US envoy leaves Venezuela with six Americans after meeting Maduro

US President Donald Trump's Special Missions Envoy Richard Grenell (3rd R) posing on board a plane alongside six US citizens released from detention in Venezuela. (Richard Grenell/AFP)
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Updated 01 February 2025
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US envoy leaves Venezuela with six Americans after meeting Maduro

  • Richard Grenell met Nicolas Maduro in Caracas
  • Migration, sanctions also discussed

WASHINGTON/BOGOTA: US President Donald Trump’s envoy Richard Grenell said on Friday he was headed back to the United States with six American citizens, a surprise development after he met with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas.
Officials from the Trump administration had said earlier on Friday that one of Grenell’s top aims for the visit was to secure the release of Americans detained in the country, at a time when the Trump administration has been driving a deportation and anti-gang push in the United States.
Grenell did not name the six men, shown with him aboard an airplane in a photo he posted online. They were dressed in light blue outfits used by the Venezuelan prison system.
“We are wheels up and headed home with these 6 American citizens,” Grenell posted on X. “They just spoke to @realDonaldTrump and they couldn’t stop thanking him.”
Trump cheered the move in his own post, saying Grenell was bringing “six hostages home from Venezuela.”
It is unclear exactly how many Americans were being held by Venezuela, but Venezuelan officials have spoken publicly of at least nine.
Maduro’s officials have accused most of them of terrorism and said some were high-level “mercenaries.” The Venezuelan government regularly accuses members of the opposition and foreign detainees of conspiring with the US to commit terrorism. US officials have always denied any plots.
“American hostages that are being held in Venezuela ... must be released immediately,” Mauricio Claver-Carone, the US special envoy for Latin America, said earlier on Friday, adding the Grenell-Maduro meeting was “not a negotiation in exchange for anything.”
In late 2023, Venezuela’s government released dozens of prisoners, including 10 Americans, after months of negotiations, while the US released a close ally of Maduro.
Maduro told officials in an annual speech to the judiciary late on Friday evening that the meeting between him and Grenell had been positive.
“There are things where we’ve reached initial deals and when they are complied with, new issues will open, hopefully new deals for the good of the two countries and the region,” Maduro said, adding he would be looking to see if what had been discussed with Grenell was reflected in what is communicated by the US about the meeting.
“President Donald Trump, we have made a first step, hopefully it can continue,” Maduro said. “We would like it to continue.”
Maduro and Grenell also discussed migration and sanctions at the presidential palace, the Venezuelan government said in a statement earlier on Friday.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier on Friday that Grenell was also focused on ensuring 400 members of the Tren de Aragua gang in US custody are returned to Venezuela.
An agreement on Tren de Aragua deportations was “non-negotiable,” Claver-Carone said.
Venezuelan attorney general Tarek Saab said last week that the gang had been dismantled in Venezuela in 2023, but that it was willing to restart legal cooperation with the US in order to extradite gang members.
Since taking power on Jan. 20, Trump has kicked off a sweeping immigration crackdown, pledging mass deportations.
Some 600,000 Venezuelans in the United States were eligible for deportation reprieves granted by the previous administration, but US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she would cut the duration of the protections. She must decide by Saturday whether to terminate them.

SANCTIONS, ELECTIONS AND OIL
Grenell’s visit does not mean the United States recognizes Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate leader, Leavitt said.
The two countries have a fraught recent history marked by broken relations, sanctions and accusations of coup-plotting.
But they share interest in several pending bilateral issues, including a license allowing US oil major Chevron to operate in Venezuela.
The administration of former US President Joe Biden reinstated broad oil sanctions after it said Maduro failed to keep promises for a free presidential election and later increased rewards for the capture or conviction of leaders including Maduro, leaving Trump limited options for further penalties.
Maduro’s government-backed victory in the July 2024 vote is contested by the opposition, international observers and numerous countries, including the United States.
Maduro’s government has always rejected sanctions by the United States and others, saying they are illegitimate measures which amount to an “economic war” designed to cripple Venezuela.
The Financial Times reported on Friday that Chevron is trying to protect a special US license allowing it to operate in Venezuela.
Chevron chief executive Mike Wirth told the newspaper the company would engage with the White House, after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the license should be reconsidered and Trump said the US would likely stop buying oil from Venezuela.


