oil industry “indefinitely.”Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez has said her government remains in charge, while the state oil company said only that it was in negotiations with Washington.Chevron is currently the only US firm licensed to operate in Venezuela. ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips exited in 2007 after refusing demands by then-president Hugo Chavez to cede majority control to the state.In his social media post, Trump said he cancelled a second wave of strikes on Venezuela due to what he called “cooperation” from the country.Sanctioned by Washington since 2019, Venezuela sits on about a fifth of the world’s oil reserves and was once a major crude supplier to the United States.But it produced only around one percent of the world’s total crude output in 2024, according to OPEC, having been hampered by years of underinvestment, sanctions and embargoes.Trump sees the country’s massive oil reserves as a windfall in his fight to further lower US domestic fuel prices. But Friday’s meeting demonstrated the challenge he faces in convincing the major US oil companies to invest in Venezuela due to uncertainty about governance in the post-Maduro era.

The United States added fewer jobs than expected in December, government data showed Friday, capping the labor market’s weakest year since the Covid-19 pandemic amid growing concerns about hiring.US employment rose by 50,000 last month, slowing from a revised 56,000 in November, the Department of Labor said.The jobless rate — measured by a different survey within the report — inched down to 4.4 percent from 4.5 percent.For 2025, payroll employment grew by 584,000, significantly lower than the increase of 2.0 million in 2024.Investors will be digesting the data for its potential bearing on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decisions, as a sharp deterioration in the jobs market could nudge the US central bank to lower rates sooner to boost the world’s biggest economy.While December’s figures were decent, job growth has slowed significantly over the past year while the unemployment rate crept up towards its highest level since 2021.Economist Ryan Sweet of Oxford Economics told AFP that the United States is seeing slower labor force growth, with less immigration while the native population ages, alongside tepid demand with businesses hesitant to hire.This is partially due to stronger productivity but also business uncertainty as firms grapple with President Donald Trump’s fast-changing tariff policies.”We’re in a new normal, in a new equilibrium,” said Sweet, adding that this is roughly the level of job growth one should expect going forward.Friday’s hiring number was lower than the 73,000 figure expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.Among sectors, employment continued trending up in restaurants and bars, health care and social assistance, the Labor Department said.But retail trade lost jobs, with employment dropping in areas like warehouse clubs, supercenters and other merchandise retailers.”Since reaching a peak in January, federal government employment is down by 277,000, or 9.2 percent,” the department said.- ‘Warning lights’ -In a CNBC interview, White House National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett pointed to US productivity as an encouraging sign beyond job creation.But “job growth in 2025 was the weakest in over a decade, outside of the pandemic,” Senator Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, said in a statement.Navy Federal Credit Union chief economist Heather Long added that 2025 marked the worst year for job gains outside of a recession since 2003.While the overall report appears positive at first glance, Northlight Asset Management’s chief investment officer Chris Zaccarelli expects skeptics to point out the “very meager increase of 50,000 in jobs.””In essence, we are seeing validation of the idea that job creation is very weak and companies have been letting workers go at a slow pace,” he said in a note.”There aren’t any red flashing lights indicating an imminent recession, but there are plenty of yellow warning lights flashing and there is the risk that we could approach stall speed.”- Fed easing ahead -On Friday, the Trump administration also acknowledged that it inadvertently published some hiring data on social media a night before the full jobs report was due to be released Friday.”Following the regular procedure of presidents being prebriefed on economic data releases, there was an inadvertent public disclosure of aggregate data that was partially derived from pre-released information,” a White House official said.”The White House is accordingly reviewing protocols regarding economic data releases,” the official added.For now, economist Samuel Tombs of Pantheon Macroeconomics expects December’s figures are “weak enough” to keep a further interest rate reduction by the Fed in the cards.The sluggish job growth figure was underpinned by a mere 37,000 increase in private payrolls, he said.While the unemployment rate crept down, analysts have noted that this was no surprise as it could have resulted from an earlier pick-up in layoffs linked to a lengthy government shutdown.”For many businesses, uncertainty about federal government policy and the impact of AI warrants an extended pause on new hiring. Accordingly, we look for only a small pick-up in employment growth ahead,” Tombs said.

