Venezuela

Area Total 912,050 sq km
Climate tropical; hot, humid; more moderate in highlands
Natural Resources petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, bauxite, other minerals, hydropower, diamonds
Imports agricultural products, livestock, raw materials, machinery and equipment, transport equipment, construction materials, medical equipment, petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, iron and steel products – US 24.8%, China 14.2%, Mexico 9.5% (2017)
Government federal presidential republic
Capital Caracas
Population 31,689,176 (July 2018 est.)
Ethnicity unspecified Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arab, German, African, indigenous people
Language Spanish (official), numerous indigenous dialects
Exports petroleum and petroleum products, bauxite and aluminum, minerals, chemicals, agricultural products – US 34.8%, India 17.2%, China 16%, Netherlands Antilles 8.2%, Singapore 6.3%, Cuba 4.2% (2017)

News about Venezuela

  • Machado's team says three attempts to return to Venezuela failed in 24 hours
    on September 23, 2026

    The circle around Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said this week that three attempts to return to Venezuela from Panama, by sea and by air, were thwarted within roughly 24 hours. One was recorded in a flight manifest placing her among the passengers of an aircraft that never took off; the document does not establish why.

  • Delcy Rodríguez calls her meeting with Trump "historic" and thanks him for his support
    on September 23, 2026

    Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, described her first meeting with US President Donald Trump as "historic". The encounter took place on Tuesday evening in New York behind closed doors and with no press access. Her post on the social network X is the only available account of what was discussed: the White House confirmed the meeting and those […]

  • Delcy Rodríguez arrives in New York for UN General Assembly, ahead of meeting with Trump
    on September 21, 2026

    Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, arrived in New York in the early hours of Monday to take part in the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, days ahead of a planned meeting with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday.

  • US investigates ICE shooting of Venezuelan delivery driver in Austin
    on September 21, 2026

    An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and wounded a Venezuelan man on Sunday in Austin, Texas, while he was making a delivery for DoorDash, in an incident the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed it is investigating alongside the FBI and which prompted calls for an independent investigation from local officials.

  • Trump and Delcy Rodríguez to meet in New York, first encounter with a Venezuelan leader in 11 years
    on September 19, 2026

    US President Donald Trump will meet on Tuesday with Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, in what will be the first encounter between a US president and a Venezuelan leader in more than eleven years, since the brief meeting between Barack Obama and Nicolás Maduro at the Summit of the […]

  • US removes Venezuela and Bolivia from list of countries failing on drugs
    on September 17, 2026

    The United States government removed Venezuela and Bolivia from the category of countries that Washington says have failed to demonstrably combat international drug trafficking, while keeping Colombia, Afghanistan and Myanmar on that list. The determination, sent to Congress on Tuesday and released by the State Department on Wednesday, is part of the annual […]

  • Businessman named by Washington as Maduro's frontman admits guilt in a Miami court
    on September 15, 2026

    Colombian businessman Alex Saab, identified by the US Treasury Department as Nicolás Maduro's principal frontman, pleaded guilty on Tuesday in a federal court in Miami to conspiracy to launder money linked to Venezuela's CLAP subsidized food program.

  • Lacalle Pou demands elections in Venezuela and reopens Uruguay's foreign policy debate
    on September 6, 2026

    Former Uruguayan president Luis Lacalle Pou has called for a democratic transition in Venezuela and questioned the terms of the oil agreement reached between the United States and Delcy Rodríguez's government, in an intervention that has revived debate over Uruguay's international position.

  • Investment banks warn the Venezuela deal will not bring down fuel prices
    on September 3, 2026

    Leading financial analysis firms have tempered the White House's forecasts on the Venezuelan oil agreement announced by Donald Trump on Friday, which grants a company part-owned by the US government control of seventeen fields holding some 65 billion barrels of reserves for a hundred years.

  • Eight Months After Maduro's Capture, Venezuela's Oil Boom Has Outrun Latin America's Sovereignty Debate
    on September 3, 2026

    When Colombian former President Gustavo Petro convened an emergency CELAC session in the first week of January, the assumption in most South American foreign ministries was that the region would answer the United States with one voice. Eight months later, the answer is still fragmented — and Venezuela's oil is flowing north at a rate not seen in two […]

Venezuela Map