Judge suspends the dismantling of US Education Department

Updated 9 sec ago
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Judge suspends the dismantling of US Education Department

WASHINGTON:  A US federal judge on Thursday suspended President Donald Trump’s executive order that effectively eliminates the country’s Education Department and ordered the reinstatement of hundreds of fired employees.
In March, the department announced that it was slashing staff numbers by nearly half, shortly after Trump issued an executive order instructing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “put herself out of a job.”
That move was hailed by Trump’s supporters on the right, but by law, the department created in 1979 cannot be shuttered without the approval of Congress.
Around 20 states, along with teachers’ unions have challenged the decisions in court, arguing that the government is violating the principle of separation of powers by encroaching on Congress’s prerogatives.
A federal judge in the northeastern city of Boston agreed with the plaintiffs, suspending the executive order and ordering the reinstatement of hundreds of dismissed employees.
“This court cannot be asked to cover its eyes while the Department’s employees are continuously fired and units are transferred out until the Department becomes a shell of itself,” Judge Myong Joun said in his ruling.
Traditionally, the federal government has had a limited role in education in the United States, with only about 13 percent of funding for primary and secondary schools coming from federal coffers, the rest being funded by states and local communities.
But federal funding is invaluable for low-income schools and students with special needs. And the federal government has been essential in enforcing key civil rights protections for students.
The Education Department cannot be completely dismantled without Congress’s approval, including 60 votes in the Senate where the ruling Republicans currently hold 53 seats.


G7 to ‘maximize pressure’ on Russia if it resists Ukraine ceasefire

Updated 22 May 2025
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G7 to ‘maximize pressure’ on Russia if it resists Ukraine ceasefire

  • Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict have stepped up in recent weeks
  • The Kremlin said Thursday that new peace talks with Ukraine had “yet to be agreed“

BANFF, Canada: G7 finance ministers agreed Thursday to “maximize pressure” on Russia, including through further sanctions, if it resists efforts toward a ceasefire in Ukraine.

“If such a ceasefire is not agreed, we will continue to explore all possible options, including options to maximize pressure such as further ramping up sanctions,” a final communique following the group’s meeting in Canada said.

Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict have stepped up in recent weeks, with Russian and Ukrainian officials holding their first face-to-face talks in more than three years last week in Istanbul.

But the Kremlin said Thursday that new peace talks with Ukraine had “yet to be agreed,” disputing reports the two nations would soon hold negotiations at the Vatican.

US President Donald Trump spoke with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday in a call aimed at ending the “bloodbath,” but neither his contact nor the earlier talks in Istanbul resulted in Russia offering any concessions.

The communique from the Group of Seven advanced economies condemned “Russia’s continued brutal war against Ukraine” and said any entity that supported Russia during the conflict would be barred from Ukrainian reconstruction contracts.

“We agree to work together with Ukraine to ensure that no countries or entities, or entities from those countries that financed or supplied the Russian war machine will be eligible to profit from Ukraine’s reconstruction,” it said.


Federal judge blocks immigration authorities from revoking international students’ legal status

Updated 22 May 2025
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Federal judge blocks immigration authorities from revoking international students’ legal status

  • Students could still be arrested for other reasons and their legal status can still be revoked
  • Most courts hearing these types of cases have granted protections to the person suing

SAN FRANCISCO: A judge in California blocked the Trump administration Thursday from terminating the legal status of international students nationwide while a court case challenging previous terminations is pending.

The order by US District Judge Jeffrey S. White in Oakland bars the government from arresting, incarcerating or moving students elsewhere based on their legal status until the case is resolved.

Students could still be arrested for other reasons and their legal status can still be revoked if they are convicted of a violent crime carrying a prison term of more than a year.

Most courts hearing these types of cases have granted protections to the person suing, but White said the government’s actions “wreaked havoc” not only on the lives of plaintiffs but other nonimmigrants in the US on student visas.

White, who was nominated by President George W. Bush, a Republican, issued the nationwide injunction sought by attorneys for about two dozen students who sued after their legal status was abruptly terminated in early April by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

More than 4,700 international students had their permission to study in the US canceled this spring, with little notice or explanation, as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigrants and foreign nationals. In court hearings, Department of Homeland Security officials said they ran the names of student visa holders through an FBI-run database that contains the names of suspects and people who have been arrested, even if the charges were dropped or they were never charged with a crime.

