The first direct commercial flight between the United States and Venezuela has arrived in the Venezuelan capital Caracas. Thursday's nonstop flight comes seven years after the U.S. Homeland Security Department suspended flights over safety concerns. Flight AA3599 departed Miami in the morning. It arrived around three hours later in Caracas. The resumption follows the U.S. reopening its embassy in Caracas and restoring full diplomatic relations. U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans in January to open airspace over Venezuela. American Airlines was the last U.S. airline flying to Venezuela before suspending flights in 2019.
By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press
A U.S. special forces soldier has pleaded not guilty in federal court in New York to charges that he used classified information about the mission to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro to win more than $400,000. Gannon Ken Van Dyke is accused of using the information on the prediction market Polymarket. He entered the plea on Tuesday after he was charged with the unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud and making an unlawful monetary transaction. The case comes during heavy scrutiny on prediction markets, which allow people to trade or wager on almost anything.
By MICHAEL R. SISAK, JENNIFER PELTZ and REGINA GARCIA CANO Associated Press
A U.S. judge has pressed the Trump administration about its basis for barring Venezuela's government from paying former President Nicolás Maduro's legal fees in his drug trafficking case. Maduro and Cilia Flores, his wife and co-defendant, were in a New York federal court Thursday for the first time since January. Maduro's lawyers argued that the U.S. is violating the deposed leader's constitutional rights by blocking Venezuelan government money from being used for the couple's legal costs. The U.S. government hasn't let the funds flow because of sanctions against the South American country. The judge didn't issue a ruling, however, nor say when he will.
President Donald Trump this week said he believes he'll have "the honor of taking Cuba" soon. Without declaring a formal blockade, Trump and his administration have already crippled trade with the island and threatened the future of the Communist Party regime. In March, supplies of oil, food and other goods to the island collapsed, with no foreign-originating tankers arriving to Cuba, according to shipping data analyzed by Windward, a maritime intelligence firm. The volume of port calls, which includes tankers moving from one Cuban port to another, averaged around 50 per month in 2025 but fell to just 11 in March - all of them arriving from domestic ports. It was the lowest since 2017.
President Donald Trump says the United States is talking with Cuba and raised the possibility of a "friendly takeover" of the island without explaining what that means. Trump told reporters on Friday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is speaking with Cuban leaders at a "very high level," but the White House offered no further details. Trump suggested that Cuba is facing economic collapse. His comments come as Cuba says it is communicating with U.S. officials after a deadly shooting involving a Florida-registered speedboat in waters off the island. Rubio has said that investigators are looking into it.
Marco Rubio is visiting the Caribbean, where he's defending the Trump administration's military operation to capture Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro. The secretary of state tells leaders from the 15-member Caribbean Community bloc that Venezuela and the region are better off as a result of that U.S. raid. Rubio said Wednesday that he offered the defense without "apology" or "apprehension." Caribbean leaders have been unsettled by the Maduro operation, particularly because it was accompanied by a significant hardening of U.S. policies in the Western Hemisphere.
By BEN FINLEY and KONSTANTIN TOROPIN Associated Press
The Pentagon says U.S. military forces have boarded a third sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking it from the Caribbean Sea in an effort to target illicit oil connected to Venezuela. U.S. Southern Command said Tuesday in a post on X that U.S. forces boarded the Bertha overnight. President Donald Trump had ordered a quarantine of sanctioned tankers near Venezuela in December to pressure then-President Nicolás Maduro before his capture. Venezuela faced U.S. sanctions on its oil for several years, relying on a shadow fleet of falsely flagged tankers to smuggle crude into global supply chains.
By WILL WEISSERT and ALLEN G. BREED Associated Press
President Trump used a Fort Bragg appearance on Friday to praise U.S. Special Forces for last month's raid that removed Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro. But his visit also felt at times more like a political rally than an official trip to fete the military. Trump even called Michael Whatley, a Republican Senate candidate in North Carolina, to the stage. Trump also told troops and their families that the operation against Maduro shows America's true military might, and makes enemies fear the U.S. The president mentioned sending a second aircraft carrier group to the Middle East amid tensions with Iran and said that the U.S. is "feared" by potential enemies.
Thirty days after the U.S. captured then-President Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela remains in turmoil. Many citizens are unsure about the current situation, with fears of further attacks and government repression. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez faces questions about her autonomy and potential U.S. influence. Despite promises of wage increases, uncertainty prevails. Maduro supporters view his capture as a kidnapping, while opposition leaders cautiously reemerge. Rodríguez's new oil sector policies mark a shift from a pillar of the self-proclaimed socialist movement that has governed Venezuela for more than two decades. Venezuelans are balancing hope for economic improvement with fear of instability, as they navigate this complex political landscape.
