Cover photo by Javier Quiroga on Unsplash.

On Jan. 3, 2026, the United States launched a devastating military strike against Venezuela, destroying key military infrastructure and capturing the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, along with his wife Cilia Flores. Maduro was brought to the United States, where he was arraigned on federal charges of narco-terrorism and mass scale corruption, charges first levied in 2020. With nearly two months having elapsed and the current state of Venezuela having largely fallen out of the news cycle, it’s worth looking back at the Venezuela story and seeing how things have progressed.

Maduro’s court case

The first few days after Maduro’s capture were a flurry of court activity, with his official arraignment taking place on January 5^th, less than three days after his capture. The Department of Justice alleges that Maduro has engaged in a cocaine-trafficking conspiracy, including working with several cartels that the Trump administration designated as foreign terrorist organizations. The charges also include weapons-related charges around Maduro’s alleged use of illicitly obtained weaponry. The indictment also charged four other members of the Venezuelan government, none of whom were apprehended during the strike on Jan. 3.

Maduro and Flores pleaded not guilty on all counts, with Maduro claiming that he is “a decent man” who is still the Venezuelan president (a position that the Venezuelan government has not yet revoked) and that he is a “prisoner of war.” Lawyers for the couple acknowledged that Maduro and Flores were in good spirits given the circumstances and that there was a long way to go in the case.

However, now that legal proceedings are underway, progress on the case has slowed. After their initial arraignment, their next hearing is set for March 17^th, and neither Maduro nor his wife has tried to set bail. The most noteworthy development in recent weeks is that Argentina has requested Maduro’s extradition, with Argentinian authorities hoping to try Maduro on charges of crimes against humanity and human rights violations. While Argentina and the US have an extradition treaty, it’s unlikely that an extradition will happen, especially with Maduro already awaiting a trial in the United States.

Venezuela’s political developments

With Maduro de facto removed from power, leadership in Venezuela has passed to his second-in-command Delcy Rodríguez, who was sworn in as acting president on Jan. 5. The Venezuelan government remains under the control of Maduro’s United Socialist Party, and notable opposition leaders, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Marina Corina Machado, remain either in exile or out of power despite attempts to curry favor with the Trump administration.

On the American side, the operation to remove Maduro was spearheaded by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Rubio has long desired the removal of several left-wing authoritarian regimes from Latin America, including that of Maduro. Since Maduro’s removal, Rubio has overseen building American relations with Rodríguez and steering the Venezuelan government towards friendlier relations with America and American business interests. Energy Secretary Chris Wright has likewise played a key role in developing a plan around Venezuela’s oil industry, attempting to coordinate new investment from major firms such as Chevron and ExxonMobil.

Maduro’s removal has not changed much about the leadership of Venezuela, but new political pressures from the United States have produced some movement in Venezuelan policy, including a new amnesty law for political prisoners. Pushed through by Rodríguez, the amnesty law would release prisoners jailed for political crimes, though not those imprisoned on charges of homicide, corruption or drug offenses. The President of Venezuela’s National Assembly confirmed that over fifteen hundred applications for amnesty have been received under the new law, while critics of the law argue that the exceptions for certain offenses, particularly corruption, permit the Venezuelan state to keep key opposition figures jailed.

Following the Oil Money

In the immediate aftermath of the Jan. 3 raid, the fate of Venezuela’s massive oil reserves became a key question. Trump rapidly declared that the United States would be seizing Venezuelan oil reserves, with Venezuela turning over 50 million barrels of oil to the US. Trump asserted on a Truth Social post that he would control any proceeds from the sale of Venezuelan oil, and that he would use it to “benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States.” 

According to numerous reports, the Trump administration sent half a billion dollars in proceeds from oil sales into a Qatari bank account controlled by the US government. This proposal generated significant backlash, and the administration has since pivoted. Secretary Wright announced at a press conference on Feb. 13 that the money from the Venezuelan oil sales will now be sent to a newly formed account at the U.S. Treasury. Wright, speaking from Venezuela at a joint conference with interim president Rodríguez, further announced that sales of Venezuelan oil had exceeded $1 billion since Maduro’s abduction, and that an additional $5 billion of sales are expected in the coming months.Democrats and outside observers have been sharply critical of the handling of both Venezuelan oil reserves and the proceeds from their sale. Democratic lawmakers have pressured the Trump administration to provide more information on how oil proceeds, particularly those that have been routed through Qatar, have been used. The administration’s own handling of the funds has been largely unexplained, and this lack of transparency is a significant worry for the future both of Venezuela and of trust in the US government.