Some students left the US rather than risk being deported to a third country.

Government lawyers say the administration is exercising its prerogative to administer the Immigration and Nationality Act. They say students do not need the court’s protections because ICE reinstated legal status and was mailing status reactivation letters to affected students.

But White found those actions insufficient. He said that the erroneous revocation remained in the students’ record, impacting their ability to obtain a new visa or change their nonimmigrant status. Some students are still dealing with fallout from the previous terminations and there is no guarantee they won’t have their legal status revoked again on a whim.

He also chastised the administration for unveiling new policies or new actions in an apparent attempt to satisfy the courts’ concerns.

“It is unclear how this game of whack-a-mole will end unless Defendants are enjoined from skirting their own mandatory regulations,” White wrote.

A survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs research found that even the visa revocations for students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests are more unpopular than popular. About half of US adults oppose this policy, and only 3 in 10 are in support.

Among college educated adults, 6 in 10 strongly oppose, compared with 4 in 10 who aren’t college graduates.


Panama resumes flights to Venezuela, allowing for migrant returns

Updated 22 May 2025
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Panama resumes flights to Venezuela, allowing for migrant returns

  • Venezuela suspended air links with Panama in July 2024
  • The resumption of flights is expected to facilitate the repatriation from Panama of Venezuelan migrants deported from the US

PANAMA CITY: Panama’s civil aviation authority on Thursday announced that it would resume flights with Venezuela after nearly a year, facilitating the repatriation of Venezuelan migrants expelled from the United States.

Venezuela suspended air links with Panama in July 2024 over its refusal to recognize Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s victory in presidential elections.

The two countries at the time also suspended diplomatic relations.

The resumption of flights is expected to facilitate the repatriation from Panama of Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States.

Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino said earlier he had received a proposal from Caracas to resume flights between the two countries.

“I will evaluate it very carefully right away,” he told his weekly press conference, adding “it is in Panama’s best interest to open commercial flights to Venezuela.”

Mulino however ruled out restoring diplomatic relations with the Caribbean nation.

Panama is one of a handful of countries that has agreed to act as a stopover for migrants expelled from the United States by President Donald Trump’s administration.

Under the plan, Panama holds the migrants in closed shelters while waiting for them to be repatriated to their homelands.

Many of those expelled so far have been from Venezuela and other South American countries.

Panama has also been grappling with a reverse flow of thousands of migrants returning home through Central America after failing to gain entry to the Untied States.

In the absence of flights between Panama and Venezuela, many of the migrants were left to organize their own transport home, either by boat or overland through the treacherous Darien jungle on Panama’s border with Colombia.


Homeland Security blocking Harvard’s ability to enroll international students

Updated 22 May 2025
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Homeland Security blocking Harvard’s ability to enroll international students

  • Kristi Noem: ‘This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus’
  • Harvard: ‘We are fully committed to maintaining Harvard’s ability to host international students and scholars, who hail from more than 140 countries and enrich the University’

US President Donald Trump’s administration has revoked Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, and will force existing students to transfer to other schools or lose their legal status, the Department of Homeland Security said on Thursday.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ordered the department to terminate Harvard University’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification, the department said in a statement.

Harvard called the action illegal.

The move comes after Harvard refused to provide information Noem had previously demanded about some foreign student visa holders who attend the university, the department said.

“This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus,” Noem said.

“It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments.”

Harvard said the move a retaliatory action that threatens serious harm to the university.

“The government’s action is unlawful. We are fully committed to maintaining Harvard’s ability to host international students and scholars, who hail from more than 140 countries and enrich the University – and this nation – immeasurably,” the university said in a statement.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The move marks a significant escalation of the Trump administration’s campaign against the elite Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which has emerged as one of Trump’s most prominent institutional targets.

The Republican president has undertaken an extraordinary effort to revamp private colleges and schools across the US that he says foster anti-American, Marxist and “radical left” ideologies.

He has criticized Harvard in particular for hiring prominent Democrats to teaching or leadership positions.