Venezuela’s ‘Chavismo’ movement faces a crossroads after US attack
A new economic partner? Libertad Velasco, a Chavista who grew up in the 23 de Enero neighbourhood, was only a teenager when Chavez came to power. She went on to become one of the founding members of the youth wing of Chavez’s party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). Eventually, she became the head of a government agency to expand access to higher education to members of vulnerable communities. Still, Velasco described the period after Maduro’s abduction as a sort of awakening. “It’s like we’re looking at ourselves without makeup,” Velasco said. “Now, everything is laid bare, revealed in its purest state, and we are beginning to recognise ourselves again.” Since the US attack and Maduro’s removal, Velasco has thought deeply about her “red lines”: the ideals she feels should not be violated under the new government. Standing up against invasive foreign powers remains one of her top priorities. “I refuse to be colonised,” Velasco said. “For me, we shouldn’t have relations with Israel, and abandoning anti-imperialism is non-negotiable.” Yet Velasco does not believe that the Venezuelan government has crossed that line yet. Rather, she is open to the prospect of the US as a trading partner to Venezuela, paying for access to its natural resources. “It is a customer who should pay market price for the product they need. If Venezuela must act as a market player to lift people out of suffering, I can go along with that,” Velasco said. Delia Bracho of Caricuao, Venezuela, says she has grown disillusioned with the Chavismo movement [Catherine Ellis/Al Jazeera] But it is unclear whether that is happening. Critics point out that the Trump administration has demanded greater control over Venezuela’s natural resources. It has even claimed that Chavez stole Venezuelan oil from US hands. Already, Venezuela has surrendered nearly 50 million barrels of oil to the US, with the Trump administration splitting the proceeds between the two countries. Rodriguez, Venezuela’s interim president, has also agreed to submit a monthly budget to the US for approval. Among Chavistas, there remains debate about whether the relationship with the US is beneficial or exploitative. But economic recovery is an overwhelming priority for many Venezuelans of all political leanings. Under Maduro, Venezuela entered one of its worst economic crises in history. Inflation is currently at 600 percent, and living standards remain low. Many Chavista loyalists blame US sanctions for their economic woes. Yet, analysts credit a combination of factors, including declining oil prices, economic mismanagement and pervasive corruption. Delia Bracho, 68, lives in a district of Caracas called Caricuao, where water is delivered just once a week. Once a committed Chavista, she said her faith in the movement has faded. Today’s movement, she explained, has been “ruined”, and she no longer wants anything to do with it. “It’s like when you put on a pair of shoes,” she said. “They break, and you throw them away. Are you going to pick them up again, knowing they are no longer useful?” Despite her initial fear after the US intervention, Bracho said she now feels cautiously optimistic that Venezuela might change for the better. “It’s not that everything is fixed, but there is a different atmosphere — one of hope.” Adblock test (Why?)
LIVE: Bosnia vs Italy – World Cup 2026 qualifying final
blinking-dotLive MatchLive Match, Follow our live build-up with full team news coverage before our text commentary stream of the FIFA decider. Published On 31 Mar 202631 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
Cuba crisis explained: Who holds power, and could Diaz-Canel be replaced?
