Global Energy and Oil Politics

María Corina Machado, whose party won the 2024 election, says the post‑Maduro transition led by U.S.-backed acting president Delcy Rodríguez is "unstoppable" but lacks legal legitimacy, arguing Rodríguez is following U.S. instructions and that the opposition has no contact with her interim government. At the same time, the U.S. has moved to seize and sell Venezuelan oil (citing 30–50 million barrels at market price), held meetings with major oil companies, dispatched senior intelligence officials to Caracas and interdicted tankers—actions that have raised legal, human‑rights and diplomatic concerns and provoked regional protests.