European officials and tech campaigners on Friday slammed Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok after its controversial image creation feature was restricted to paying subscribers, saying the change failed to address concerns about sexualized deepfakes.Grok has faced global backlash after it emerged the feature allowed users to sexualize images of women and children using simple text prompts such as “put her in a bikini” or “remove her clothes.”Grok appeared to deflect the criticism with a new monetization policy, posting on the platform X late Thursday that image generation and editing were now “limited to paying subscribers,” alongside a link to a premium subscription.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office joined the chorus of critics, condemning the move as an affront to victims and “not a solution.””That simply turns an AI feature that allows the creation of unlawful images into a premium service,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.”It’s insulting the victims of misogyny and sexual violence.” EU digital affairs spokesman Thomas Regnier said “this doesn’t change our fundamental issue, paid subscription or non-paid subscription. We don’t want to see such images. It’s as simple as that.””What we’re asking platforms to do is to make sure that their design, that their systems do not allow the generation of such illegal content,” he told reporters.The European Commission, which acts as the EU’s digital watchdog, has ordered X to retain all internal documents and data related to Grok until the end of 2026 in response to the uproar.- ‘Safety gaps’ -Grok, developed by Musk’s startup xAI and integrated into X, announced the move after Wednesday’s fatal shooting in Minneapolis by an immigration agent, which triggered a wave of AI deepfakes.Some X users used Grok to digitally undress an old photo of the victim, as well as a new photo of her body slumped over after the shooting, generating AI images showing her in a bikini.Another woman wrongly identified as the victim was also subjected to similar manipulation.The fabricated images still appeared to float around X — and spread to other tech platforms — on Friday despite the new restriction.There was no immediate comment from X on the Minneapolis deepfakes. When reached by AFP for comment by email, xAI replied with a terse, automated response: “Legacy Media Lies.””Restricting Grok’s image-generation tools to paying subscribers may help limit scale and curb some misuse, but it doesn’t fully address the safety gaps that allowed nonconsensual and sexualized content to emerge,” said Cliff Steinhauer, from the nonprofit National Cybersecurity Alliance.”Access restrictions alone aren’t a comprehensive safeguard, as motivated bad actors may still find ways around them, and meaningful user protection ultimately needs to be grounded in how these tools are designed and governed.”France, Malaysia and India have also previously pushed back against the use of Grok to alter women and children’s photos, after a flood of user complaints, announcing investigations or calling on Musk’s company for swift takedowns of the explicit images.Britain’s communications regulator Ofcom announced earlier this week that it had made “urgent contact with X and xAI” over the Grok feature, warning that it could open an investigation depending on their response.On Friday, an Ofcom spokesperson said the regulator had “received a response” and was now “undertaking an expedited assessment as a matter of urgency.”Last week, in response to a post about the explicit images, Musk said that anyone using Grok to “make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”But he appeared to make light of the controversy in a separate post, adding laughing emojis as he reshared to his 232 million followers on X a post featuring a toaster wrapped in a bikini. “Grok can put a bikini on everything,” the original post said.burs-lga-raz-ac/aha

AI took over CES 2026, powering coffee machines to brew the perfect espresso, a device to create your perfect scent, and ball-hitting tennis robots that make you forget it’s human against machine.- Alexa, make me an espresso -German group Bosch presented a new feature for its fully automated 800 Series coffee machine (sold from $1,700) that can be synchronized with Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant. After a short night’s sleep, users can order a double espresso with voice commands only, and the coffee maker will deliver. Some 35 different espresso options are available.”We’re one of the first manufacturers to really lean in with AI,” explained Andrew de Lara, spokesperson for Bosch. The century-old company, positioned at the high end of the market in the United States, wants to gradually bring AI into the kitchen, notably through its Home Connect mobile app, which already allows users to control several appliances remotely. – Scent of AI -South Korean company DigitalScent has developed a machine, already available in some airports, that creates a personalized fragrance based on your mood and preferences. Once you have picked your preferences, it releases a scent that gives you an idea of the final result. You can then make adjustments before making your final decision. Once you have placed your order, the machine uses AI to produce a virtually unique fragrance in a matter of seconds, choosing from a range of over 1,150 combinations. The fragrance is contained in a small, portable vial, costing $3 to $4, according to a spokesperson.- Game, set, AI -Several start-ups unveiled new-generation ball machines powered by artificial intelligence. While Singapore-based Sharpa already offers a convincing humanoid table tennis robot with a reaction time of just two hundredths of a second, there is no equivalent on the market for tennis. A few days ago, China’s UBTech posted a video online of its Walker S2 robot playing rallies with a human, but at a slow speed and without any real movement. UBTech’s robots are designed for industrial use rather than tennis courts and, in all likelihood, the video was produced solely to demonstrate the agility of the Walker S2 to attract business customers.While we wait for the humanoid robot that can volley at the net, another Chinese company, Tenniix, is marketing a robot that sends balls at speeds of up to 75 miles per hour (120.7 kilometers per hour). It has 10 different shots, some with spin, and even a lob that reaches eight meters high. The basic version, which can hold up to 100 balls, will set you back $699, but the most complete version, at $1,600, includes cameras and wheels that allow it to move around. The fast-moving machine uses AI to analyze the trajectory of your cross-court forehand and fires off a ball from about where a real-life return shot would most likely come, giving the player the impression of a real rally. “There’s a real rhythm,” says Run Kai Huang, spokesperson for Tenniix, “as if you were playing with a real person.”

