the seizure of Nicolás Maduro, with no clear timeline for elections to replace the interim government led by Delcy Rodríguez; the White House had already asserted that US control over sanctioned Venezuelan oil sales would be indefinite, a stance echoed by Energy Secretary Chris Wright who argued that maintaining leverage over oil would aid the interim regime. Trump said the US would “take oil” from a country with the world’s largest proven reserves, though he acknowledged the restoration of Venezuela’s oil industry would take time, while Maduro loyalists and Venezuela’s electoral authorities insisted Maduro was re-elected despite independent opposition tallies suggesting Edmundo González won but went into exile and opposition figure María Corina Machado went into hiding, with Machado asserting in a La Patilla interview that Maduro’s ouster set Venezuela on an irreversible path toward freedom and calling for the immediate release of more than 800 political prisoners, and insisting González’s mandate be recognized as legitimate; Trump, meanwhile, dismissed Machado as a potential leader and indicated the interim government should dismantle itself, as he focused on a rescue mission and the prospect of rebuilding Venezuela “in a very profitable way” by using oil to lower prices and provide funds, with plans to meet with representatives from three large US oil companies to discuss the future. (BBC)