Global Powers Play Chess: Trump, Xi, and a Venezuelan Gambit

Following the toppling of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. military forces, President Donald Trump ordered the immediate reopening of commercial airspace over Venezuela, allowing direct flights from the U.S. to Venezuela, according to The Guardian. The announcement came during the White House cabinet meeting, weeks after the military action.

The move comes as major oil companies are already on the ground assessing potential operations in the country, according to The Guardian.

In other international news, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer made a trip to China for bilateral talks with Xi Jinping. Starmer opened the door to a UK visit from Xi Jinping, a move that drew immediate anger from British critics of Beijing, according to The Guardian. The visit marked the first by a UK prime minister to China in eight years, a period which, according to The Guardian, had strained relations between the two countries.

According to The Guardian, Starmer's visit may not have been viewed as particularly significant by Xi Jinping, who nevertheless bestowed a little largesse on the British PM while getting the green light for a London mega embassy.

Meanwhile, in the United States, Congressman Joaquin Castro met with five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father at the Dilley detention center in Texas, according to The Guardian. Castro shared a photograph of Liam resting in his father's arms on social media, stating that he told Liam how much his family, his school, and our country loves him and is praying for him. Liam became a symbol of the wide reach of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in Minneapolis last week when he was detained on his way home from preschool, according to The Guardian.

Venezuela is also potentially looking towards economic reform. There is speculation that Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro's Sorbonne-educated successor, could become a Latin American Deng Xiaoping, ushering in an era of reform and opening up modeled on China's post-Mao boom, according to The Guardian.