Venezuela said Friday it launched talks with the United States on restoring diplomatic ties, days after US forces deposed Nicolas Maduro as its president.It was the latest sign of cooperation following the leftist leader’s capture and US President Donald Trump’s claim to be “in charge” of the South American country.Officials said US diplomats were in Caracas to discuss reopening the US embassy, while in Washington Trump prepared to meet with oil companies over his plans to access Venezuela’s huge crude reserves.Anxious relatives waited outside Venezuelan jails on Friday for a glimpse of their loved ones as the authorities began releasing political prisoners — a move Washington claimed credit for.”When I heard the news, I broke down,” said Dilsia Caro, 50, waiting for the release of her husband Noel Flores, who was jailed for criticizing Maduro.The government of interim President Delcy Rodriguez “has decided to initiate an exploratory diplomatic process with the government of the United States of America, aimed at re-establishing diplomatic missions in both countries,” Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said in a statement.John McNamara, the top US diplomat in neighboring Colombia, and other personnel “traveled to Caracas to conduct an initial assessment for a potential phased resumption of operations,” a US official said on customary condition of anonymity.Venezuela said it would be reciprocating by sending a delegation to Washington.- Trump vows oil investments -Trump said earlier Friday that he had called off a second wave of attacks on Venezuela after securing cooperation with the new leadership.Trump had suggested he might use force again to get his way in Venezuela, which has the world’s largest proven oil reserves.”Venezuela is releasing large numbers of political prisoners as a sign of ‘Seeking Peace,'” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.”Because of this cooperation, I have cancelled the previously expected second Wave of Attacks.”The United States on Friday also announced that it had seized another tanker near Venezuela as it enforces an oil blockade.Trump said that oil companies promised to invest $100 billion in Venezuela, whose oil infrastructure is creaky after years of mismanagement and sanctions.He had earlier announced a plan for the United States to sell between 30 million and 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude, with the money to be used at his discretion. He promised any funds sent to Caracas would be used to buy only US-made products.- Prisoners’ release -Venezuela began releasing prisoners on Thursday in the first such gesture since US forces removed and detained Maduro in a deadly January 3 raid.Former Venezuelan opposition candidate Enrique Marquez — who opposed Maduro in the contested 2024 presidential election — was among those released Thursday.Interim leader Rodriguez’s brother, parliament speaker Jorge Rodriguez, said “a large number of Venezuelan and foreign nationals” were being immediately freed for the sake of “peaceful coexistence.”Trump had earlier played down democracy as a motivating factor for the attack, despite the United States saying for years that Maduro was illegitimate and elections were marred by fraud.But Trump said he would meet next week with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, whom he earlier brushed aside as a “very nice woman” who lacked the “respect” to lead Venezuela.”I understand she’s coming in next week sometime, and I look forward to saying hello to her,” Trump told Fox News.Exiled Venezuelan opposition figurehead Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who was hoping Friday for the release of his son-in-law, who was detained a year ago in Caracas, said that any democratic transition in the country must recognize his claim to victory in 2024 presidential elections.Maduro was proclaimed the winner of the vote, but his re-election was widely seen as fraudulent.- Protests in Caracas -Maduro was seized in a special forces raid accompanied by airstrikes, operations that left 100 people dead, according to Caracas.US forces took Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores to New York to face trial on drug-trafficking charges.Delcy Rodriguez insisted Thursday her country was “not subordinate or subjugated” despite her pledge to cooperate with Trump.Angry protesters rallied in the streets of Caracas on Friday demanding Maduro’s release in the latest of a daily series of demonstrations.”We don’t have to give one little drop of oil to Trump after all that he has done to us,” said one protester, Josefina Castro, 70, a member of a civil activists’ group.”Our Venezuelan brothers died (in the attack), and that hurts.”