Cuba is facing one of its worst crises in decades, as the Caribbean island contends with nationwide blackouts, fuel shortages and growing political uncertainty. The crisis comes as the United States increases pressure on the communist government in Havana. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list As recently as Friday, US President Donald Trump hinted that he might attack Cuba, following military operations in Venezuela and Iran. “I built this great military. I said, ‘You’ll never have to use it.’ But sometimes you have to use it. And Cuba is next,” he said. Trump’s threats have raised questions about the future of Cuba’s leadership and whether political change could be on the horizon. Here is what to know about the US campaign against Cuba’s government and the powerful figures who lead Havana: What is happening in Cuba? Nearly every aspect of Cuban society is under strain amid a de facto US oil blockade. The island relies on imported oil to generate electricity and run public transport. But fuel shipments have largely stopped since January. On January 11, Trump announced that no more oil or funding would come from Cuba’s close ally Venezuela, following a US attack on that country. Then, on January 29, he issued an executive order threatening tariffs against any country that supplies Cuba with fuel. Since then, only one tanker has reached the island: On Tuesday, a Russian vessel carrying 730,000 barrels of oil arrived in Havana’s harbour. But it is unclear how far one ship will go in addressing the island’s oil crisis. The depletion of the island’s fuel supply has pushed the nation’s already fragile infrastructure past its breaking point. Advertisement In March alone, Cuba faced two island-wide blackouts, as well as regional power outages. Analysts have blamed both US policy and ongoing problems with Cuba’s ageing power grid. But the result has left nearly 10 million Cubans in complete darkness. Residents walk down a street during a national power outage in Havana, Cuba, on March 21 [Ernesto Mastrascusa/EPA] The effects are being felt across daily life. The fuel shortage is disrupting water systems and food distribution across the island. Litter is piling up in Havana because rubbish trucks lack fuel. Hospitals are limiting surgeries. Public transport has been reduced. And many people have resorted to using wood fires to cook and heat water. Reporting from Havana, journalist Ed Augustin told Al Jazeera’s The Take that the crisis is “absolutely eviscerating every part of life”. In Havana, residents face blackouts lasting up to 15 hours a day, while in some rural areas, outages can last far longer, sometimes stretching into more than a full day without electricity. “Cubans are living in unbearable conditions, and that is clearly part of what this policy is designed to do,” Augustin said. A person shines a torch during a power outage in Havana, Cuba, on March 4, 2026 [Ernesto Mastrascusa/EPA] What is the human cost of the fuel shortage? The United Nations has warned of a possible humanitarian “collapse” in Cuba as a result of the fuel shortages. Journalists like Augustin warn that there is a human cost to steep economic sanctions like those the US has imposed on Cuba. “It’s worth pointing out: Sanctions kill,” Augustin said. “There’s a lot of academic literature that show that sanctions kill.” He pointed to a 2025 study in The Lancet Global Health journal, which estimated that 564,000 excess deaths each year were linked to economic sanctions. Augustin added that children are especially vulnerable. “I’ve been going to various Cuban hospitals, and the Cuban doctors are telling me that the infant mortality rate this year is rising,” Augustin said. “And it’s rising because staff can’t get to work, because there are no buses. It’s rising because cleaners can’t get to work, so more children and mothers are getting sepsis. It’s because prenatals [vitamins] and folic acid are not getting to mothers. Milk is not getting to children.” Faced with international criticism, Trump in recent weeks has signalled he may loosen the oil embargo, allowing a Russian vessel to reach Havana. Mexico too has indicated it may resume oil shipments to Cuba. Advertisement How long have Cuba and the US been at odds? Current tensions with Cuba stretch back to the Cold War, when the US took an adversarial stance against left-wing governments throughout the Americas. The Cuban Revolution in the 1950s led to the overthrow of a US-backed, military-led government, and by the early 1960s, the US had placed the island under a comprehensive trade embargo, designed to weaken Havana’s new communist leadership. “No country in modern history, at least since the French Revolution, has been sanctioned as long as Cuba has been sanctioned,” Augustin said. But the pressure has intensified under President Trump, who tightened economic restrictions on Cuba during his first term, from 2017 to 2021. Since returning to office in 2025, Trump has labelled Cuba an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US security and has threatened a “takeover” of the island. The energy blockade is part of that campaign, Augustin explained. “The US is purposely de-industrialising Cuba,” Augustin said. “By targeting energy, it’s targeting all of the infrastructure on which life depends.” Who holds power in Cuba? Although Miguel Diaz-Canel is Cuba’s president, power in Cuba does not sit with the presidency alone. Cuba is a one-party state, and the most powerful institution in the country is the Communist Party of Cuba, which is defined in its constitution as the “leading force of the state and society”. In practice, this means the party — not the government — sets the country’s political direction. While Diaz-Canel is the secretary-general of Cuba’s Communist Party, analysts say there are signals he might not be the one deciding the country’s future. The US and Cuba are currently in negotiations, and reports have emerged that the Trump administration is pressuring other powerful Cuban leaders to remove Diaz-Canel from power. “Politically, I think what is happening is that we are seeing the real