Every Olympics has their highlights, golden moments and scandals leaving speechlessness. The 2026 Winter Olympic Games are no different. Based in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, the two-week non-stop competitions brought widespread smiles, tears, gasps and gossip. As they have come to an end, let’s recap.

Medal counts

For a fifth straight Winter Games, Norway topped the medal chart with 41 total medals, of which 18 were gold—the most ever won by a nation at the Winter Games. America came second with twelve gold medals and 31 total medals, a national record.

The U.S. took several high-profile gold medals, especially in figure skating and ice hockey. The U.S. men’s hockey team won a nailbiter against Canada 2-1 in overtime in a shocking upset, as did the U.S. women’s team in what NBC calls a “storybook ending” to skip Hilary Knight’s Olympic career. Elsewhere on the ice, U.S. figure skaters shone, with standout performances by “Quad God” Ilia Malinin and Alysa Liu, who both brought home a gold medal.

(Side note: if you’ve not watched Alysa Liu’s long routine, you are missing out. She is so infectiously happy.)

Other strong performances came from the Netherlands and host nation Italy, both winning ten gold medals.

Public Infidelity 

Norwegian biathlete Sturla Holm Laegreid shocked viewers when he publicly admitted to cheating on his girlfriend. The affair happened three months into their relationship, and after coming clean shortly before he took the world’s snow-covered stage, he stated that he wanted to set the record straight after he had “nothing to lose.” Not long after his confession, his ex, whose name has been disclosed, reported that Laegreid’s actions are “hard to forgive.” She “did not choose to be in this position and it hurts to have to be in it,” despite it being Laegreid’s “biggest mistake” of his life. 

Condom Shortages 

Safe to say Laegreid will not be in need of the complementary condoms the Olympics graciously hands out. But even if he was, the shortage would postpone him anyway. Entering the 2026 season, Olympic officials had 10,000 condoms distributed for the 2,800 athletes competing; an average of only 3.5 condoms per athlete. Desperation only increased with Valentine’s Day hitting right in between the Winter schedule, where lovebirds, flings and medal highs all clash together. 

This is not out of the ordinary for the Olympics, however. In the 1992 Winter Olympics, 30,000 condoms were dispersed, and 70,000 in 2000, where there had to be an emergency delivery of another 20,000. In 2002, while hot tubs were provided for use, they were quickly retracted after many used them for sexual pleasure; 100,000 were given out that year. 130,000 condoms, with an additional 30,000 packets of lube, were available for athletes in the Summer Olympics of 2004, and in 2012, 150,000 were ordered, or approximately 15 condoms per athlete, leading British tabloids to call it the “Raunchiest Olympics Ever.”

Attempts to cheat

While the International Olympic Committee no longer flogs or fines cheaters, as was commonplace in the ancient Greek Games, athletes have been trying to cheat the system for three thousand years. Several cheating scandals were raised in Milan.

A notable attempt at cheating was discovered when Swedish curlers called out Canadian curlers for “double-touching” one of the 40-lb stones in violation of the rules. Allegedly, the Canadian pushing the stone told the Swede to “f— off.” Later that weekend, one of Canada’s stone tosses was disqualified due to double-touching, which became a sensitive topic after the Canadian team loss.

Ski jumping also brought intrigue after allegations that male ski jumpers were injecting hyaluronic acid into their genitalia to make them larger during the required body scan. (Ski jumpers’ suits are required to be skin-tight, with a small buffer). Studies on the topic suggested that two extra centimeters of fabric could add 5.6 meters (18.4 feet) to a jump, which could be the decider in a close jump. Maybe size does matter after all.

As the Games draw to a close in Milan, all eyes will turn on Los Angeles. It will be the third time the U.S. city has hosted the Summer Games (the others were 1932 and 1984), and the first instance of three-hosts by a non-European city. The 2030 Games will return to Europe in the French Alps.