The mayor of Minneapolis called Friday for state investigators to be allowed to join the federal probe into the killing of a US woman by immigration enforcement, accusing the Trump administration of prejudging the case.Minnesota officials have complained that their law enforcement have been excluded from the investigation into the killing of motorist Renee Good by a federal immigration officer on Wednesday.A local prosecutor said Friday federal investigations had taken Good’s car and the shell casings.US President Donald Trump’s administration has sought to paint the victim as a “domestic terrorist,” insisting that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer who fatally shot her was acting in self-defense.”This is not the time to bend the rules. This is a time to follow the law… The fact that Pam Bondi’s Department of Justice and this presidential administration has already come to a conclusion about those facts is deeply concerning,” Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, told a briefing on Friday. “We know that they’ve already determined much of the investigation,” he said, adding that the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has consistently run such investigations.”Why not include them in the process?” Frey said. “We’re not even talking just about full control here. We’re talking about being at the table.”On Thursday US Vice President JD Vance asserted that the ICE officer, named in US media as Jonathan Ross, had “absolute immunity” — a claim disputed by local prosecutors.Court filings seen by AFP showed that in June 2025, Ross was dragged 100 yards along a road by a car driven by a man who was the subject of immigration enforcement activity.- ‘Get out’ -Minnesota officials have said that local investigators were initially invited by the FBI to participate in the inquiry into the shooting of Good, but were subsequently blocked from the probe.Good, 37, was shot in the head as she apparently tried to drive away from ICE in the midwestern US city as officers approached her car, which they said blocked their way.Good was one of four people who have been killed by ICE since Trump launched his immigration crackdown a year ago, while seven others have been injured, reported The Trace, an outlet that tracks gun violence. Good’s wife Becca Good told local media that they had gone to the scene of immigration enforcement activity to “support our neighbors. We had whistles. They had guns.””We were raising our son to believe that no matter where you come from or what you look like, all of us deserve compassion and kindness,” she said. Local prosecutor Mary Moriarty, the Hennepin County attorney, said “our goal must be that a thorough investigation is completed at the local level.””The FBI currently has, for example, Ms Good’s car, the shell casings and witness interviews. “The FBI has taken the car, and so any forensic analysis that comes from that would not be available to us — unless they were sharing that.” Moriarty unveiled an online evidence portal, calling for submissions so that all available leads could be compiled.She added that she hoped federal authorities would reconsider and “at least” give local detectives access to evidence.Large, noisy crowds gathered around Minneapolis in protest on Thursday, chanting slogans against ICE. Federal immigration officers armed with pepperball guns and tear gas wrestled several protesters to the ground.Protest action was more subdued Friday with some 20 people gathering at a federal facility that has become a focal point of anti-ICE demonstrations.There was a minute of silence for Good at a briefing held by Minneapolis Families for Public Schools.”ICE needs to get out of Minnesota, we don’t need them here, these are not criminals — and actually ICE, they are the criminals,” Minneapolis resident Eleanor told AFP.

Dilsia Caro slept on the ground Thursday night outside the Venezuelan prison where her husband has been held since 2023 for posting a WhatsApp status update critical of the government.She rushed to the Rodeo 1 penitentiary after hearing the government on Thursday announce the release of a “large number” of political prisoners following the US ouster of authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro.”When I heard the news, I broke down,” Caro, 50, told AFP.But the hours passed, night turned to day, and there was still no news of her husband Noel Flores.”I see this as mockery,” said Caro, who took five buses up from her home in the north-central city of Maracay to Rodeo 1, in Guatire, east of Caracas.The human rights group Foro Penal said it had confirmed the release of only eight prisoners.Former presidential candidate Enrique Marquez and opposition leader Biagio Pilieri were among those confirmed freed.Spain meanwhile confirmed the release of Venezuelan-Spanish lawyer activist Rocio San Miguel and four other Spaniards, who were immediately flown out of Venezuela to Madrid.Another rights group reported that 11 prisoners were released.On Friday, about 30 family members were gathered outside the prison.Small groups also waited outside other prisons, including the notorious El Helicoide facility in Caracas, used by Venezuela’s feared intelligence service to jail — and in some cases reportedly torture — political and other prisoners.The releases are the first since former deputy president Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as interim leader on Monday, two days after the US overthrow of Maduro.The White House said they were proof of President Donald Trump’s “leverage” over the South American country, which he claims Washington now effectively runs.Outside Rodeo 1, some family members sang the national anthem, an ode to freedom, to keep up their spirits.- ‘I have hope’ -Shakira Ibarreto, daughter of a police officer arrested in 2024, said that she had spoken with her father by phone and broken the news to him and other prisoners of the capture of Maduro, who was transferred to New York to face trial.”He didn’t know anything,” she said.”There were several prisoners nearby, they all started shouting with excitement, applauding and the guards weren’t doing anything,” she told AFP.Outside El Helicoide, a futuristic-looking spiral structure that has long been a symbol of state repression, official vehicles came and went all morning.As at Rodeo 1, some family members waited through the night to see prisoners emerge from the gates, without being sure their loved ones were inside.A tearful Mireya Martinez said she had been without news of her son, Victor Jose Borges, for 43 days, after “hooded officials dressed in black” nabbed him at his workplace in Caracas.Marili del Carmen Rodriguez was waiting for news about her 29-year-old son, Carlos, who was detained in September.”I don’t know if he’s here, but I have hope,” she said.