Pentagon denies that Hegseth’s broker sought investment before Iran war
US Department of Defense demands retraction of report alleging broker sought multimillion-dollar investment for Hegseth. Published On 31 Mar 202631 Mar 2026 The United States Department of Defense has demanded the retraction of a newspaper report alleging that a broker for defence chief Pete Hegseth attempted to make a large investment in weapons companies in the run-up to the war on Iran. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell demanded the “immediate” retraction on Monday after The Financial Times reported that a wealth manager for the defence secretary contacted BlackRock about making a multimillion-dollar investment in a defence-related fund in the weeks leading up to the war. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Hegseth’s broker at Morgan Stanley ultimately did not go ahead with the investment in the exchange-traded fund, whose holdings include Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, because it was not yet available for purchase at the time, The Financial Times reported, citing three unnamed sources. “This allegation is entirely false and fabricated. Neither Secretary Hegseth nor any of his representatives approached BlackRock about any such investment,” Parnell said in a post on social media. “This is yet another baseless, dishonest smear designed to mislead the public.” Hegseth and his department “remain unwavering in their commitment to the highest standards of ethics and strict adherence to all applicable laws and regulations,” Parnell said. Al Jazeera could not independently confirm the Financial Times report. The Defense Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside of usual business hours. The Financial Times and Morgan Stanley also did not immediately respond to inquiries. Advertisement BlackRock declined to comment. The report comes amid scrutiny of well-timed trades in financial and prediction markets that have fuelled speculation that figures with insider knowledge may be profiting off of US President Donald Trump’s war plans. While The Financial Times reported that the attempted investment by Hesgeth’s broker did not go ahead, the defence chief would not have made money on such a purchase in the month since the war began. While the iShares Defense Industrials Active ETF has risen more than 25 percent over the past year, it has fallen nearly 13 percent since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28. Adblock test (Why?)
Activist Nerdeen Kiswani: ‘I feel more threatened than ever before’
NewsFeed Days after the FBI foiled an alleged assassination plot, Palestinian-American activist Nerdeen Kiswani says she feels ‘more threatened than ever before’. But she’s vowed to continue her advocacy because the Palestinian ‘struggle for justice and liberation matters’. Published On 31 Mar 202631 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
What we learned from Al Jazeera’s interview with Marco Rubio
NewsFeed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Al Jazeera that the US war on Iran will be over in a matter of ‘weeks’, but some experts cast doubt on that timeframe along with other claims he made in our exclusive interview. Published On 31 Mar 202631 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
Rubio tells Al Jazeera that Strait of Hormuz to reopen ‘one way or another’
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told Al Jazeera that the Strait of Hormuz will “reopen one way or another” in the wake of the eventual end of the US-Israeli war with Iran. The exclusive interview on Monday came as speculation has grown over a possible US troop deployment in Iran and as the effective closure of the strait continues to roil global oil markets. US boots on the ground would represent a new phase in the grinding conflict, which began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes, even as US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that the US is pursuing diplomacy with Iran. Rubio again maintained there were “messages and some direct talks going on between some inside of Iran and the United States, primarily through intermediaries, but there’s been some conversation”. Iran has repeatedly denied that talks were ongoing. Pakistan on Sunday said it would host direct talks “in the coming days for a comprehensive and lasting settlement of the ongoing conflict”. Rubio added that Trump “always prefers diplomacy, always prefers an outcome..and we could have done this before”. The Trump administration had previously pursued indirect talks with Iran to curtail its nuclear programme. One round of talks was derailed last year with Israel’s 12-day war against Iran, which ended with US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facility. A second round of diplomacy was under way when the US and Israel began