US President Donald Trump said Friday he called off a second wave of attacks on Venezuela after securing cooperation with the new leadership, which began releasing prisoners nearly a week after Washington forcibly removed the leftist president.The United States was quickly forging ahead on Venezuela with Trump meeting oil executives, whom he says he wants to enrich, and US diplomats visiting Caracas to look at reopening the embassy shuttered for years.Trump suggested he may use force again to get his way in Venezuela, which has the world’s largest proven oil reserves.”Venezuela is releasing large numbers of political prisoners as a sign of ‘Seeking Peace,'” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.”Because of this cooperation, I have cancelled the previously expected second Wave of Attacks,” he said.The United States on Friday also announced that it had seized another tanker near Venezuela as it enforces an oil blockade as Washington ensures it holds undisputed power over the country’s key export.Trump said that oil companies promised to invest $100 billion in Venezuela, whose oil infrastructure is creaky after years of mismanagement and sanctions.- Prisoners’ release -Venezuela began releasing prisoners on Thursday in the first such gesture since US forces removed and detained president Nicolas Maduro in a deadly January 3 raid, with his deputy Delcy Rodriguez taking over.Former Venezuelan opposition candidate Enrique Marquez — who opposed Maduro in the contested 2024 presidential election — was among those released Thursday.Interim leader Rodriguez’s brother, parliament speaker Jorge Rodriguez, said “a large number of Venezuelan and foreign nationals” were being immediately freed for the sake of “peaceful coexistence.”Venezuelan rights NGO Foro Penal earlier estimated that more than 800 political prisoners were in the country’s jails.The White House quickly took credit for winning the prisoners’ freedom.Trump had earlier played down democracy as a motivating factor for the attack, despite years of the United States saying that Maduro was illegitimate elections were filled with fraud.But Trump said he would meet next week with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, whom he earlier brushed aside as a “very nice woman” who lacked the “respect” to lead Venezuela.”I understand she’s coming in next week sometime, and I look forward to saying hello to her,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview.Trump had earlier voiced jealousy that Machado won the latest Nobel Peace Prize and he has indicated she might give him her award when they meet.- US diplomats visit -Senior US diplomats visited Caracas on Friday to look at reopening the embassy which was shuttered in March 2019, shortly after the United States and many of its allies declared Maduro to be illegitimate.John McNamara, the top US diplomat in neighboring Colombia, and other personnel “traveled to Caracas to conduct an initial assessment for a potential phased resumption of operations,” a US official said on customary condition of anonymity.Maduro was seized in a special forces raid accompanied by airstrikes, operations that left 100 people dead, according to Caracas.US forces took Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores to New York to face trial on drugs charges.Trump said the United States would “run” the Caribbean country for a transitional period and tap into its oil reserves for years.Delcy Rodriguez insisted Thursday her country was “not subordinate or subjugated.””Nobody surrendered. There was fighting for the homeland” when the US forces attacked, she said during a ceremony for the Venezuelans killed.Trump announced a plan earlier this week for the United States to sell between 30 million and 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude, with Caracas then using the money to buy US-made products.On the streets of Caracas, opinions were mixed.”I feel we’ll have more opportunities if the oil is in the hands of the United States than in the hands of the government,” said Jose Antonio Blanco, 26.burs-sct/bgs