the latest war. Rubio again indicated the US administration’s preference for regime change in Iran, which the US and Israel have so far been unable to achieve despite several high-profile assassinations, including the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Advertisement “We would always welcome a scenario in which Iran was led by people that had a different view of the future and had a different view,” he said. “And if that opportunity presents itself, we’re going to take it”. “The people of Iran are incredible people, very resourceful, very entrepreneurial,” he added. “But it’s their regime that’s been a problem. And instead, they’ve chosen to spend the wealth of their country to support Hezbollah and Hamas and Shiite militias inside of Iraq, and to try to destabilise Syria when [Bashar al-Assad] was there,” he said. Nuclear and ballistic weapons Rubio further called on Iran to end its nuclear programme and to curtail its drone and missile programme. He accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons to “threaten and blackmail the world”, a claim Tehran has for years denied, maintaining its nuclear programme was only for civilian purposes. On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was considering a US Special Forces operation to seize enriched uranium stored in Iran. Military experts have warned throughout the war that US and Israeli air strikes alone would not be able to destroy Iran’s capabilities. In a statement to Al Jazeera, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not deny the report, but said: “It’s the job of the Pentagon to make preparations in order to give the Commander-in-Chief maximum optionality. It does not mean the President has made a decision.” Rubio said Iran “need to stop sponsoring terrorism, and they need to stop building weapons that can threaten their neighbours,” adding that the “short range missiles that they’re launching, they only have one purpose, and that is to attack Saudi Arabia and the UAE and Qatar and Kuwait and Bahrain.” Turning to the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed to open traffic, Rubio voiced optimism it would be reopened when the conflict ends. “The Strait of Hormuz will reopen one way or another once our military operation in Iran is over,” Rubio said. “The strait will reopen either with Iran’s consent or through an international coalition including the US.” He threatened “severe consequences” if Iran closes the strait after the fighting ends. The US has previously sought to raise a coalition to protect ships in the Strait of Hormuz, but has faced wariness from many traditional allies concerned over tacit entry into the conflict. ‘Our objectives in Iran are clear’ Rubio’s statements on Monday broadly reflected a list of demands put forth by Washington to end the war. Advertisement Iran has rejected the proposal, with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian releasing its own list of demands, including “recognising Iran’s legitimate rights, payment of reparations, and firm int’l guarantees against future aggression”. For his part, Trump told the Financial Times in an interview published on Sunday that he hopes to “take the oil in Iran” including by possibly seizing the key export hub of Kharg Island. “Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options,” he added. “It would also mean we had to be there [on Kharg Island] for a while.” The Trump administration has presented a carousel of objectives in the war, including degrading Iran’s military capability, preventing it from ever developing a nuclear weapon, and helping to foment regime change. However, its endgame has remained unclear, with its final goals possibly diverging from Israel, which has pushed for more comprehensive regime change. To date, at least 1,937 people have been killed in Iran since the war began, with at least 20 killed in Israel, 26 killed across the Gulf states and 13 US soldiers killed. Rubio told Al Jazeera that the administration did not expect the war to drag on indefinitely. “Our objectives in Iran are clear, and we will achieve them within weeks, not months,” he said. Adblock test (Why?)
‘Iran will never acquire nuclear weapons’ Rubio tells Al Jazeera
In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has outlined what the US’s main demands are for Iran. Rubio said Iran must never develop nuclear weapons and must stop “sponsoring terrorism”, adding that its short-range missiles are intended to threaten countries like Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar. Published On 30 Mar 202630 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
Marco Rubio says President Trump prefers diplomatic solution to war on Iran
NewsFeed In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there are messages and indirect talks under way between figures inside Iran and the US, and that President Donald Trump still prefers a diplomatic outcome. He accused Iran’s leadership of funding armed groups like Hezbollah and Hamas instead of its own people, and said the US would welcome a future Iranian government with a “different view” for the country. Published On 30 Mar 202630 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
Iran hits industrial zone in southern Israel
NewsFeed An Iranian missile barrage has caused a fire a chemical plant near Beersheba in southern Israel, following expanded attacks on Iranian infrastructure. Published On 29 Mar 202629 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)